Benchmarking NPS Results
14 November 2014
A question that regularly comes up on NPS programs pertains to the availability of NPS benchmarks. Over the course of the many NPS programs that Advanis has conducted over the years, we have found that there are many things that impact the NPS score, including:
- How respondents are selected
- How respondents are invited
- The verbiage being used in the survey invitation
- The methodology or methodologies used to collect feedback
- Different variations of the NPS question
- Questions or other verbiage presented prior to the NPS question
So considering that all those factors will impact the NPS, the only way to perform a proper apples-to-apples comparison is to conduct a program that ensures that all those factors are the same for the different organizations being measured. Comparing the NPS score for one organization from one NPS program with the NPS score for another organization from a different NPS program is comparing apples-to-oranges and should be approached cautiously.
Our advice? Don't worry too much about benchmarking.
We realize we all love to know how we are performing compared to our competitors, but how will that change what choices we make as an organization? If my score is better than the "industry average", it may make for good marketing, but it doesn't necessarily help me improve the service I provide to my customers.
The main focus of any NPS program should be on identifying best practices, addressing customers' pain points, and providing actionable coaching to frontline staff. Such a focus should translate in an improved score over time; so the most relevant benchmark would be your initial NPS score and the focus would then be to continually strive to improve your score from there.
is a Principal Consultant with Advanis. Matthijs designs and leads ongoing customer experience projects, often involving high-volume data collection methodologies, sophisticated quota schemes, and developing online reporting solutions to serve a large number of end-users. He is passionate about finding solutions to each client’s unique challenges, whether they be technical, operational, or analytical.