The Net Promoter Score® (NPS) question is instrumental in revealing customer satisfaction and driving loyalty. As companies iterate their products and services, they can actively enhance their NPS score.
However, not every industry has the same general benchmark. Understanding where your business lies within your industry will help your teams determine whether they could further improve their customer experience (CX).
The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, measures customer satisfaction and loyalty to your brand. It determines how many customers will become brand ambassadors and encourages your business to grow through word of mouth. For such an important metric, measuring your NPS is a simple process.
Using our NPS survey template, you can create a powerful one-question survey to give you the necessary data.
NPS surveys ask:
Based on the selected number within the range, your respondents are assigned to one of three categories:
If you use our NPS survey template, you’ll see that we’ve added a couple of clarifying questions to help you understand the reasoning behind respondents’ ratings:
The answers to these questions will be enlightening but do not factor into your NPS. It is advisable to include them so that you have a clear understanding of why respondents answered as they did. This qualitative data uncovers the ‘why’ behind your NPS score.
Related reading: Why use NPS?
After collecting data from your NPS survey, you can use the following steps to calculate your NPS.
The number you’re left with is your NPS score. Your score can range from -100 to 100.
For example, let’s say your NPS survey of 100 customers yielded the following results: 15 detractors (15%), 25 passive (25%), and 60 promoters (60%).
Your NPS calculation would be 60% - 15% = 45%. In this example, your Net Promoter Score is 45.
According to SurveyMonkey benchmark data of over 150,000 organizations, the average NPS score is 32, and the top 25% have an NPS score of 72 or higher.
Also indicated in our global benchmarks is that:
In general terms, here’s how to define your NPS score:
These statistics are for global organizations across multiple industries, which is interesting but not necessarily illuminating. You cannot determine your NPS's meaning without the context of where it falls within your industry.
For some industries, 20 might be among the worst scores. For others, it might indicate you’re a market leader. However, generally, if your score is below zero, you have some work to do to earn customer loyalty.
Related reading: How to turn NPS detractors into promoters
As we mentioned earlier, your NPS should be evaluated based on the context of your industry. With that in mind, here are a few recent NPS benchmark average scores for a variety of business verticals. Keep in mind that scores can range from -100 to 100.
Related reading: Worldwide NPS revealed
The construction industry aims to build residential and commercial spaces worldwide. There is a significant difference between the upper- and lower-quartile NPS scores.
Construction NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a company working in construction could be:
The consulting industry aims to enhance professional services and organizations by offering expert advice, project management, and guidance.
Consulting NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a consulting company could be:
The education sector provides opportunities to learn and grow in an academic atmosphere.
Education NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of an educational company could be:
The finance industry includes banks, investment firms, and other businesses that aim to provide financial infrastructure to clients.
Finance NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a company working in finance could be:
Financial services is a subsection of the finance industry that offers services related to finance. For example, wealth management businesses would fall under this category.
Financial services (excluding insurance) NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a financial services company could be:
Government organizations and agencies offer public services and support and platforms to interact with government bodies.
Government NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a government organization could be:
The healthcare sector covers everything from hospitals to medical services and holistic healthcare businesses.
Healthcare NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a company working in healthcare could be:
The insurance industry offers risk management and prevention solutions like healthcare policies, life insurance, and property insurance.
Insurance NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of an insurance company could be:
The media and entertainment industry includes everything from film and TV services to publishing houses and social media platforms.
Media and entertainment NPS benchmarks:
Factors that could impact the NPS score of media and entertainment companies are:
Nonprofit businesses support causes that relate to environmental, social, or political issues. They offer education, advocacy, and volunteer opportunities to get involved.
Nonprofit NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a nonprofit could be:
The real estate industry involves buying, selling, renting, and managing commercial and residential properties.
Real estate NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a real estate company could be:
Retailers are all businesses that manage consumer products and sell them to consumers in supermarkets, stores, or online.
Retail NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a retail company could be:
The software and online services industry involves creating and distributing Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to businesses and individual customers.
Software and online services NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a software company could be:
The technology industry covers everything from the development of devices to support for tech services.
Technology NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a tech company are:
The transportation and logistics industry involves moving people and goods around the world by train, car, bus, plane, boat, and other means.
Transport and logistics NPS benchmarks:
Factors that impact the NPS score of a company working in transport and logistics could be:
You’ll notice that Net Promoter Scores vary widely across industries. Visit SurveyMonkey Benchmarks for more detailed information on obtaining NPS data for your industry. NPS data is also available from companies or organizations. See how your competitors stack up!
Remember that Net Promoter Scores change over time. Use surveys to obtain key information that impacts your customers’ loyalty and put the data to good use.
Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.
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