What’s the big deal about Net Promoter Score?

Business of Software Conference USA 2016 was awarded with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 88 by the attendees at the conference.

We’re thrilled because it means you love what we do – so thank you to everyone who contributed to result. But, you might still be scratching your head wondering what on earth this NPS score is about, and why it matters.

What is NPS?

To use words far more elegant than we would pen ourselves, “the Net Promoter Score is an index ranging from -100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer’s overall satisfaction with a company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand.” (Medallia)

In other terms, NPS takes the scores your customer give you on a scale of 1-10, and spits out (there is that elegance again) a number that signifies how loyal, or happy they are with your product or service. You can read more about how it is calculated here if you are interested.

88 sounds good, but what is the reference point?

Everything is relative. In this case, positive 88 on a scale of -100 to 100 sounds good, but is it really?

NPS scores are used across a range of industries, and therefore scores can vary significantly from insurance companies vs airlines vs tech companies. This is because the way it is calculated means a customer is unlikely to offer a 9/10 to their insurance company unless something goes seriously right, whereas a tech company may have more opportunity to ‘delight’.

That being said, NPS recently completed their 2016 survey, and found an average of 44 in NPS scores. The NPS’ company’s own NPS is 34. (NPS Survey)

So really, what does this mean?

Every year for the past 10 years Business of Software has been a special place for incredible people. People come to meet, share, listen, discuss, be challenged and leave the event better equipped to face the challenges of the upcoming year.

The reality of this NPS score is it shows that these words have substance and go beyond marketing mantras – they are actually true.

We didn’t make up this score, it’s what our customers community said about the event as they left.

If you haven’t joined the Business of Software Conference yet, tickets are on sale now for BoS USA Conf 2017. We hope to see you alongside every one of our magnificent BoS audience. Register here.

“Thank you for a fantastic conference!”

“Keep the conference up!”

“I’m so happy I found this conference!”

“Another great conference!!! I feel like family :-).”

“Thank you so much for curating a great conference and thinking about making the experience awesome”

“Smartest and nicest people & have ever been around in a conference setting”