NPS (Net Promoter Score)
Also known as: Net Promoter Score, Recommendation score, Promoter index
Metric measuring the propensity of clients or employees to recommend the company, computed on a 0-10 scale by subtracting detractors from promoters.
NPS is computed starting from the question: how likely are you to recommend the company on a 0-10 scale? Answers 9-10 are promoters, 7-8 passives, 0-6 detractors. NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, yielding a value between -100 and +100.
In consulting firms two variants exist: cNPS (client NPS) and eNPS (employee NPS). cNPS measures relationship health, predicting renewals and referrals; eNPS measures engagement and consultant retention. Industry benchmarks: cNPS above +40 is excellent, eNPS above +20 is considered good. A PSA can embed automated surveys post-project or quarterly.
The score matters far less than the follow-up question, and firms that only collect the number are collecting the least useful half of the response. A detractor who explains that the deliverable was fine but the communication was erratic has just described a fixable problem; the six out of ten on its own describes nothing anyone can act on.
Who answers also shapes the number more than most reporting admits. A survey sent to the day-to-day contact measures delivery quality; one sent to the executive sponsor measures whether the engagement is seen as worth its price. They frequently disagree, and the disagreement is usually the most informative output of the exercise — worth reporting separately rather than averaging away.
Quarterly survey: 35 promoters, 12 passives, 8 detractors out of 55 responses. NPS = (35/55) - (8/55) = 64% - 15% = +49.