What is net promoter score?
Net promoter score is a single survey question asking members how likely they are to recommend the business on a scale of nought to ten, with the score calculated by subtracting the share of low scorers from the share of nines and tens.
The number is weaker than its reputation
A single score compresses everything a member feels into one figure, is sensitive to when and how you asked, and is widely quoted without any comparable methodology behind it. Treating it as a precise measure of anything invites bad decisions.
Net promoter score does have one genuine strength: it is quick enough that members actually answer, which is more than can be said for most satisfaction surveys.
The comment is the asset
The follow-up question, asking why, is worth more than the score. It is where you learn that the eight-star rating is about car parking, or that the detractor is annoyed about the booking app rather than the gym.
Businesses that read the comments and route them to whoever can act get real value from this. Businesses that report the number to a board and file the comments get nothing.
Separate the gym from the app
A single score for the whole business cannot tell you whether the software is helping or hurting. Asking about the app specifically, or at least tagging responses that mention it, is the only way to find out.
It also lets you compare against the public signal you already have, which is your app store rating. When the private score and the public one disagree, the public one is usually closer to the truth, because nobody leaves a one-star review out of politeness.
Questions operators ask
Four that come up on almost every call about net promoter score.
Moderately, and mostly because of the comment rather than the number. It is quick enough that members answer, which makes it a cheap way to collect qualitative feedback at volume. Treat the score as directional.
At a natural moment rather than on a calendar. After a completed program, at a membership anniversary or following a cancellation. Surveying mid-frustration or at random produces noise rather than signal.
Yes, otherwise you cannot tell what the score is about. Either ask a dedicated question about the app or tag every response that mentions it, so the software has an owner and a number of its own.
Published benchmarks are built on inconsistent methodology, so cross-business comparison is unreliable. Your own trend, measured the same way each time, is the part that can actually guide a decision.
Building a fitness platform?
Tell us where you are and what your members are doing. We will tell you what we would do about it.
Start a conversationRelated terms
The terms that come up in the same conversations as net promoter score.
App Store Rating
An app store rating is the average score members have given an app on the App Store or Google Play, shown publicly beside the listing, and it is the...
Knowing if it worksMember Engagement
Member engagement is the degree to which members actually use a platform rather than merely having it installed, usually measured through sessions...
Running clubsMember Retention
Member retention is the share of members who remain with a business over a given period, usually measured monthly or annually, and in fitness it is...