The NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a standard approach developed by Bain Consulting to measure the overall health of a company’s relationship with its customers. It is based on three broad principles:

• Recommendations: The likelihood to recommend a vendor may provide a better measure of the health of the customer relationship than a satisfaction score.
• Extended Value: Customers that will recommend a vendor bring financial value beyond what they pay for the products and services they receive.
• Where to Focus: Identifying and addressing negative organizational traits and behaviors pays more dividends than focusing on specific customer complaints.

The intention behind the NPS system is to identify general behaviors and actions that influence the customer relationship. B2B providers that offer complex products and services often find they need more specific insights around tactical areas of improvement such as functionality, delivery, customer/technical support, documentation, contracts/billing, etc. This insight requires a more traditional customer satisfaction survey.