Why there is a European version of the NPS

The popularity of Net Promoter Scores is undeniable. Nowadays, almost every company in the world measures its NPS. But the standards of NPS do not necessarily fit every culture. In general, companies in Europe score a lower NPS than companies in America. Why is this?

Cultural differences in scoring nature

It mainly has to do with the 'scoring nature' of different countries and cultures. When Americans are asked to rate something on a scale of 0 to 10, they are far more likely to give more extreme answers compared to Europeans. This is deeply rooted in their culture. For example, American children are expected to get al A's (=10) in high school. In Europe, students hardly can ever get a 10 and this is not an expectation. We are rather proud of an 8 and nowadays, we say that 'a 6 is also a pass' (or: the 6s culture).

In addition, in surveys where the question is asked: "What can we do for a 9 or a 10?", we see answers such as: "Nothing, I think your service is fine!" or "I only recently became a customer and cannot yet give a 10". So, there was nothing wrong with the contact moment or the process but giving a 10 is simply something very 'big' to do in our culture and only happens in extreme cases.

An 8 is good enough

In the Netherlands, we are used to the fact that an 8 simply means 'good'. A good mark to give and a good mark to receive. But is an 8 responding to the NPS question really good enough? KIRC foundation investigated this with data.

The NPS is intended to give you an indication of whether a customer will make a repeat purchase, based on the proposition: if they would recommend you to others, they themselves will remain loyal to you. According to KIRC's research, which they presented at the KSF annual conference on the 20th of November 2018, there is little to no difference in the number of repeat purchases between customers who give you an 8 or a 9 or even a 10.

This means that you can also consider customers who give you an 8 to be loyal. However, the well-known yardstick NPS indicates that an 8 is a passive, and you will only be a promoter from a 9 or a 10.

A European standard

Therefore, there is a European NPS for our 'critical' and 'down-to-earth' cultures, whereby 8, 9 and 10 are seen as promoters and 6 and 7 as passives (after all, a 6 is simply a pass). In this way, the yardstick fits much better with the culture of Europeans and you also gain insights that fit better with this.

Conclusion

So, you can try very hard to reach that 10, but consider how much extra it will bring you. According to the KIRC research, the difference is nil. Although achieving a 10 is still the ultimate goal.

A disadvantage of having a different version of the NPS for Europe makes benchmarking with companies in other countries more difficult. But ultimately, the reason for asking NPS questions is not to compare yourself with others, but to listen to the customer. And if your customers give an 8 for the same behavior as customers who give you a 10? Why wouldn't you choose a yardstick that matches this?

In addition, it's not just about the score, but more about the stories behind it. Start by asking NPS questions and start analyzing your drivers over time. Which factors influence your NPS, either positively or negatively? And what are you going to do about it? Take action and repeat. This is how you improve your customer's experience!

The 4 most valuable KPIs

How do you know exactly whether your customers are satisfied or loyal? You can discover this by using Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. In this white paper, we explain four different KPIs that provide valuable insights into customer satisfaction.

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