The NPS Nutshell

Your “Net Promoter Score” (NPS) is a metric that quantifies the question: “How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague?” Using a simple rubric, you create a recommendation survey with a scale of 1-10. Your customer’s responses are then labeled as follows:

• 0-6: Detractors- Individuals who are less likely to commit to any sort of recommendation, whether good or bad. Most customers will fall into this category range.
• 7-8: Passives- The notorious “people in the middle” typically recommend with some value to your business, or possibly none at all.
• 9-10: Promoters- These individuals are your highest ranking clients that will always steer the recommendation towards your business over another’s.

Your NPS is then calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage who are Promoters, lumping in the Passives to bring this score closer to 0 once calculated. You’ll want to get as close to 100 as you can. For most companies, any score around 0-50 is considered to be significantly positive, enough to have an impact on overall profitability.

Tracking and analyzing this feedback goes right in tandem with the overall health of your practice. Ask yourself these questions:

Are Your Patient’s Satisfied with your Work?

What is your dental practice doing to alleviate the fears, frustrations, and forgetfulness of the average patient? Are your employees in sync with your financial and professional goals? Maybe the deluge of questions isn’t as helpful as telling you that you should always be striving to do better. Reality is knowing that we should always be moving ourselves forward and solving problems as they are brought to our attention; not later- now. Consequently, the health and longevity of your practice is entirely dependent on your willingness to listen to crucial patient feedback; good or bad. 

What About Marketing?

Marketing doesn’t have to be complex, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” for your practice. You’re going to do what works, and that requires some trial and error. Your NPS is a direct tie to how well your marketing is doing in reaching customers who are engaged with your work.

Yet, you also might be asking:

Is NPS Still Relevant?

Correlating a high NPS with outstanding customer service is not only possible, but profitable. Companies like Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Apple have inherent strategies that tie in their NPS with exceptional customer service. It’s no secret that by working to solve problems with your customers before and after they happen that your recommendations will be sky high.

Remember how we told you that scores between 0-50 were considered normal and healthy ranges for most companies? Here at eAssist, we have maintained or exceeded a NPS of 84. Needless to say, we’re a bit above average no matter how you quantify it. We choose to exceed and prioritize this goal for the benefit of our clients, so we are able to help dental practices thrive and promote peace of mind. 

How Can I Personally Quantify Success?

With hard work, perseverance, and sticking to our professional goals, success shows itself to us readily. Whether that’s a “thank you” card from a disadvantaged patient you gave subsidized care to or a grateful mother with children in need of their own dental care. NPS is a step towards that goal: allowing you to quantify the word-of-mouth moment into not just profit, but customers for life.