Anyone who has ever measured Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score for their business will want to know how their scores compare with others. The scores themselves are useful indicators of how likely it is that your customers will promote your brand (NPS) and how satisfied they are (CSAT), but knowing how you compare with others in the same industry provides a useful indication of how much further you need to go to be ahead of the game.
NPS Benchmark Scores by Industry
Before we dive into some NPS benchmark scores we should remind ourselves of what NPS is and how it is calculated. A little time back we published a blog post describing some of the most powerful customer satisfaction metrics.
NPS was devised as a way to measure how likely it is that a customer will recommend a product, service or brand. Respondents are asked to select from a 0 to 10 scale, where 0 equates to ‘not likely at all’ and 10 indicates ‘extremely likely’, in response to the standard NPS question: How likely is it that you would recommend [brand, product, service] to a friend or colleague?
People who respond with scores of 9 or 10 are considered promoters. People who respond with scores of 7 or 8 are classified as passives and people who score from 0 to 6 are classed as detractors.
The NPS score is calculated by entirely discounting the passives, then subtracting the number of detractors from the number of promoters and representing the result as a percentage of the total sample set.
It should be clear that this scoring system can result in negative scores. For example, if a group of 50 respondents were surveyed and the following NPS results were gathered:
- Promoters = 15 (30%)
- Passives = 10
- Detractors = 25 (50%)
This represents an NPS score of -20. (ie 30% promoters – 50% detractors). Since there were notably more detractors than promoters this score may be considered a fair indicator.
Consider another group of 50 respondents who presented the following NPS scores.
- Promoters=0
- Passives=40 (80%)
- Detractors=10 (20%)
This represents the same NPS score of -20 (ie 0% promoters – 20% detractors). This simple comparison shows how the same NPS score can result from widely differing survey responses.
NPS Score Ranges and Averages by Industry
People often ask: What is a Good NPS Score? It’s important to remember that a good score in one industry may be a poor score in another. It’s therefore always a good idea to make comparisons with others in the same industry.
The following NPS benchmark scores have been derived from: delighted.com. Average NPS scores are quoted along with the NPS score ranges from each. The ranges of scores derived from each industry are particularly interesting, but these metrics may be a little out of date.
- Automobile Dealers
- Average: 48
- Low: 33
- High: 63
- Software
- Average: 41
- Low: 28
- High: 55
- Major Appliances
- Average: 40
- Low: 31
- High: 53
- Investments
- Average: 40
- Low: 30
- High: 49
- Computers and Tablets
- Average: 40
- Low: 8
- High: 60
- Supermarkets
- Average: 39
- Low: 20
- High: 59
- Insurance
- Average: 37
- Low: 19
- High: 68
- Hotels
- Average: 37
- Low: 4
- High: 55
- Airlines
- Average: 37
- Low: 18
- High: 55
- Retailers
- Average: 35
- Low: 1
- High: 59
- Rental Cars
- Average: 34
- Low: 22
- High: 49
- Parcel Delivery
- Average: 34
- Low: 28
- High: 42
- Banks
- Average: 32
- Low: 17
- High: 62
- Fast Food
- Average: 30
- Low: -1
- High: 53
- Credit Cards
- Average: 30
- Low: 13
- High: 60
- Wireless Carrier
- Average: 29
- Low: 12
- High: 36
- Utilities
- Average: 27
- Low: 5
- High: 41
- Health Plans
- Average: 24
- Low: 10
- High: 43
- Internet Service
- Average: 24
- Low: 10
- High: 43
- TV Service
- Average: 11
- Low: -5
- High: 28
NICE Satmetrix NPS Benchmark Scores 2018
Another enormously useful NPS score resource is the annual NICE Satmetrix Net Promoter Benchmarks report. This one doesn’t present the NPS score ranges but it does offer up-to-date averages derived from 2018.
- Department / Specialty Stores: 62
- Tablet Computers: 56
- Brokerage / Investments: 50
- Online Entertainment: 47
- Online Shopping: 45
- Airlines: 44
- Smartphones: 44
- Auto Insurance: 43
- Laptop Computers: 43
- Hotels: 40
- Grocery / Supermarkets: 40
- Credit Cards: 39
- Home / Contents Insurance: 38
- Shipping Services:38
- Cell phone service: 37
- Banking: 35
- Software and Apps: 31
- Life Insurance: 30
- Drug stores / Pharmacies: 28
- Travel Websites: 23
- Health Insurance: 13
- Cable / Satellite TV: 1
- Internet Service: -1
CSAT Benchmark Scores by Industry
Customer satisfaction scores are typically represented as percentages. Respondents are generally asked to select a score from a range which is then converted into a percentage. The lower the score, the lower the level of customer satisfaction.
People often ask: What is a good CSAT score? As for other customer satisfaction metrics, it’s important to make comparisons with others in the same industry.
CSAT Average Scores by Industry 2018
The excellent American Customer Satisfaction Index website routinely publishes up to date CSAT metrics derived from multiple organisations across various sectors and industries. Here’s the list of average CSAT scores per industry derived for 2018..
- Airlines: 73
- Ambulatory Care: 77
- Apparel: 79
- Athletic Shoes: 79
- Automobiles and Light Vehicles: 82
- Banks: 81
- Breweries: 85
- Cellular Telephones: 79
- Computer Software: 79
- Consumer Shipping: 78
- Cooperative Energy Utilities: 75
- Credit Unions: 81
- Department and Discount Stores: 76
- Financial Advisors: 80
- Fixed-Line Telephone Service: 70
- Food Manufacturing: 82
- Full-Service Restaurants: 81
- Gasoline Stations: 74
- Health and Personal Care Stores: 77
- Health Insurance: 73
- Hospitals: 76
- Hotels: 76
- Household Appliances: 80
- Internet Investment Services: 79
- Internet News and Opinion: 75
- Internet Retail: 80
- Internet Search Engines and Information: 79
- Internet Service Providers: 62
- Internet Social Media: 72
- Internet Travel Services: 78
- Investor-Owned Energy Utilities: 73
- Life Insurance: 80
- Limited-Service Restaurants: 80
- Municipal Energy Utilities: 73
- Personal Care and Cleaning Products: 83
- Personal Computers: 77
- Property and Casualty Insurance: 81
- Soft Drinks: 82
- Specialty Retail Stores: 78
- Subscription Television Service: 62
- Supermarkets: 78
- Televisions and Video Players: 83
- U.S. Postal Service: 70
- Video Streaming Service: 75
- Video-on-Demand Service: 68
- Wireless Telephone Service: 74
Give Customer Thermometer a try in your customer programmes. Send yourself an example here:
