Net promoter score (NPS) is a loyalty measure based on one question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?" answered on a 0 to 10 scale. It subtracts the share of unhappy customers from the share of enthusiastic ones.
How NPS is measured
Sort every answer into three groups:
- Promoters: 9 or 10
- Passives: 7 or 8
- Detractors: 0 to 6
NPS = % Promoters − % Detractors
The result runs from −100 to +100. Passives count in the total but in neither group.
Say 200 customers answer. 110 give a 9 or 10, 60 give a 7 or 8, and 30 give 6 or below. That is 55% promoters and 15% detractors, so NPS = 55 − 15 = 40. Move 10 of those detractors up to passives and NPS rises to 45 without a single new promoter.
Why it matters
For a field service company, referrals and repeat work are a large share of new jobs. NPS is a rough proxy for how much of that you are earning. Because it asks about the relationship rather than one visit, it moves slowly. That is the point: it smooths out a single bad Tuesday and shows whether things are getting better over a quarter.
The weakness is the same. A low NPS tells you customers are unhappy, not why. Pair it with the follow-up question "What is the main reason for your score?" and with the job-level customer satisfaction score. Detractor comments in trades tend to cluster around a few themes: long waits, missed windows, repeat visits and price surprises. The first two are scheduling problems; the third shows up in your callback rate.
A common mistake
Chasing the score instead of the detractors. Asking technicians to coach customers ("anything less than a 10 counts against me") inflates the number and hides the problems. The useful work is calling detractors back, finding the cause and checking their service history for a pattern. How to handle that conversation is covered in the customer communication guide.
CrewLink does not send surveys or calculate NPS. Where scheduling causes detractors, its dispatch board only offers slots a crew can reach, which addresses the missed-window theme.
Related terms
- Customer satisfaction score measures a single interaction.
- Callback rate is a common hidden driver of detractors.
- On-time arrival rate is a scheduling input worth comparing against NPS by month.
Common questions
What is a good NPS for a home service company?
Any published benchmark depends on who was surveyed and how. Compare yourself against your own trend and fix the detractor themes you can control.
How often should you measure NPS?
Quarterly or after a set number of jobs is enough. It moves slowly, so measuring weekly mostly shows noise.
Can NPS be negative?
Yes. If more customers score 0 to 6 than 9 or 10, the score drops below zero.