A frequent query our customers bring to us is, "What is a good industry benchmark to be aiming for?" If you're just getting started with establishing a customer experience metric (NPS/CSAT/5 Star) for your organization, having a jumping off point is a big help.
Before we dive in to specifics here, we believe it's worth mentioning that benchmarking data for measuring Customer Experience data can be tricky to compile and should probably be taken with a grain of salt. There are many variations in how companies choose who to survey and how to segment their NPS results, and near-infinite niches when trying to compare across any given industry.
This ambiguity is why we prefer the simple, true philosophy of
"A good NPS score is better than the one you had last week, last month, and/or last year."
Below, you will find some resources that you can find both inside and outside of your AskNicely platform that can help you with goal and expectation setting.
General Report
If you go to the Download button in the top right of AskNicely's Dashboard, right next to the TV Icon, you can download the "General Report."
In this report, we provide benchmarking data for the 12 industries that we track, compiled from both our own data set and our own research:
- Internet Software & Services
- Banking & Finance
- Healthcare
- Professional Services
- Consumer Goods & Services
- Consulting
- Hospitality
- Real Estate
- Recreation & Entertainment
- Construction & Manufacturing
- Government
If you are just starting out, this Report will have limited value, so our recommendation is to create a general "Touch Base" Relational Survey for all of your Contacts, let it run for 4-8 weeks to create your own NPS baseline score to use as a benchmark, then set targets & strategize for how you want to maintain or increase your overall score.
For a range of NPS scores, use multiple benchmarks. For example, for a travel company, you could use both pro services and hospitality.
2022 AN Benchmarking Update
In 2022, we conducted a benchmarking study using our own data with the above list of industries in mind. To request a summary that talks through what we learned, sign up here.
External Research
"The One Number You Need to Grow" by Fred Reichheld was the article that started it all in terms of NPS Surveying and the explosion of interest around measuring Customer Experience. The Ultimate Question 2.0 (Fred Reichheld & Rob Markey) sprung from this article and is generally regarded as the primary text for NPS research; you can go to your local library and borrow the book for free, or you can peruse their official "netpromoterscore.com" website in which you can read articles, pay for premium benchmarking content, and read interviews of industry leaders.
Many companies also have published NPS data. It is worth a quick query on your search engine of choice to see what is out there on who you regard as your competitors.