Skip to main content
Find a Lawyer
Please enter a legal issue and/or a location
Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select

Find a Lawyer

More Options

Why Lawyers Should Know Their 'Net Promoter Score'

By Casey C. Sullivan, Esq. | Last updated on

What's your 'Net Promoter Score?' You don't know? Well, you should. A Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a measure of client loyalty, the odds that a client will come back or recommend you to others.

For an industry that relies so heavily on referrals, knowing your NPS is essential. And it's pretty easy to figure out, too.

Finding Your NPS

The NPS consumer loyalty metric was created (and trademarked) in the early 2000s as a way to gather straightforward, actionable data about customer satisfaction. The idea behind NPS is simple: ask your consumers just one question, "How willing are you to recommend my services to someone else?"

"By substituting a single question for the complex black box of the typical customer satisfaction survey, companies can actually put consumer survey results to use and focus employees on the task of stimulating growth," Frederick F. Reichheld, the Bain researcher behind NPS, explains.

Respondents are then broken up into three groups: promoters, passives, and detractors. Promoters aren't just loyalists, they're evangelists, the kinds of clients who bring you new business. Passives are satisfied with your services, but generally unenthusiastic. Detractors, well, detract. They probably won't come back and they might drive away other business.

To find your NPS, you simply subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. If 33 percent of your surveyed clients are promoters, seven percent are detractors, and 60 percent are passive, your NPS would be +26. (That's not a great score, by the way.)

As Easy as a Starbucks Gift Card

Net Promoter Scores are common in the business world, but they're a less well-known growth strategy in the law. But that's a shame, as we were recently reminded by Mary Juetten, CEO of TrakLight and co-founder of Evolve Law. Speaking at the ABA Techshow in Chicago this week, Juetten couldn't stop singing the praises of NPS, the ABA Journal reports.

"Net Promoter Score is a hugely valuable tool for lawyers, especially because they continue to be dependent on referrals and their reputations," Juetten said.

"It's the easiest, cheapest KPI," she explained, referring to Key Performance Indicators. And she's right. The survey is dead simple, tracking the results is easy, and the math needed to calculate an NPS is so basic even a lawyer could do it.

And if you're worried about putting off customers by badgering them for feedback, one attendee had a suggestion: offer a free Starbucks gift card if they fill out the form.

Related Resources:

Was this helpful?

You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help

Meeting with a lawyer can help you understand your options and how to best protect your rights. Visit our attorney directory to find a lawyer near you who can help.

Or contact an attorney near you:
Copied to clipboard