What Is Net Promoter Score?

How do the best companies truly know they’re doing right by their customers? Is it repeat business, referrals, long-term loyalty—or something deeper about how customers feel after every interaction?

That question has challenged organizations for decades, and in 2003, Fred Reichheld introduced a new way to answer it by coining the term Net Promoter Score (NPS). His goal was simple but powerful: create a clear, honest measure of how well a company serves the people who rely on it. Over time, that score has evolved into a widely trusted indicator of customer experience across industries.

At its core, NPS is a single-question customer satisfaction survey that asks customers to rate their experience on a scale from zero to 10. Those responses fall into three categories—unhappy customers (detractors), satisfied customers (passives), and loyal advocates (promoters). While the question is simple, the insight behind it is anything but.

Why Does It Matter? 

• NPS offers businesses powerful insights into their customers' feelings about their brand and services. A score of 50 is considered a good score and company scores are calculated by using the formula Promoters - Detractors = NPS Score.

• Detractors can be utilized to improve communication with customers and work on solutions for processes that aren't working or need adjustments to meet customer needs. 

• Passives tend to not feel one way or the other, but it's important to find out what will take them to the promoter level, what is making them stay neutral? 

• Promoters provide positive feedback. These customers are the most likely to share positive information about a brand. Promoters can help boost a businesses growth because they are sharing the best information about the brand. Some may be willing to appear in marketing or social media promoting the company. 

Purple Wave Auction values and listens to their customers. Over the past several years the company has utilized the Net Promoter Score or NPS as a way to gauge how the community feels at Purple Wave. It's always great to get a perfect 10, the highest promoter score, but getting honest feedback from customers allows for improvements and by implementing NPS, the company has set a lighthouse metric for customer success.

How Does Purple Wave Use NPS? 

• Purple Wave began utilizing NPS in 2019 to get a clear pulse on customer sentiment. It has become our most valuable source of feedback and a primary way we measure customer experience and performance.

• NPS has been a company goal every year for the last three years, showcasing just how much weight it has in company decisions, not only at the executive level, but across all departments. 

• The company is always looking for ways to make the customer experience better for both buyers and sellers, so using this score provides honest feedback to know how users feel and where there is a need for improvement. 

• Purple Wave places a high value in the satisfaction of customers (buyers or sellers).

• Purple Wave’s NPS consistently lands in the mid-60s—well above industry averages—reflecting a commitment to raising the bar and continuing to be the best solution and industry leader in equipment auctions. The survey is randomly generated on our website, giving customers an easy, unbiased way to share their experience.

Addressing The Results and Continuous Improvement

When a customer is registered and logged in to their account at purplewave.com periodically a pop-up survey will display for them to fill out . Purple Wave also sends out the survey to customers via email. 

"NPS scores can be challenging for online auctions," said York Hekel, Vice President of Customer Service. "We're selling used equipment at no-reserve, and we're doing it fast. When you have over 20 participants bidding on a single piece of equipment, there's only one buyer—not everyone walks away happy. But that's exactly why we listen. The customers who score us low aren't wrong; they're telling us where we need to be better. And the ones who give us a 10 after winning a piece of heavy equipment? Those are the scores we've earned."

While Purple Wave appreciates the insight to the survey scores, the feedback provided is the most important thing to see, allowing for improvement to processes, systems and overall customer service. It allows the company to hear customers wants and needs while understanding where to make adjustments.

The company takes the survey responses very seriously and meets once a week to discuss it in depth. Purple Wave was founded on transparency to their buyers and sellers and strives to be the gold standard in online auctions. Not only is customer service focusing on feedback, sales leadership is actively reviewing and communicating with their seller segment. NPS scores are shared within the company communication log so every department can stay aligned on where the company stands with its customers.

The company has utilized NPS surveys and scores to implement new features. A few examples include adding a Sales Tax section to the website on the item page for more transparency, actively improving listing descriptions and mobile views, and working to clear sold items from a customer's watchlist after the event. 

"Purple Wave believes in the NPS process so much that we have implemented it for our employees," said Vice President of Customer Service, York Hekel. "We can gauge how our employees feel and what improvements we need to make to help them have a better internal experience." 

At Purple Wave, NPS is more than a score—it’s a reflection of our commitment to transparency and trust in a two-sided marketplace that serves both buyers and sellers. Every insight gained helps to improve how connections are made between people, equipment, and opportunity. Thoughtful listening and intentional action drive a better experience for all, reinforcing trust, transparency, and the growth of the most powerful equipment marketplace.