Net Promoter System

What Net Promoter System does

Net Promoter System is a management methodology and consulting framework for building customer loyalty, created by Fred Reichheld and operated by Bain & Company. Introduced through a 2003 Harvard Business Review article, the system centers on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) — a single-question survey metric that classifies customers into Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), and Detractors (0-6) based on their likelihood to recommend. The broader framework encompasses closed-loop feedback processes, the Golden Rule philosophy, employee engagement via Employee NPS, and the Earned Growth Rate (EGR) accounting metric introduced in NPS 3.0 (2021). The product portfolio includes NPS Prism (a cross-industry benchmarking platform), NPSx (a 60+ dimension customer-centricity analysis), the Customer Love Quiz (an interactive self-assessment), and the Global CX Standards framework (launched 2024 with Kantar and Qualtrics). Supporting assets include five published books, the Customer Confidential podcast (over 260 episodes), the NPS Loyalty Forum, and the CXRA accreditation service.

The company generates revenue through three primary streams: Bain & Company consulting engagements that implement the NPS framework, executive workshops and speaking engagements ($25,000–$50,000 per event), and commercial NPS trademark licensing. Distribution is primarily direct enterprise sales through Bain's consulting practice, supplemented by the NPS Loyalty Forum community and content marketing (books, LinkedIn thought leadership by Fred Reichheld, quarterly Loyalty Insights newsletter). The system is used by approximately two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies across financial services, airlines, telecommunications, retail, technology, and industrial sectors. NPS-related trademarks are jointly held by Bain & Company, NICE Systems, and Fred Reichheld. The business is wholly embedded within Bain & Company and does not operate as a standalone entity with disclosed financials.

Name

Net Promoter System

Legal name

Bain & Company, Inc.

Website

https://netpromotersystem.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Net Promoter System is a customer loyalty methodology and consulting framework operated by Bain & Company, centered on the Net Promoter Score metric. It serves enterprise clients across industries, used by two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies, with revenue from consulting, workshops, and trademark licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Customer Experience & Loyalty Management Consulting

NAICS

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (533)

SIC

Services-Services, Nec (8900)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Experience (CX) & Voice of Customer (NPS/CSAT, Journey Research) (MPAAALAH)

Keywords

• Customer loyalty management
• Net Promoter Score
• Customer experience consulting
• Loyalty benchmarking
• Employee engagement metrics

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Speaking Engagements: Authors conduct speaking engagements at corporate events with fees ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 depending on location and duration.
2. Executive Workshops: Senior executive workshops conducted by book authors on implementing the Net Promoter System. Custom workshop pricing is available upon inquiry.
3. NPS Licensing: Commercial use of NPS trademarks requires a license from Bain & Company. License is required for any commercial endeavor using NPS marks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Net Promoter System is a customer loyalty management methodology and consulting framework that uses a single-question survey ("Would you recommend us?") on a 0-10 scale to classify customers as Promoters, Passives, or Detractors. It encompasses the NPS metric, closed-loop feedback processes, the Earned Growth Rate financial measure, and organizational culture transformation principles (the Golden Rule). Bain & Company delivers the framework through consulting engagements, executive workshops, speaking engagements, NPS licensing, and the NPS Loyalty Forum.

Product overview

Net Promoter System is a consulting methodology and management framework developed by Bain & Company for building customer loyalty and driving profitable organic growth. The core offering centers on the Net Promoter Score (NPS) - a single-question metric measuring customer loyalty through likelihood-to-recommend scores. This is embedded within the broader Net Promoter System framework that includes closed-loop feedback processes, cultural transformation principles, and the Earned Growth Rate metric. The portfolio includes benchmarking tools (NPS Prism), employee engagement solutions (Employee NPS), predictive analytics (Predictive NPS), interactive assessment tools (Customer Love Quiz), and the Global CX Standards framework developed with Kantar and Qualtrics. Supporting resources include foundational books (Winning on Purpose, The Ultimate Question 2.0), the Customer Confidential Podcast, the NPS Loyalty Forum community, and CXRA accreditation services. NPSx provides additional analytical depth with 60+ dimensions and eight pillars.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NPS Prism: Bain's CX benchmarking platform providing unbiased Net Promoter Scores for companies and their competitors to help grow loyalty.
• Customer Love Quiz
• Earned Growth Rate
• Customer Confidential Podcast

Products and services

• Net Promoter System Consulting Framework A comprehensive management framework for building customer loyalty and organic growth, encompassing the Net Promoter Score methodology, closed-loop feedback processes, and cultural principles centered on treating customers with care. Delivered through Bain & Company consulting engagements to enterprise clients.
• NPS Prism

Quantifiable outcome

• NPS leaders outperformed stock market by 2.8x over 10 years (2011-2020)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• KantarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024In 2024, Bain & Company collaborated with Kantar and Qualtrics to create Global CX Standards, the first-ever cross-industry initiative to introduce a common language for excellence in customer experience.
• QualtricscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Bain collaborated with Qualtrics as part of the Global CX Standards initiative in 2024, working together to establish common frameworks and standards for customer experience measurement.
• NICE Systems, Inc.coreOthersNICE Systems, Inc. is a co-owner of the NPS trademarks alongside Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld. This is a trademark licensing and ownership arrangement.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bain & Company: Parent organization and delivery vehicle for the Net Promoter System. Bain's Customer Strategy & Marketing practice implements NPS, and the NPS trademarks are registered to Bain.
• McKinsey & Company: Top-tier management consulting peer with its own CustomerOne and growth-loyalty practices, competing with Bain for CX transformation engagements.
• Forrester Research: Major CX research and advisory firm producing the Wave reports and Voice of Customer suites that compete with NPS Prism for benchmarking budgets and analyst mindshare.
• Gartner: Global CX advisory whose Magic Quadrant and customer experience research compete with Bain's NPS benchmarking for enterprise benchmarking and consulting budgets.

Direct peers

• Qualtrics: Enterprise CX platform that natively captures NPS and is a co-developer with Bain of the Global CX Standards initiative. Most direct product overlap on NPS data collection and benchmarking.
• Medallia: Enterprise CX platform competing directly with NPS-based programs through customer experience analytics, text/speech analytics, and closed-loop action management.
• CustomerGauge: NPS-specialized enterprise software platform offering account-level NPS, closed-loop workflows, and benchmarking - directly competing with NPS consulting engagements.
• NICE Systems: Co-owner of NPS trademarks and a major CX/contact-center analytics vendor. Direct overlap with NPS through IP ownership and customer feedback technology.

Emerging players

• InMoment: Integrated CX platform combining survey-based NPS capture with unstructured feedback analytics, increasingly competing with NPS-based programs.

Others

• Kantar: Global market research and CX benchmarking firm partnering with Bain on Global CX Standards. Provides cross-industry benchmarking data that complements NPS Prism.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NetPromoterSys
• YouTubeopen.spotify.com/show/4pZ1vvrYtRvACRSvREjz8d
• Facebookfacebook.com/bainandcompany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bain-and-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Net Promoter System