Use NPS to monitor. Use The Market Verdict™ to diagnose.
NPS measures how likely customers say they are to recommend you. It can’t tell you why, or what role you play in their lives.
Net Promoter Score asks one question: how likely are you to recommend us? It measures reported likelihood to recommend, and it's useful for tracking that over time. What it can't tell you on its own is why people answer as they do, or what role you play in their lives.
A high score can hide a brand that's drifting. Customers may love you for a reason you're about to change. A low score can hide a loyal core group you're ignoring.
That's because NPS records what people say they would do, when asked. The strongest evidence about a brand is behavior: who comes back, who pays more, who refers someone without being asked, and who leaves.
We use a simple order of evidence. What customers did beats what they said. What they said unprompted beats what they said when asked. What your team believes is not evidence at all. It's the thing being tested.
Keep your NPS. The Market Verdict complements it: it examines what customers actually do, and the possible explanations for that behavior, so you can test what the score alone can't tell you. The question that matters most is still: what do customers actually rely on us for?