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Transactional NPS vs Relationship NPS Transactional

Transactional NPS® vs Relationship NPS®

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Table of Contents

What is NPS®?

Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®, is a metric that is used to measure customer satisfaction by identifying how likely customers are to recommend a company or its products to others. NPS® surveys generally take the form of a single question survey that includes a variation of the following question; ‘on a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our products to others?’. Responses to this question are used to calculate the NPS® score which reflects customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

Within this article, we will explore the two main types of NPS® to get an understanding of which one is best suited to the requirements of your business. 

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Types of NPS®

Transactional NPS vs Relationship NPS Transactional

There are two main types of NPS® and they are transactional NPS® and relationship NPS®. Let’s take a look at the two to understand what they are and when they should be used. 

  • Transactional NPS®:

Transactional NPS® aims to collect data on customer satisfaction at a more granular level by sending surveys after specific touchpoints within the customer journey. This information allows organizations to identify customer satisfaction at specific interactions, which helps identify pain points and gaps between customer expectations and customer experience. 

  • Relationship NPS®:

Relationship NPS® surveys are sent to customers periodically (weekly, monthly, annually) so that organizations can gauge overall customer satisfaction in regard to their organization.

When is Transactional NPS® Used?

Transactional NPS vs Relationship NPS Transactional

Transactional NPS® provides businesses with touchpoint-specific information regarding customer satisfaction. It is therefore used when businesses want to collect customer feedback on certain business transactions. 

For example, your organization may want to find out whether your customers are having a good experience when making purchases on your online website. To do so, you may send your customers an NPS® survey on your website right after they make a purchase. This survey is transactional in nature as it is designed to measure satisfaction levels at a particular touchpoint within the customer journey. 

Transactional NPS® surveys often use specific questions and wordings that mention the transaction. Therefore, instead of asking how likely they are to recommend the business or its products in general, the following question may be asked; “Based on your purchase experience, how likely are you to recommend our products to others?”. This question is followed by a scale from 0 to 10 so that customers can indicate their likelihood to do so.

When is Relationship NPS® Used?

Relationship NPS®, also sometimes referred to as regular NPS®, is designed to assess the relationship between your business and its customers. It helps identify customer satisfaction in regard to the cumulative experiences a customer has had with your business. 

It is important to note that relationship surveys are sent to customers on a scheduled basis, such as quarterly or bi-annually, and are therefore not tied to any specific customer interaction or event. 

Unlike transactional NPS® surveys, relationship NPS® surveys use general and nonspecific questions and wordings that do not allude to any specific interaction. A relationship NPS® question is standard and looks somewhat like this; “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our products to others?”. 

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Key Differences Between Transactional NPS® and Relationship NPS®

Transactional NPS vs Relationship NPS Transactional

Let’s take a look at the key differences between relationship NPS® and transactional NPS®: 

  1. Survey Objective: Transactional NPS® surveys collect touchpoint-specific information and therefore their objective is to identify the areas within the customer journey that influence customer engagement. Relationship NPS® surveys, on the other hand, are used to collect information on a larger scale, and their objective is to gauge customer loyalty as a result of the customer’s cumulative experiences with the organizations. 
  2. Type of Feedback: Feedback collected through transactional NPS® surveys is immediate and provides businesses with information on how consumers feel about a product/service right after using it. Relationship NPS®surveys aim to measure the overall satisfaction a customer has derived from interacting with the brand over a prolonged period of time. 
  3. Customer Journey: Transactional NPS® surveys are dynamic in nature and are sent to customers through many different channels, sometimes through the same channel where the touchpoint has taken place. Relationship NPS® surveys are not as dynamic as they are pre-planned surveys. They are scheduled to be sent to customers at specific time intervals and are sent through channels where the customers are most accessible. 
  4. Survey Timing: Relationship surveys are sent to customers at particular time intervals (monthly, weekly, yearly) to collect information on their overall perception of the company, whereas transactional NPS® surveys are sent to customers right after a particular interaction to collect information on their recent experience with the company.

FAQs on tNPS® and rNPS®

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a customer satisfaction metric that is measured using a single question survey in which customers are asked how likely they are to recommend a company’s products or services to others. Survey results are then used to calculate what is known as the ‘NPS score’.

There are two main types of NPS, namely transactional NPS and relationship NPS.

The key difference between rNPS and tNPS is that rNPS is used to measure customer satisfaction in regard to a customer’s overall experience with a company and tNPS is used to measure customer satisfaction in regard to a specific touchpoint within the customer journey. 

Transactional NPS is used when businesses want to assess customer satisfaction in regard to a certain touchpoint within the customer journey. 

 Relationship NPS is used when businesses want to assess customer satisfaction and loyalty based on customers’ cumulative experiences with their brand. 

Net Promoter®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score℠ and Net Promoter System℠ are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.

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