Is Your NPS a Bad Idea? Or Are You Missing a Crucial Shift in Perspective?

Looking at responses on a 0 to 10 scale, customers who gave 0 to 6 scores weren’t very loyal. They didn’t spend much and often needed a lot of service, which made them a costly group. Scores of 7 and 8 showed some positive sentiment but no strong loyalty or growth. But the 9s and 10s? They behaved differently. They stayed longer, spent more, and actively recommended.

So, the NPS formula was created: subtract the percentage of detractors (0 to 6) from promoters (9 to 10). The higher the number, the better.

But here’s what often gets overlooked:

That number is abstract.+15? -24? It doesn’t say much on its own.

You could just say, “Our average likelihood to recommend is 7.2 out of 10,” which is clearer and says the same thing. For most companies, that number barely changes anyway.

The NPS and Trust Link

What wasn’t examined enough is the connection between trust and NPS. It’s obvious when you think about it.

Why do people recommend someone? Why do they stay loyal, spend more, and keep coming back? Because they trust them.

You don’t need a new metric to see this. When you compare a customer’s likelihood to recommend with their level of trust, the scores are often very similar. In financial services, the correlation is around 0.78, which is a strong link.

That means leadership teams should focus on the root cause: trust, instead of chasing an abstract number many find confusing. Few realise that: “The more someone trusts you, the more likely they are to recommend you.” That’s the engine behind your NPS.

Trust Is the Starting Point

That’s where we started. Data showed trust drives customer value. But the missing piece was how to measure and understand trust.

So we looked deeper.

Through hundreds of in-depth interviews, we explored how people experience trust in people, organisations, brands, and products. We found we don’t just “trust.” We trust for specific reasons, and those reasons fit into patterns.

Those patterns became TrustLogic®, a way to measure trust across six clear areas. Each customer forms an overall judgement: 6.3, 8.1, 7.5. It’s not vague. It’s logical and measurable.

From Theory to Action

We’re not saying don’t measure likelihood to recommend. It’s a useful proxy for trust. And since many organisations already use NPS, it makes sense to work with it. But it’s more meaningful to say: “Our customers trust us at a 7.5 level,” than,“ Our NPS is +7.”

The real point is this:

If you want to improve your NPS, you have to build more trust.

That’s the mindset shift. That’s where real progress begins.

People trust for specific reasons, across six specific areas. Once you understand what your customers currently trust you for, what they struggle to trust, and what they want to trust you for, you can create focused actions that build trust where it matters.

That’s what moves the needle. That’s what TrustLogic® was built to deliver.

Let's talk.