Written by
Gideon Aleonogwe
April 26, 2024
Trends and Insights in Digital Education
How to Measure Student Satisfaction and Loyalty Using NPS
Gideon Aleonogwe
November 21, 2023
The customer feedback-referral system is a central portion of any business that wants to thrive. And the online education industry is no different. Imagine turning every student into a brand ambassador. That's the power of mastering the feedback-referral system in online education.
In our experience, the average online course creator sees every student as a one-time income source. They focus on immediate reviews rather than cultivating lasting referrals—the real goldmine.
When you have sold to every prospective student possible, at least according to your marketing and reach, who then do you sell to? Ever thought of that?
On the surface, it might seem impossible to run out of students to sell to. Without a strategy focused on student satisfaction and referrals, even the largest audience can feel out of reach.
So, if you blindly market your course without considering if previous students consider them referral-worthy (what the industry calls Net Promoter Score), then you are in for a long ride. Instead, like we’ve stated in the social proof post, encourage referrals and ask them why they do it.
That’s the most straight-forward way to get the answers you want: why your previous students love your course so much that’d tell a friend, or why they won’t.
Below, we’ll explain how you can measure it and implement it as a course marketing strategy. But first, let’s take a look at what Net Promoter Score (NPS) is all about.
What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a tool originally developed to evaluate customer satisfaction within businesses. It's a method designed by Fred Reichheld and introduced in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article.
NPS is based on a single question:
How likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?
This simplicity and direct approach to measuring customer sentiment make NPS a valuable tool beyond the business world, extending into areas like online education.
Depending on what your students’ responses, you can categorise them into three groups:
Detractors (score 0-6): This class of students are not particularly thrilled by your course or feedback handling. They might not hinder your growth and sles through negative word-of-mouth.
Passives (score 7-8): While satisfied, these students are indifferent and could easily switch to a competitor who steps up their game.
Promoters (score 9-10): These are your enthusiastic students who are likely to enrol in more courses and encourage others to do the same.
As a course creator, it is important that you understand these categories because it shows you how students feel about your course.
Knowing who your Promoters, Passives, and Detractors are can influence how you approach marketing, course creation, and student interaction.
For instance, you could reach out to Promoters for testimonials or include them in your case studies, while you can ask Detractors for feedback so you know the areas that need improvement.
If you do this regularly and properly, you gain valuable insights into the overall health of your course, understand student needs better, and refine their offerings to maximise both educational impact and business success.
Here’s why tracking your Net Promoter Score is worth it:
1. Faster Student Feedback Loop
NPS simplifies the collection and analysis of feedback.
NPS helps educators gauge the overall student sentiment with just one question, “How likely are you to recommend this course to a friend?”
This approach makes data collection easier and feedback implementation a lot faster.
2. Increased Student Retention
You can refine your retention strategies if you understand why past students promote or detract from your courses.
If you address the concerns of Detractors and meet the needs of Passives, you can convert them into Promoters.
That way, you significantly increase the likelihood that they will tell others good things about your course.
The result? A stable revenue stream and reducing the churn rate.
3. Improved Course Quality and Relevance
Regular NPS tracking and monitoring provides insights into how students perceive the quality and relevance of your courses.
This feedback is especially invaluable if you want to stay relevant and meet the evolving needs of the market.
When you take action based on the feedback you get to occupy the sweet spot of student satisfaction and engagement.
4. Stronger Word-of-Mouth Marketing
A high NPS score means you have a healthy number of Promoters actively spreading positive word-of-mouth about your courses.
With many Promoters on your side, your marketing channel widens without additional costs. And they are more effective because their peers are more likely to trust what Promoters say over traditional advertising.
Such endorsements can significantly boost your course’s visibility and attractiveness.
5. Better Decision Making
Net Promoter Score provides clear indicators of what's working and what's not.
As a result, you can prioritise resource allocation and focus on high-impact areas that improve NPS scores.
This focus will increase student satisfaction and lead to better course sales and market position.
High NPS scores show that your courses meet (and exceed) student expectations, which, in turn, leads to higher retention rates and more positive word-of-mouth.
In the same vein, a low NPS is an emergency. It lets you know potential issues before they escalate, allowing you to take proactive interventions and improve the average learning experience.
Benefits of Net Promoter Score
How to Calculate Your Final Net Promoter Score in 4 Easy Steps
Calculating your Net Promoter Score is pretty straightforward.
1. Conduct the Survey
Start by asking your students the key NPS question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our course to a friend or colleague?"
Make sure this question is placed at a strategic point in the course, say after a test, module or at the end of the course.
When you ask the question at any of these points, you are more likely to get the most accurate reflection of the student's experience.
On the VarsityScape platform, this process is automated to show at these points. So you don’t have to worry about their placement.
2. Calculate the Percentages of Respondent Categories
Group students based on their responses into categories (Detractors, Passives, and Promoters) as we’ve earlier outlined.
Then, calculate the percentage of each category.
Ignore the Passives. They are indifferent about your course and have zero net impact on your course enrollment numbers.
3. Subtract the Percentage of Detractors from the Percentage of Promoters
Next, you subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.
The formula should look like this:
And here's a summary of all the steps:
Image via geckoboard
So, let’s say the 20% of students who responded to your survey are your Detractors, 20% Passives, and 60% Promoters. This makes:
NPS = 60 - 40 = 20
This means your final NPS equals 20
4. Interpret the Score
The final score will range from -100 to 100:
A score of 0 means that the number of Promoters and Detractors is equal.
A positive score indicates that there are more Promoters than Detractors, signifying more satisfaction and loyalty.
A negative score suggests more Detractors than Promoters, highlighting areas for improvement.
How to Analyse and Act Your NPS Score For Better Student Experience
So, what’s a good NPS score?
Here’s how Fred Reichheld grades NPS scores:
NPS greater than zero is good
NPS greater than or equal to 20 is favourable
NPS greater than or equal to 50 is excellent
NPS greater than or equal to 80 is world class
However, we’d advise you should aim for anything above 50 and work your way from there.
Remember that you are not taking Passives into account, so 50 means an overwhelming number of people find your course worth telling their peers about.
Whatever your NPS score is, where do you go from there?
This process involves a deep dive into the data, understanding the context behind the scores, and implementing changes that drive meaningful improvements.
Here’s how you can effectively analyse and utilise your NPS score:
1. Segment the Feedback
Break down the NPS responses into the three categories—Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
Then you look beyond the numbers to understand the qualitative reasons behind the ratings:
Looking into the Promoters category, check for the common feedback among them to recognise what is working well in your courses.
What specific elements do these students mention as reasons for their high scores? Take note of the common recurrent factor.
For Passives, Evaluate their reasons for discontent. Ask yourself, “What is missing or could be improved?”
Finally, Note the most common issues brought up by Detractors.
What specific aspects of the course or service are causing dissatisfaction? Is it something that is within or beyond your control?
2. Conduct Follow-Up Surveys or Interviews
Consider conducting follow-up surveys or interviews to gain deeper insights. Pay special attention to Passives and Detractors when doing so.
Use form apps like Google Forms and Typeform to ask open-ended questions.
Examples of such questions include:
Why did you give this score? This allows the student to give a more detailed feedback and the specific reasons for their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
What could we do to improve your experience? This prompts students to think about constructive feedback and suggestions that could make the course more engaging or effective for them.
Can you describe a moment or feature in the course that particularly impressed you or fell short of your expectations? This question encourages students to recall specific moments during the course that left a strong impression. This can help identify standout features or problematic areas.
3. Analyze Trends and Patterns
Look for the common issues across the feedback.
Are there particular modules or elements that consistently receive negative remarks? Also, note the aspects students find appealing.
Build upon them and introduce them into your marketing strategy, as you may have just found your unique value proposition.
If you have no idea what to look out for, research better performing courses to see what they are doing differently.
Do their video content have captions? Do they provide additional resources to improve students’ learning experience?
Answer these questions and compare them to your course content. You now know what to work on.
4. Prioritise Areas for Improvement
After identifying the trends, rank them on a scale and see which demands your immediate attention.
Prioritise issues that have the most impact on student learning and satisfaction.
For instance, if many Detractors complain about poor interaction in your online course then your primary focus should be applying interactive elements throughout your course.
For more info on what interactive elements to use and how, read the second second edition of our newsletter, VarsityScape Insights, here.
5. Develop an Action Plan
Next, you create a detailed action plan. Outline the steps needed to address the issues you’ve identified during the interview.
Set deadlines for each step of the plan. Timely implementation of students feedback show that you:
Care about their learning experience
Are committed to the final outcome
Serious about making impact
Your plan should also include plans to reinforce what is already working well, with the aim of converting Passives to Promoters.
6. Implement, Communicate & Monitor Results
Implement the necessary changes based on your action plan.
This could involve curriculum updates, changes in course delivery, enhanced student support services, or improvements in technology use.
Communicate changes to your students once they are made. You could use emails or place the info in the course documentation.
For better visibility, use both.
Regularly monitor how students receive these changes using new NPS scores and student feedback.
Using previous feedback and NPS scores means you are students’ reception of the new changes based on old responses. And you don’t want that.
7. Repeat the Process
NPS is not a one-time measurement. Always take time out to recalculate your NPS.
Regular analysis provides real-time info of how students feel about your course.
That is the only way you can continue to evolve and meet the expectations of your students, and maintain a high level of student satisfaction and loyalty.
Utilise NPS Today & Boost Student Loyalty and Satisfaction
You've just discovered how you can use Net Promoter Score (NPS) to improve student engagement and retention in your online courses. Now it's time to put this knowledge into action.
Start using NPS as part of your evaluation process right away. With VarsityScape you can track student reviews and ratings for seamless analysis. This will help you quickly understand where your courses stand in terms of student satisfaction without needing a suite of tools.
Test out NPS and see the difference firsthand. Keep what boosts your scores and refine what doesn't. This way, you'll enhance your educational offerings and connect more effectively with your students.
That’s how you build lasting loyalty and deepen student engagement. And ultimately, that’s the key to succeeding in the competitive world of online course creation.
Trends and Insights in Digital Education
How to Measure Student Satisfaction and Loyalty Using NPS
Gideon Aleonogwe
November 21, 2023
The customer feedback-referral system is a central portion of any business that wants to thrive. And the online education industry is no different. Imagine turning every student into a brand ambassador. That's the power of mastering the feedback-referral system in online education.
In our experience, the average online course creator sees every student as a one-time income source. They focus on immediate reviews rather than cultivating lasting referrals—the real goldmine.
When you have sold to every prospective student possible, at least according to your marketing and reach, who then do you sell to? Ever thought of that?
On the surface, it might seem impossible to run out of students to sell to. Without a strategy focused on student satisfaction and referrals, even the largest audience can feel out of reach.
So, if you blindly market your course without considering if previous students consider them referral-worthy (what the industry calls Net Promoter Score), then you are in for a long ride. Instead, like we’ve stated in the social proof post, encourage referrals and ask them why they do it.
That’s the most straight-forward way to get the answers you want: why your previous students love your course so much that’d tell a friend, or why they won’t.
Below, we’ll explain how you can measure it and implement it as a course marketing strategy. But first, let’s take a look at what Net Promoter Score (NPS) is all about.
What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a tool originally developed to evaluate customer satisfaction within businesses. It's a method designed by Fred Reichheld and introduced in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article.
NPS is based on a single question:
How likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?
This simplicity and direct approach to measuring customer sentiment make NPS a valuable tool beyond the business world, extending into areas like online education.
Depending on what your students’ responses, you can categorise them into three groups:
Detractors (score 0-6): This class of students are not particularly thrilled by your course or feedback handling. They might not hinder your growth and sles through negative word-of-mouth.
Passives (score 7-8): While satisfied, these students are indifferent and could easily switch to a competitor who steps up their game.
Promoters (score 9-10): These are your enthusiastic students who are likely to enrol in more courses and encourage others to do the same.
As a course creator, it is important that you understand these categories because it shows you how students feel about your course.
Knowing who your Promoters, Passives, and Detractors are can influence how you approach marketing, course creation, and student interaction.
For instance, you could reach out to Promoters for testimonials or include them in your case studies, while you can ask Detractors for feedback so you know the areas that need improvement.
If you do this regularly and properly, you gain valuable insights into the overall health of your course, understand student needs better, and refine their offerings to maximise both educational impact and business success.
Here’s why tracking your Net Promoter Score is worth it:
1. Faster Student Feedback Loop
NPS simplifies the collection and analysis of feedback.
NPS helps educators gauge the overall student sentiment with just one question, “How likely are you to recommend this course to a friend?”
This approach makes data collection easier and feedback implementation a lot faster.
2. Increased Student Retention
You can refine your retention strategies if you understand why past students promote or detract from your courses.
If you address the concerns of Detractors and meet the needs of Passives, you can convert them into Promoters.
That way, you significantly increase the likelihood that they will tell others good things about your course.
The result? A stable revenue stream and reducing the churn rate.
3. Improved Course Quality and Relevance
Regular NPS tracking and monitoring provides insights into how students perceive the quality and relevance of your courses.
This feedback is especially invaluable if you want to stay relevant and meet the evolving needs of the market.
When you take action based on the feedback you get to occupy the sweet spot of student satisfaction and engagement.
4. Stronger Word-of-Mouth Marketing
A high NPS score means you have a healthy number of Promoters actively spreading positive word-of-mouth about your courses.
With many Promoters on your side, your marketing channel widens without additional costs. And they are more effective because their peers are more likely to trust what Promoters say over traditional advertising.
Such endorsements can significantly boost your course’s visibility and attractiveness.
5. Better Decision Making
Net Promoter Score provides clear indicators of what's working and what's not.
As a result, you can prioritise resource allocation and focus on high-impact areas that improve NPS scores.
This focus will increase student satisfaction and lead to better course sales and market position.
High NPS scores show that your courses meet (and exceed) student expectations, which, in turn, leads to higher retention rates and more positive word-of-mouth.
In the same vein, a low NPS is an emergency. It lets you know potential issues before they escalate, allowing you to take proactive interventions and improve the average learning experience.
Benefits of Net Promoter Score
How to Calculate Your Final Net Promoter Score in 4 Easy Steps
Calculating your Net Promoter Score is pretty straightforward.
1. Conduct the Survey
Start by asking your students the key NPS question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our course to a friend or colleague?"
Make sure this question is placed at a strategic point in the course, say after a test, module or at the end of the course.
When you ask the question at any of these points, you are more likely to get the most accurate reflection of the student's experience.
On the VarsityScape platform, this process is automated to show at these points. So you don’t have to worry about their placement.
2. Calculate the Percentages of Respondent Categories
Group students based on their responses into categories (Detractors, Passives, and Promoters) as we’ve earlier outlined.
Then, calculate the percentage of each category.
Ignore the Passives. They are indifferent about your course and have zero net impact on your course enrollment numbers.
3. Subtract the Percentage of Detractors from the Percentage of Promoters
Next, you subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.
The formula should look like this:
And here's a summary of all the steps:
Image via geckoboard
So, let’s say the 20% of students who responded to your survey are your Detractors, 20% Passives, and 60% Promoters. This makes:
NPS = 60 - 40 = 20
This means your final NPS equals 20
4. Interpret the Score
The final score will range from -100 to 100:
A score of 0 means that the number of Promoters and Detractors is equal.
A positive score indicates that there are more Promoters than Detractors, signifying more satisfaction and loyalty.
A negative score suggests more Detractors than Promoters, highlighting areas for improvement.
How to Analyse and Act Your NPS Score For Better Student Experience
So, what’s a good NPS score?
Here’s how Fred Reichheld grades NPS scores:
NPS greater than zero is good
NPS greater than or equal to 20 is favourable
NPS greater than or equal to 50 is excellent
NPS greater than or equal to 80 is world class
However, we’d advise you should aim for anything above 50 and work your way from there.
Remember that you are not taking Passives into account, so 50 means an overwhelming number of people find your course worth telling their peers about.
Whatever your NPS score is, where do you go from there?
This process involves a deep dive into the data, understanding the context behind the scores, and implementing changes that drive meaningful improvements.
Here’s how you can effectively analyse and utilise your NPS score:
1. Segment the Feedback
Break down the NPS responses into the three categories—Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
Then you look beyond the numbers to understand the qualitative reasons behind the ratings:
Looking into the Promoters category, check for the common feedback among them to recognise what is working well in your courses.
What specific elements do these students mention as reasons for their high scores? Take note of the common recurrent factor.
For Passives, Evaluate their reasons for discontent. Ask yourself, “What is missing or could be improved?”
Finally, Note the most common issues brought up by Detractors.
What specific aspects of the course or service are causing dissatisfaction? Is it something that is within or beyond your control?
2. Conduct Follow-Up Surveys or Interviews
Consider conducting follow-up surveys or interviews to gain deeper insights. Pay special attention to Passives and Detractors when doing so.
Use form apps like Google Forms and Typeform to ask open-ended questions.
Examples of such questions include:
Why did you give this score? This allows the student to give a more detailed feedback and the specific reasons for their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
What could we do to improve your experience? This prompts students to think about constructive feedback and suggestions that could make the course more engaging or effective for them.
Can you describe a moment or feature in the course that particularly impressed you or fell short of your expectations? This question encourages students to recall specific moments during the course that left a strong impression. This can help identify standout features or problematic areas.
3. Analyze Trends and Patterns
Look for the common issues across the feedback.
Are there particular modules or elements that consistently receive negative remarks? Also, note the aspects students find appealing.
Build upon them and introduce them into your marketing strategy, as you may have just found your unique value proposition.
If you have no idea what to look out for, research better performing courses to see what they are doing differently.
Do their video content have captions? Do they provide additional resources to improve students’ learning experience?
Answer these questions and compare them to your course content. You now know what to work on.
4. Prioritise Areas for Improvement
After identifying the trends, rank them on a scale and see which demands your immediate attention.
Prioritise issues that have the most impact on student learning and satisfaction.
For instance, if many Detractors complain about poor interaction in your online course then your primary focus should be applying interactive elements throughout your course.
For more info on what interactive elements to use and how, read the second second edition of our newsletter, VarsityScape Insights, here.
5. Develop an Action Plan
Next, you create a detailed action plan. Outline the steps needed to address the issues you’ve identified during the interview.
Set deadlines for each step of the plan. Timely implementation of students feedback show that you:
Care about their learning experience
Are committed to the final outcome
Serious about making impact
Your plan should also include plans to reinforce what is already working well, with the aim of converting Passives to Promoters.
6. Implement, Communicate & Monitor Results
Implement the necessary changes based on your action plan.
This could involve curriculum updates, changes in course delivery, enhanced student support services, or improvements in technology use.
Communicate changes to your students once they are made. You could use emails or place the info in the course documentation.
For better visibility, use both.
Regularly monitor how students receive these changes using new NPS scores and student feedback.
Using previous feedback and NPS scores means you are students’ reception of the new changes based on old responses. And you don’t want that.
7. Repeat the Process
NPS is not a one-time measurement. Always take time out to recalculate your NPS.
Regular analysis provides real-time info of how students feel about your course.
That is the only way you can continue to evolve and meet the expectations of your students, and maintain a high level of student satisfaction and loyalty.
Utilise NPS Today & Boost Student Loyalty and Satisfaction
You've just discovered how you can use Net Promoter Score (NPS) to improve student engagement and retention in your online courses. Now it's time to put this knowledge into action.
Start using NPS as part of your evaluation process right away. With VarsityScape you can track student reviews and ratings for seamless analysis. This will help you quickly understand where your courses stand in terms of student satisfaction without needing a suite of tools.
Test out NPS and see the difference firsthand. Keep what boosts your scores and refine what doesn't. This way, you'll enhance your educational offerings and connect more effectively with your students.
That’s how you build lasting loyalty and deepen student engagement. And ultimately, that’s the key to succeeding in the competitive world of online course creation.
Trends and Insights in Digital Education
How to Measure Student Satisfaction and Loyalty Using NPS
Gideon Aleonogwe
November 21, 2023
The customer feedback-referral system is a central portion of any business that wants to thrive. And the online education industry is no different. Imagine turning every student into a brand ambassador. That's the power of mastering the feedback-referral system in online education.
In our experience, the average online course creator sees every student as a one-time income source. They focus on immediate reviews rather than cultivating lasting referrals—the real goldmine.
When you have sold to every prospective student possible, at least according to your marketing and reach, who then do you sell to? Ever thought of that?
On the surface, it might seem impossible to run out of students to sell to. Without a strategy focused on student satisfaction and referrals, even the largest audience can feel out of reach.
So, if you blindly market your course without considering if previous students consider them referral-worthy (what the industry calls Net Promoter Score), then you are in for a long ride. Instead, like we’ve stated in the social proof post, encourage referrals and ask them why they do it.
That’s the most straight-forward way to get the answers you want: why your previous students love your course so much that’d tell a friend, or why they won’t.
Below, we’ll explain how you can measure it and implement it as a course marketing strategy. But first, let’s take a look at what Net Promoter Score (NPS) is all about.
What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a tool originally developed to evaluate customer satisfaction within businesses. It's a method designed by Fred Reichheld and introduced in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article.
NPS is based on a single question:
How likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?
This simplicity and direct approach to measuring customer sentiment make NPS a valuable tool beyond the business world, extending into areas like online education.
Depending on what your students’ responses, you can categorise them into three groups:
Detractors (score 0-6): This class of students are not particularly thrilled by your course or feedback handling. They might not hinder your growth and sles through negative word-of-mouth.
Passives (score 7-8): While satisfied, these students are indifferent and could easily switch to a competitor who steps up their game.
Promoters (score 9-10): These are your enthusiastic students who are likely to enrol in more courses and encourage others to do the same.
As a course creator, it is important that you understand these categories because it shows you how students feel about your course.
Knowing who your Promoters, Passives, and Detractors are can influence how you approach marketing, course creation, and student interaction.
For instance, you could reach out to Promoters for testimonials or include them in your case studies, while you can ask Detractors for feedback so you know the areas that need improvement.
If you do this regularly and properly, you gain valuable insights into the overall health of your course, understand student needs better, and refine their offerings to maximise both educational impact and business success.
Here’s why tracking your Net Promoter Score is worth it:
1. Faster Student Feedback Loop
NPS simplifies the collection and analysis of feedback.
NPS helps educators gauge the overall student sentiment with just one question, “How likely are you to recommend this course to a friend?”
This approach makes data collection easier and feedback implementation a lot faster.
2. Increased Student Retention
You can refine your retention strategies if you understand why past students promote or detract from your courses.
If you address the concerns of Detractors and meet the needs of Passives, you can convert them into Promoters.
That way, you significantly increase the likelihood that they will tell others good things about your course.
The result? A stable revenue stream and reducing the churn rate.
3. Improved Course Quality and Relevance
Regular NPS tracking and monitoring provides insights into how students perceive the quality and relevance of your courses.
This feedback is especially invaluable if you want to stay relevant and meet the evolving needs of the market.
When you take action based on the feedback you get to occupy the sweet spot of student satisfaction and engagement.
4. Stronger Word-of-Mouth Marketing
A high NPS score means you have a healthy number of Promoters actively spreading positive word-of-mouth about your courses.
With many Promoters on your side, your marketing channel widens without additional costs. And they are more effective because their peers are more likely to trust what Promoters say over traditional advertising.
Such endorsements can significantly boost your course’s visibility and attractiveness.
5. Better Decision Making
Net Promoter Score provides clear indicators of what's working and what's not.
As a result, you can prioritise resource allocation and focus on high-impact areas that improve NPS scores.
This focus will increase student satisfaction and lead to better course sales and market position.
High NPS scores show that your courses meet (and exceed) student expectations, which, in turn, leads to higher retention rates and more positive word-of-mouth.
In the same vein, a low NPS is an emergency. It lets you know potential issues before they escalate, allowing you to take proactive interventions and improve the average learning experience.
Benefits of Net Promoter Score
How to Calculate Your Final Net Promoter Score in 4 Easy Steps
Calculating your Net Promoter Score is pretty straightforward.
1. Conduct the Survey
Start by asking your students the key NPS question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our course to a friend or colleague?"
Make sure this question is placed at a strategic point in the course, say after a test, module or at the end of the course.
When you ask the question at any of these points, you are more likely to get the most accurate reflection of the student's experience.
On the VarsityScape platform, this process is automated to show at these points. So you don’t have to worry about their placement.
2. Calculate the Percentages of Respondent Categories
Group students based on their responses into categories (Detractors, Passives, and Promoters) as we’ve earlier outlined.
Then, calculate the percentage of each category.
Ignore the Passives. They are indifferent about your course and have zero net impact on your course enrollment numbers.
3. Subtract the Percentage of Detractors from the Percentage of Promoters
Next, you subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.
The formula should look like this:
And here's a summary of all the steps:
Image via geckoboard
So, let’s say the 20% of students who responded to your survey are your Detractors, 20% Passives, and 60% Promoters. This makes:
NPS = 60 - 40 = 20
This means your final NPS equals 20
4. Interpret the Score
The final score will range from -100 to 100:
A score of 0 means that the number of Promoters and Detractors is equal.
A positive score indicates that there are more Promoters than Detractors, signifying more satisfaction and loyalty.
A negative score suggests more Detractors than Promoters, highlighting areas for improvement.
How to Analyse and Act Your NPS Score For Better Student Experience
So, what’s a good NPS score?
Here’s how Fred Reichheld grades NPS scores:
NPS greater than zero is good
NPS greater than or equal to 20 is favourable
NPS greater than or equal to 50 is excellent
NPS greater than or equal to 80 is world class
However, we’d advise you should aim for anything above 50 and work your way from there.
Remember that you are not taking Passives into account, so 50 means an overwhelming number of people find your course worth telling their peers about.
Whatever your NPS score is, where do you go from there?
This process involves a deep dive into the data, understanding the context behind the scores, and implementing changes that drive meaningful improvements.
Here’s how you can effectively analyse and utilise your NPS score:
1. Segment the Feedback
Break down the NPS responses into the three categories—Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.
Then you look beyond the numbers to understand the qualitative reasons behind the ratings:
Looking into the Promoters category, check for the common feedback among them to recognise what is working well in your courses.
What specific elements do these students mention as reasons for their high scores? Take note of the common recurrent factor.
For Passives, Evaluate their reasons for discontent. Ask yourself, “What is missing or could be improved?”
Finally, Note the most common issues brought up by Detractors.
What specific aspects of the course or service are causing dissatisfaction? Is it something that is within or beyond your control?
2. Conduct Follow-Up Surveys or Interviews
Consider conducting follow-up surveys or interviews to gain deeper insights. Pay special attention to Passives and Detractors when doing so.
Use form apps like Google Forms and Typeform to ask open-ended questions.
Examples of such questions include:
Why did you give this score? This allows the student to give a more detailed feedback and the specific reasons for their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
What could we do to improve your experience? This prompts students to think about constructive feedback and suggestions that could make the course more engaging or effective for them.
Can you describe a moment or feature in the course that particularly impressed you or fell short of your expectations? This question encourages students to recall specific moments during the course that left a strong impression. This can help identify standout features or problematic areas.
3. Analyze Trends and Patterns
Look for the common issues across the feedback.
Are there particular modules or elements that consistently receive negative remarks? Also, note the aspects students find appealing.
Build upon them and introduce them into your marketing strategy, as you may have just found your unique value proposition.
If you have no idea what to look out for, research better performing courses to see what they are doing differently.
Do their video content have captions? Do they provide additional resources to improve students’ learning experience?
Answer these questions and compare them to your course content. You now know what to work on.
4. Prioritise Areas for Improvement
After identifying the trends, rank them on a scale and see which demands your immediate attention.
Prioritise issues that have the most impact on student learning and satisfaction.
For instance, if many Detractors complain about poor interaction in your online course then your primary focus should be applying interactive elements throughout your course.
For more info on what interactive elements to use and how, read the second second edition of our newsletter, VarsityScape Insights, here.
5. Develop an Action Plan
Next, you create a detailed action plan. Outline the steps needed to address the issues you’ve identified during the interview.
Set deadlines for each step of the plan. Timely implementation of students feedback show that you:
Care about their learning experience
Are committed to the final outcome
Serious about making impact
Your plan should also include plans to reinforce what is already working well, with the aim of converting Passives to Promoters.
6. Implement, Communicate & Monitor Results
Implement the necessary changes based on your action plan.
This could involve curriculum updates, changes in course delivery, enhanced student support services, or improvements in technology use.
Communicate changes to your students once they are made. You could use emails or place the info in the course documentation.
For better visibility, use both.
Regularly monitor how students receive these changes using new NPS scores and student feedback.
Using previous feedback and NPS scores means you are students’ reception of the new changes based on old responses. And you don’t want that.
7. Repeat the Process
NPS is not a one-time measurement. Always take time out to recalculate your NPS.
Regular analysis provides real-time info of how students feel about your course.
That is the only way you can continue to evolve and meet the expectations of your students, and maintain a high level of student satisfaction and loyalty.
Utilise NPS Today & Boost Student Loyalty and Satisfaction
You've just discovered how you can use Net Promoter Score (NPS) to improve student engagement and retention in your online courses. Now it's time to put this knowledge into action.
Start using NPS as part of your evaluation process right away. With VarsityScape you can track student reviews and ratings for seamless analysis. This will help you quickly understand where your courses stand in terms of student satisfaction without needing a suite of tools.
Test out NPS and see the difference firsthand. Keep what boosts your scores and refine what doesn't. This way, you'll enhance your educational offerings and connect more effectively with your students.
That’s how you build lasting loyalty and deepen student engagement. And ultimately, that’s the key to succeeding in the competitive world of online course creation.
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Made with ❤️ by the VarsityScape Team
All Rights Reserved © 2023
Made with ❤️ by the VarsityScape Team
All Rights Reserved © 2023
Made with ❤️ by the VarsityScape Team