UK ISPs PlusNet, Sky and Virgin Media Win Top Net Promoter Scores

Satmetrix has today published their latest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for the United Kingdom’s largest broadband and mobile operators, which saw PlusNet, Virgin Media and Sky Broadband top the table ahead of their rivals.

The NPS is essentially a survey of over 2,000 adults that reflects customer views on ease of use, access to support, company reputation, treating customers fairly and value for money etc.

Sadly EE and Vodafone came bottom for both mobile and Internet services. EE scored -7 for mobile and -17 for internet, while Vodafone respectively scored -1 and -18.

Brendan Rocks, Satmetrix’s Head of Data Science, said:

“The Net Promoter leaders are more likely to enjoy high customer retention, lower customer acquisition costs, and ultimately benefit from more sustainable growth. Many of the companies at the bottom of the rankings have huge potential to improve, and Satmetrix’s research brings to light the areas of the customer experience where they lag competitors.”

The results can also be reflected as a % and in terms of customers who are most likely to promote an ISP or not etc. (see below).

Interestingly Satmetrix’s results stem from a wider survey of 11,000 UK customers, which ranked more than 60 brands across nine sectors including financial services, insurance, television, mobile and Internet providers. In this table both Tesco Mobile and PlusNet appear to win high praise.

Top 10 Net Promoter Scores across all sectors:
1. First Direct +73
2. Nationwide Building Society +43
3. Freeview +38 / Tesco Mobile +38 (tie)
4. Plusnet +37
5. LV +34 / Hargreaves Lansdown +34 (tie)
6. Santander credit cards +28 / Tesco Bank credit card +28 (tie)
7. Santander banking +27

On the flip side it’s worth remembering that a survey of over 2,000 people (mobile and Internet sector) isn’t really strong enough to gauge the quality of quite so many providers and obviously also excludes the often higher performing smaller operators. Take with the usual pinch of salt.