Leisure-net and The Retention People (TRP) are to carry out the health, fitness and leisure sector's biggest customer service survey.

The research, which will take place in September, will use a new customer service tool that simplifies the way the health, fitness and leisure industry measures its success.

The Net Promoter Score® (NPS), branded 'The Ultimate Question for your Customers', is a way of revealing the satisfaction and loyalty of members in just one question. The metric has been proven across more than 12 different industries and is used by several of the world's top brands including Apple and Amazon. It has been directly linked to business growth, profitability and increased use of product. Leisure-net Solutions, the leading customer insight provider to the active leisure sector, is one of only three research companies certified to deliver NPS to its clients in the UK.

Leisure-net Solutions, alongside retention solutions provider TRP, which will host the research, will offer the NPS survey free of charge to more than 400 public and private operators in order to create a powerful industry benchmark. Each operator will receive a complementary report benchmarking its score against the sector and the industry average.

Mike Hill, Managing Director of Leisure-net Solutions said: "This survey is the largest of its kind ever carried out and will give operators a true snapshot of where they sit within the sector in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as how they compare to companies outside of Leisure."

A Net Promoter Score is obtained by asking customers a single question on a 0 to 10 rating scale: "How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Based on their responses, customers can be categorised into one of three groups: Promoters (9-10 rating), Passives (7-8 rating), and Detractors (0-6 rating). The percentage of Detractors is subtracted from the percentage of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter score. A score of 75 per cent or above is considered quite high.

Research shows that the health and fitness sector's average NPS is just 34 per cent , with a Promoter score of 54 per cent and a Detractor score of 20 per cent. Alister Rollins, CEO of TRP added: "NPS's main benefit is that it gives organisations a single customer service objective of creating more 'Promoters' and fewer 'Detractors' - ideal for retention and far simpler to act upon than complicated and hard-to-understand satisfaction metrics or indices."

Leisure-net Solutions is also introducing NPS to all clients during the next 12 months, replacing or complementing more complicated satisfaction surveys, as well as delivering the product via email based surveys.

Operators can sign up to take part in the survey via The Retention People website at www.theretentionpeople.com.