Net Promoter Score
Also: NPS, Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend a brand, then subtracting detractors from promoters.
What It Is
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric based on a single survey question: "How likely are you to recommend this product, service, or company to a friend or colleague?" Respondents answer on a scale from 0 to 10.
Responses are grouped into three categories:
- Promoters (9 to 10): Loyal enthusiasts who keep buying and refer others.
- Passives (7 to 8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic, vulnerable to competitors.
- Detractors (0 to 6): Unhappy customers who can damage your brand through negative word of mouth.
The score is calculated as:
NPS = % Promoters minus % Detractors
The result ranges from -100 to +100. Passives count toward the total respondents but do not directly affect the score.
Why it matters
NPS gives marketing leaders a simple, comparable signal of customer sentiment and growth potential. Because it is standardized, it can be tracked over time, benchmarked against competitors, and rolled up across regions or product lines. A rising NPS often correlates with retention, repeat purchases, and organic referral growth, which lowers acquisition cost.
Its simplicity is also its limitation. NPS tells you *how* customers feel but not *why*, so it works best paired with follow-up questions and other metrics.
How it is used in practice
- Relationship NPS: Measured periodically (for example quarterly) to gauge overall brand loyalty.
- Transactional NPS: Triggered after a specific interaction (purchase, support call) to assess that touchpoint.
- Closing the loop: Teams follow up with detractors to resolve issues and with promoters to encourage referrals or reviews.
- Segmentation: Scores are broken down by persona, plan tier, or channel to find where loyalty breaks down.
Concrete Example
A SaaS company surveys 200 customers. 120 respond with 9 or 10 (Promoters), 50 respond with 7 or 8 (Passives), and 30 respond with 0 to 6 (Detractors).
- % Promoters = 120 / 200 = 60%
- % Detractors = 30 / 200 = 15%
- NPS = 60 minus 15 = +45
A score of +45 is generally considered strong. The team would then read open-text comments from detractors to prioritize fixes and ask promoters to leave public reviews.
Frequently asked questions
How is Net Promoter Score calculated?
Net Promoter Score is the percentage of Promoters (customers scoring 9 or 10) minus the percentage of Detractors (0 to 6), on a survey question asking how likely someone is to recommend a product or company. The result ranges from -100 to +100. Passives, who score 7 or 8, count in the respondent base but do not move the score directly.
What counts as a good NPS score?
There is no universal threshold, but a score around +45 is generally considered strong. Because NPS is standardized, its real value comes from comparison: your own trend over time, and benchmarks against competitors or across regions and product lines. An absolute number without a point of comparison tells you very little.
What is the difference between relationship NPS and transactional NPS?
Relationship NPS is measured periodically, for example quarterly, to track overall brand loyalty. Transactional NPS is triggered right after a specific interaction such as a purchase or a support call, and measures that touchpoint. Most teams run both: one for the trend, one to diagnose where in the journey loyalty breaks down.
Why is NPS criticized as a standalone metric?
NPS tells you how customers feel but not why, since it rests on a single rating question. It also compresses very different situations into one number: a company with many promoters and many detractors can score the same as one with mostly passives. Pair it with open-text follow-up questions and retention or repeat-purchase data before drawing conclusions.
What should a team do with detractors and promoters once the score is in?
Close the loop. Contact detractors to understand and resolve the issue, using their open-text comments to prioritize product or service fixes, and ask promoters for referrals, reviews, or case studies. Segmenting scores by persona, plan tier, or acquisition channel shows exactly where loyalty breaks down instead of leaving you with one global figure.