What is NPS (Net Promoter Score) and how do you measure it?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a simple measure of how likely customers are to recommend your product. Its one-question format makes it easy to run and gives a quick read on loyalty.

How it is calculated

Customers are asked: "How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend or colleague, from 0 to 10?"

• 9–10: Promoters — loyal customers who recommend you
• 7–8: Passives — satisfied but easily lured by competitors
• 0–6: Detractors — unhappy customers who may speak negatively

NPS = % promoters − % detractors

It ranges from −100 to +100. If 50 percent are promoters and 20 percent detractors, NPS is 30.

When and to whom

• Once customers have experienced the product enough (for example after the first month)
• At regular intervals (such as quarterly) to the same segments
• Separately after key interactions (a support ticket, a renewal)

Do not survey the same person too often.

The open question

After the score, always ask: "What is the main reason for your score?" The real value is in recurring themes in these answers.

Interpreting results

• Look at trends over time and segments rather than one score: customer size, tenure, plan.
• Cross-industry comparisons can mislead; compare with your own history.
• With low response rates, results are less representative.

Improving NPS

1. Follow up with detractors: understand and fix the problem; this reduces churn.
2. Turn passives into promoters: learn what they find missing.
3. Activate promoters: invite them to references, reviews and referral programmes.
4. Feed themes into the product: add top complaints to the product roadmap.

Limits

NPS alone is not enough. Read it alongside retention, usage and revenue; see our product-market fit guide.

Conclusion

NPS is a simple way to listen to customers regularly. The value lies less in the score than in what you improve afterwards. For support processes, see our customer support guide.