What Is Net Promoter Score (NPS)? How to Calculate & Use It

If you’re looking to understand customer loyalty and measure customer experience effectively, you’ve probably come across Net Promoter Score (NPS). I want to show you how this simple metric can tell you whether your customers are happy or unhappy, and how it can guide your business decisions.

By the end of this blog, you’ll know how to calculate NPS, interpret your net promoter score, and even use NPS software to make it easier.

What Is a Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

Net promoter score is a metric that helps you measure customer loyalty and see how likely your customers are to recommend your business to others. The beauty of NPS is that it’s easy but gives you powerful insights into your customer experience.

The standard NPS question is usually something like: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?” Based on their customer responses, you can categorize them into promoters, passives, and detractors, which helps you understand customer sentiment and identify areas to improve.

In fact, according to Forbes, 45% of U.S. companies use Net Promoter Score to measure their customers' loyalty. This widespread adoption underscores the effectiveness of NPS in gauging customer satisfaction and guiding business strategies.

Understanding the Three Types of NPS

Once you ask the NPS question, responses generally fall into three categories: promoters, passives, and detractors. Knowing the difference between them can help you see the full picture of customer loyalty and customer experience.

1. Promoters: These are your happy customers, typically giving a score of 9 or 10. They are enthusiastic, likely to recommend your business, and often become repeat buyers.
2. Passives: These customers usually give you a score of 7 or 8. They’re satisfied but not fully loyal, so they’re less likely to actively promote your brand.
3. Detractors: The people that give you a score of 0 to 6. These customers are unhappy and might share negative feedback, which can impact your reputation.

By tracking the proportion of each group, you can understand your customer sentiment, identify potential risks, and find opportunities to improve customer journeys. Many businesses track their overall NPS score to monitor trends over time and focus on strategies that turn detractors into promoters.

How Does NPS Work?

NPS works by turning customer feedback into a clear, actionable metric. Monitoring changes in your NPS score over time shows what resonates with customers and what needs attention.

According to CustomerGauge's 2025 NPS Benchmarks, the average score across industries is approximately 40, serving as a reference for assessing customer loyalty.

Pairing NPS surveys with feedback analysis helps businesses uncover the reasons behind scores. This insight allows for informed improvements that enhance customer retention and strengthen the overall customer experience.

Where Is NPS Used?

Net promoter score (NPS) is more than just a number, it’s a versatile tool that businesses across industries rely on to understand customer loyalty and improve customer experience.

Here’s where NPS is commonly applied:

• Tracking Customer Satisfaction: Companies use NPS surveys to monitor respondent feedback and assess overall satisfaction over time.
• Customer Retention Programs: Identifying NPS detractors helps address issues with unhappy customers, while promoters can be engaged to strengthen your customer base.
• Product and Service Improvements: Businesses analyze NPS data to prioritize changes that enhance the customer experience.
• Company-Wide Metrics: Many organizations integrate NPS into every survey and track overall score as part of the net promoter system to guide strategy and improve customer loyalty.

How to Calculate Net Promoter Score?

After understanding where NPS can be applied, the next step is seeing how the score is calculated. Once you’ve collected responses from your NPS survey, the process is straightforward: determine the percentage of promoters and percentage of detractors, then subtract the latter from the former. This gives you the overall score, which typically ranges from -100 to 100.

Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Count Your Respondents: Start with the total number of responses from your survey.
2. Calculate the Percentage of Promoters: Customers who give a score of 9 or 10. Divide by total respondents and multiply by 100.
3. Calculate the Percentage of Detractors: Customers who score between 0 and 6. Divide by total respondents and multiply by 100.
4. Apply the NPS Formula:

NPS = Percentage of Promoters − Percentage of Detractors

Many businesses also use an NPS calculator or NPS software to simplify the process and track NPS data over time. Consistently tracking NPS helps identify trends, spot issues, and aim for a higher NPS as part of a larger NPS program.

Other things to keep in mind:

• Ensure every NPS survey is consistent for accurate comparisons.
• Some companies report average NPS across surveys for overall insights.
• You can also calculate your NPS from your survey data manually to get quick insights.

By properly including all responses in the NPS calculation and monitoring the results, you can make informed decisions to improve your NPS and strengthen the customer experience.

What is a Good NPS Score?

There’s no perfect score because NPS can vary widely by industry. However, here’s a helpful reference point: according to SurveyMonkey benchmark data from nearly 150,000 organizations, the average NPS score is 32, and the top 25% have scores of 72 or higher. This gives you a realistic idea of where your company’s NPS might stand compared to others.

Here’s a quick way to interpret your NPS results:

How to Use NPS to Improve Your Business

Net promoter score helps businesses turn customer feedback into strategies that boost customer loyalty, reduce churn, and create happier customers.

Start by reviewing your NPS survey results to find patterns in responses. Look at what promoters love most and what detractors struggle with. These insights often reveal the strongest and weakest points in your customer experience.

For example, if your NPS score calculation shows a dip after product updates, dig deeper into detractor comments to uncover the “why.” Once you identify recurring issues, assign them to teams that can act, whether it’s improving support speed, refining product features, or enhancing communication.

Benchmarking can also provide perspective. According to Retently’s 2025 NPS Benchmark Report, the average NPS for healthcare organizations is around 34, while communications and media average about 19. Comparing your company’s NPS to industry standards helps you set realistic improvement goals.

Difference Between NPS and CSAT?

While both NPS and CSAT help measure customer feedback, they focus on different parts of the customer journey. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Benefits of Using NPS

Implementing net promoter score (NPS) offers several measurable advantages that go beyond tracking customer satisfaction. It helps businesses understand loyalty trends, identify key opportunities, and guide long-term growth.

• Provides a simple calculation that delivers powerful insights without complex analytics.
• Helps visualize the detractor percentage versus promoter percentage, giving a clear snapshot of customer sentiment.
• Encourages teams to act on feedback and close the loop by addressing customer concerns promptly.
• Improves alignment across departments through shared NPS results and continuous feedback tracking.
• Allows benchmarking against competitors by following net promoter score data and industry trends.
• Supports relational NPS programs that track satisfaction over time rather than after isolated interactions.
• Builds a culture focused on customer experience improvement backed by consistent NPS measurement.

Disadvantages of Using NPS

Although NPS provides actionable insights, it has some limitations that businesses should keep in mind:

• NPS shows how many customers are promoters or detractors, but it doesn’t explain the reasons behind their ratings without follow-up questions.
• Responses often come from customers with extreme opinions, which can skew results and misrepresent your overall customer base.Relying only on NPS can overlook other important metrics like customer retention, repeat purchases, or satisfaction at specific touchpoints.
• Scores can vary depending on industry, culture, or region, making comparisons difficult without proper benchmarking.
• Focusing solely on increasing NPS may lead to short-term fixes rather than genuine improvements in the customer experience.

Best Practices for Conducting NPS Surveys

After understanding the limitations of NPS, it’s important to approach your surveys in a way that maximizes actionable insights. Here are four practices that help you get the most from your NPS efforts:

Keep Surveys Short and Focused

Focus on the core NPS question that measures customer likelihood to recommend your business. In fact, research shows surveys with 3–6 questions have response rates of 40–60%.

Adding one open-ended question, like “What is the main reason for your score?” gives context without overwhelming respondents, helping you gather actionable feedback efficiently.

Ask at the Right Time

Timing your NPS survey is crucial for obtaining accurate feedback. Research indicates that surveys sent Tuesday through Thursday between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. consistently achieve higher response rates than those sent at other times.

Sending surveys shortly after key customer interactions, such as a purchase, support session, or product usage, ensures that feedback reflects the customer's recent experience.

Collect and Track Consistently

Regularly collecting and tracking NPS results is essential for identifying trends and making informed business decisions. Qoli simplifies this process by automating survey distribution and capturing feedback in real time.

With features like screen monitoring, call recordings, and message tracking, Qoli connects customer responses directly to interactions and team performance. This gives you valuable context behind every score and helps uncover the reasons behind customer sentiment.

Its unified dashboard consolidates all your NPS data, making it easy to visualize trends, identify problem areas, and act quickly. By combining automation with actionable insights, Qoli helps businesses ensure consistent customer experiences and continuously improve satisfaction.

Analyze and Close the Loop

Collecting NPS data is just the beginning, acting on it is where the real value lies. Companies that respond to feedback within 48 hours see a 6-point increase in their net promoter score. This rapid response demonstrates to customers that their opinions are valued and taken seriously.

To effectively close the loop, it's essential to analyze both the scores and the accompanying comments. Identifying patterns in feedback allows you to address recurring issues and reinforce positive experiences.

Conclusion

Net promoter score offers a clear view of customer loyalty, turning feedback into actionable insights. By understanding promoters, passives, and detractors, calculating your score accurately, and following best practices, like keeping surveys short, timing them well, tracking consistently, and closing the loop, you can steadily improve customer satisfaction.

A strong NPS reflects a business that listens, adapts, and continuously grows, turning every insight into an opportunity to enhance the customer experience.