An NPS survey asks customers one simple question: how likely are they to recommend your business to a friend or colleague? The answers give you a Net Promoter Score, but the real value comes from what you do next: thanking promoters, learning from passives and reaching out to detractors before they quietly leave. This guide explains how to run an NPS survey, how to calculate the score, which follow-up question to ask and how to turn every response into a task in your CRM. It is written for owners, customer success leads and marketers at small and mid-sized businesses who want feedback they can actually act on.
Key takeaways
- An NPS survey uses one 0 to 10 question about how likely a customer is to recommend you, plus an open follow-up question asking why.
- NPS = % promoters (9 to 10) minus % detractors (0 to 6); passives (7 to 8) count only in the total.
- The score matters less than the follow-up: every detractor should get a reply, and every promoter a thank-you.
- Sending surveys after meaningful moments, such as a delivery, a finished project or a support ticket, gives more useful answers.
- Storing NPS responses on the customer profile in your CRM lets you segment, automate follow-up and track change over time.
What is an NPS survey?
Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is a customer loyalty measure built around a single question: "On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague?" Based on their answer, each respondent falls into one of three groups:
- Promoters (9 to 10): enthusiastic customers who are likely to buy again and recommend you.
- Passives (7 to 8): satisfied but not excited, and open to switching if a competitor offers something better.
- Detractors (0 to 6): unhappy customers who may leave and may tell others about a bad experience.
The method is popular because it is short, easy for customers to answer and easy to repeat over time. On its own, the number tells you little. Paired with the reasons customers give and a clear follow-up process, it becomes a practical tool for improving service.
How to calculate your Net Promoter Score
The formula is simple: subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Passives are included in the total number of responses but are not added or subtracted.
NPS = (promoters ÷ total responses × 100) − (detractors ÷ total responses × 100)
The result ranges from −100, when every respondent is a detractor, to +100, when every respondent is a promoter. Here is an illustrative calculation with made-up numbers:
| Group | Score range | Responses (example) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promoters | 9 to 10 | 50 | 50% |
| Passives | 7 to 8 | 30 | 30% |
| Detractors | 0 to 6 | 20 | 20% |
| Total | 100 | NPS = 50 − 20 = 30 |
Avoid comparing your score directly with numbers you find online. Results vary widely by industry, country, survey channel and timing, so the most useful benchmark is your own score over time.
The NPS question and the follow-up question
Keep the core question in its standard form so results stay comparable over time. Then add one open question that explains the score. You can tailor it to the group:
- For everyone: "What is the main reason for your score?"
- For promoters: "What do you value most about working with us?"
- For passives: "What is one thing we could do to make your experience better?"
- For detractors: "What disappointed you, and what could we do to fix it?"
Resist the urge to add many more questions. Every extra field lowers the chance that customers finish the survey. If you need more detail, ask a short optional question at the end or follow up personally.
When and how to send an NPS survey
There are two common approaches, and many businesses use both:
Relationship NPS
Sent on a regular schedule, such as every six or twelve months, to measure overall loyalty. Useful for subscription businesses, agencies, B2B services and anyone with ongoing clients.
Transactional NPS
Sent after a specific moment: an order delivered, a project completed, an appointment finished or a support ticket closed. Useful for finding which parts of the customer journey work well and which need attention.
Choose the channel your customers already use, such as email, text message, a chat app or an in-app prompt, and avoid surveying the same person too often. A simple rule in your CRM, like "no more than one survey per customer every 90 days", protects the customer experience.
NPS follow-up: what to do with promoters, passives and detractors
Closing the loop is what turns an NPS survey from a report into a growth tool. Set up a follow-up path for each group and create tasks automatically when a response arrives.
Copyable NPS follow-up playbook
- Promoters (9 to 10): "Thank you, [Name]! We are glad you enjoy working with us. If you have a minute, a public review would mean a lot: [link]." Consider inviting them to your customer referral program.
- Passives (7 to 8): "Thanks for your feedback, [Name]. You mentioned [reason]. Here is what we are doing about it." Tag the reason so you can spot patterns.
- Detractors (0 to 6): Create an urgent task for the account owner to call or write within one business day: "Hi [Name], I read your feedback and I am sorry we let you down. Could we talk about how to put it right?"
- After the fix: Record what was done and check back later to confirm the issue is resolved.
A detractor who gets a fast, genuine response often becomes more loyal than one who never complained at all. Connect detractor alerts to your churn prevention work; this guide to customer churn explains the warning signs to watch.
Running NPS surveys in a CRM
Survey tools can collect scores, but a CRM makes them useful because each answer lands on the customer profile next to purchases, conversations and support history. That gives you:
- Context: see whether a detractor is a new customer, a long-time client or someone with an open complaint.
- Segmentation: compare scores by product, location, team member or customer segment. Combining NPS with RFM analysis shows whether your most valuable customers are also your happiest.
- Automation: trigger thank-you messages, review requests and detractor tasks without manual work through CRM automation.
- Trends: track your score monthly or quarterly on a dashboard and see whether changes you make are working.
How to set up an NPS survey: step by step
- Decide what you want to learn. Overall loyalty, a specific touchpoint or both.
- Choose who to survey and when. Define the trigger, such as 14 days after delivery or every six months for active clients.
- Write the two questions. The standard 0 to 10 question and one open follow-up.
- Add NPS fields to the customer card. Latest score, group, date, comment and reason tag.
- Set frequency limits. Make sure the same customer is not surveyed too often.
- Build follow-up automations. Thank-you for promoters, improvement note for passives and urgent tasks for detractors.
- Create a dashboard. Score over time, response count and top reasons by group.
- Review and act monthly. Share the top themes with the team and agree on one or two improvements.
Common NPS survey mistakes
- Chasing the number instead of the feedback. Asking customers to "please give us a 10" makes the score meaningless.
- Never closing the loop. Customers stop answering when nothing happens after they share feedback.
- Surveying too often. Frequent surveys feel like spam and lower response rates.
- Reading too much into small samples. With only a handful of responses, a few answers can swing the score a lot.
- Keeping results in a separate tool. If the account owner cannot see the score, they cannot act on it.
Illustrative example: a service business that closes the loop
This is a hypothetical scenario, not data from a real company or a guaranteed result.
Imagine a home services company that sends an NPS survey a few days after each completed job. Responses go straight into the CRM. Promoters get a thank-you and a review link, passives get a short note about what is being improved, and detractors create a task for the manager to call the same day. Each month, the team reviews the most common reasons in comments, such as arrival time or communication, and picks one thing to fix. Over time, the team has a clear record of what customers say and what was done about it.
How to do it in LUA CRM
Customer profiles
Store NPS score, group, comment and date on each customer card next to purchases and conversations.
Automations
Send surveys after key moments and trigger thank-you messages, review requests and detractor tasks automatically.
Segments and dashboards
Filter customers by NPS group and track your score and top reasons over time.
Want to turn feedback into loyal customers? Try LUA CRM and see how it fits your business.
Metrics to track alongside NPS
Response rate
Surveys completed ÷ surveys sent.
Detractor follow-up time
Average time from a detractor response to the first personal reply.
Closed-loop rate
Detractor responses with a recorded follow-up ÷ all detractor responses.
For more ideas on measurement, see these CRM KPIs.
Frequently asked questions
Any score above zero means you have more promoters than detractors, but what counts as good depends on your industry, market and survey method. Focus on improving your own score over time rather than matching numbers from other companies.
There is no fixed minimum, but small samples swing easily. Look at trends over several months and read individual comments rather than relying on one period with few responses.
Survey customers who have had a meaningful experience with you, and limit how often each person is asked. New customers who have not used your product or service yet usually cannot give a useful answer.
Small thank-yous can raise response rates, but rewards for high scores bias results. If you offer anything, give it for answering, not for the score.
A satisfaction survey usually asks how happy someone was with a specific interaction. NPS asks about willingness to recommend, which reflects the overall relationship. Many businesses use both.
Conclusion
An NPS survey is one of the simplest ways to hear from customers, but the score is only the start. Ask the standard question, add one open follow-up, store every answer in your CRM and make sure promoters are thanked and detractors hear back quickly. Done consistently, it gives your team a steady stream of feedback and a clear list of what to improve next.
