One question, a number between minus one hundred and one hundred, and the reason underneath it.
Net Promoter Score℠ is the most asked question in business, and the most wasted. The score tells you where you stand. The sentence after it tells you what to do. FreeSurvey gives you both on the same page.
NPS asks one thing: how likely somebody is to recommend you, on a scale of zero to ten. Answers split into three groups. Nine and ten are promoters, seven and eight are passives, and everything from six down is a detractor. It is blunt on purpose, and because everybody measures it the same way, your number means something next to last quarter's and next to your industry's.
Your score is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors. Passives count in the total but score nothing, which is why a room full of sevens and eights lands you at zero. The result runs from minus one hundred to one hundred, and it is a whole number, never a percentage.
After somebody has had enough experience to have an opinion, and no more than a few times a year. Quarterly suits most companies. Transaction by transaction is what CSAT is for.
The questions, in full
Every one of them is on this page before you sign up for anything. The line under each question says what it is for, and what it is deliberately not asking.
The chart that suits the question, and a paragraph under it.
Numbers get the widget built for them. Written answers get grouped into the things people kept saying, with a count on each and every original answer still readable underneath, word for word.
Everything a results page holdsWhat goes wrong with a nps survey
- Making the reason question required. It lifts your abandon rate more than it lifts your response quality.
- Reading sevens and eights as good news. They score you nothing, and they are the group most likely to leave quietly.
- Sending it every month. NPS moves slowly, and asking too often trains people to ignore you.
- Comparing your score to a number you read in an article. Industries sit in wildly different ranges, and the honest comparison is against your own last run.
What is a good NPS score?
The only benchmark worth much is your own previous score. Ranges differ enormously between industries, so a fifty that would be excellent in one sector is ordinary in another. Run it, write the number down, and beat it next quarter.
Should the follow-up question be required?
No. Leave it optional. People who want to explain themselves will, and the ones who do not will finish the survey instead of closing it.
Can people answer anonymously?
Yes, and by default they do. Nothing records who said what unless you add a question asking for a name or an email.
Often run alongside this one
CSAT survey
Customer Satisfaction Score measures one specific interaction rather than the whole relationship. It is the right tool immediately after a purchase, a support ticket or a delivery, and the wrong tool for a quarterly health check.
CES survey
Customer Effort Score asks how hard somebody had to work to get what they needed. It is the best single predictor of whether a customer sticks around after a support contact, and it is more actionable than satisfaction because effort has a cause you can go and remove.
eNPS survey
Employee Net Promoter Score borrows the NPS® question and points it at the people who work for you. It is a good measure and an easy one to ruin, because the moment somebody suspects their answer is traceable, you stop measuring morale and start measuring caution.