What is NPS (Net Promoter Score)?

What is NPS?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a loyalty metric based on asking customers, “How likely are you to recommend this product or company to a friend?” on a 0-10 scale. It does not describe all of customer satisfaction, but it gives a strong signal about willingness to recommend.

Responses are grouped into three categories: scores of 9-10 are promoters, 7-8 are passives, and 0-6 are detractors. The NPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

How to Read NPS

If 100 responses include 55 promoters, 25 passives, and 20 detractors, the NPS is 55 - 20 = 35. Passives are not added directly to the score, but they remain part of the percentage base.

The open follow-up question is as important as the score: “What is the main reason for your rating?” Those answers reveal more actionable information about product quality, support experience, pricing perception, onboarding, or performance problems.

Business Use

SaaS companies can track NPS by segment, plan, industry, country, or lifecycle stage. Low scores from new customers may point to onboarding problems; falling scores from long-term customers may indicate product value or support quality issues.

NPS can help identify churn risk, but it should not be the only prediction signal. It becomes more useful when combined with usage frequency, support tickets, payment delays, and in-product behavior data.