Net Promoter Score: Everything You Need to Know About the NPS Metric in 2025

The Net Promoter Score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (scores from 0 to 6) from the percentage of promoters (scores of 9 to 10). For example, with forty-five percent promoters and twenty-five percent detractors, your NPS is twenty. This score, ranging from minus one hundred to plus one hundred, measures your customers’ satisfaction and loyalty with a single question: would you recommend our company to your friends and family?

The three essential elements to remember are the classification of respondents into three categories based on their score, the exclusion of passives from the final calculation, and the interpretation of results based on your industry sector.

This metric is now one of the most powerful tools for anticipating your company’s growth and quickly identifying priority areas for improvement. Adopted by the world’s largest companies, NPS enables you to transform the voice of the customer into concrete, measurable actions.

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Why is NPS so important?

The Net Promoter Score is one of the most relevant indicators for measuring and predicting a company’s success through customer satisfaction.

Predictive indicator of company growth

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) provides valuable insight into the company’s future growth dynamics, allowing for trend anticipation and strategic action adjustment.

Simple and actionable measure

The strength of NPS lies in its simplicity: a single question generates a clear score that’s easily actionable, making its implementation and monitoring particularly effective.

Easily comparable across companies and sectors

Thanks to its standardized methodology, NPS enables relevant comparisons not only between direct competitors but also across different industry sectors, providing a broader perspective on performance.

Proven correlation with long-term profitability

Numerous studies have demonstrated the direct link between high NPS and companies’ financial performance over the long term, confirming its role as a strategic indicator for decision-making.

How to calculate the Net Promoter Score?

The Net Promoter Score is one of the common indicators in measuring customer satisfaction. It particularly helps highlight customer loyalty and identify potential company ambassadors. The score is easy to interpret. It serves as a basis for judging the impact of loyalty and communication campaigns. NPS also allows for comparison with competing companies within the same industry sector.

The fundamental question

NPS is based on a single question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?“

The three respondent categories

This customer satisfaction indicator classifies buyers into three categories.

1. Promoters (scores 9-10)

A score of 9 or 10 defines consumers as:

• Highly satisfied and loyal customers
• Active brand ambassadors
• Generators of positive word-of-mouth

2. Passives (scores 7-8)

A score of 7 or 8 defines buyers as:

• Satisfied but not enthusiastic customers
• Buyers vulnerable to competitive offers
• Potential future promoters

3. Detractors (scores 0-6)

A score of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 defines consumers as:

• Dissatisfied customers
• A risk for negative word-of-mouth
• Priority targets for company corrective actions

NPS calculation formula

The formula for calculating the Net Promoter Score is:

• NPS = Percentage of promoters (scores 9 and 10) – Percentage of detractors (scores 0 to 6)

Concrete example of Net Promoter Score calculation

Out of 100 respondents:

• 45 promoters (45%)
• 30 passives (30%)
• 25 detractors (25%)

With a detractor percentage of 25% and a promoter percentage of 45%, the NPS = 45% – 25% = 20

An absolute number indicator

The Net Promoter Score is not expressed as a percentage, but as an absolute number (without decimals), ranging from -100 to +100.

While the score matters, it’s primarily its use over time and its evolution that are significant. A large increase over a few months will demonstrate that buyer satisfaction is rising sharply. It’s also important to use this indicator as a comparison tool between products of the same brand and with competitors.

Comparison of Customer Satisfaction Measurement Methods

The Net Promoter Score is not the only metric for measuring customer satisfaction. To choose the most appropriate metric for your objectives, it’s essential to understand the fundamental differences between NPS, CSAT, and CES. Each indicator addresses specific needs and measures distinct dimensions of the customer experience.

Metric	Question Asked	Scale	What It Measures	Best Use
NPS	Would you recommend our company?	0 to 10	Loyalty and propensity to recommend	Long-term vision and growth prediction
CSAT	Are you satisfied with your experience?	1 to 5	Immediate satisfaction	Post-interaction evaluation for specific touchpoints
CES	Was the interaction easy?	1 to 7	Ease of use and customer effort	Process and journey optimization

Sector benchmarks and concrete examples

Average NPS by sector (2025)

Sector	Average NPS
E-commerce	45
Traditional retail	30
Financial services	34
Telecommunications	25
Hospitality	47
Automotive	44

Market leaders and their performance

Apple – NPS: 61

Apple shows an NPS of 61 in the technology sector. The apple brand achieves a high score thanks to three main aspects. First, it offers a harmonized customer experience across its different products and services. Second, its after-sales service responds to customer requests quickly. Third, the company maintains a regular rhythm of updates and new features for its products.

Amazon – NPS France: 44

In France, Amazon has an NPS of 44 in the e-commerce sector. The company stands out for three main characteristics. First, it has a logistics network that ensures deliveries within announced timeframes. Second, its platform offers an extensive range of products across many categories. Finally, its customer service is structured to quickly handle various user requests throughout the year.

The Net Promoter Score, a clear and concrete indicator

Used by many companies, it has the advantage of being readable and explicit for all employees and managers. It effectively visualizes the results of a campaign or measures taken for buyer satisfaction. This also makes it an excellent tool for team motivation, as they can concretely see the effects of their work. However, it’s important to evolve with the right reading grid. Indeed, the interpretation of results must take into account the nature of the brand being surveyed, the type of products, the culture, and the countries where the responses come from. It is therefore difficult to define standards in this area. However, we can estimate that:

• A score above 50 is very good
• A score above 0 is good. Even if you have detractors, you can count on a base of satisfied and loyal buyers.

Beyond NPS, the importance of analyzing customer comments

Beyond the score, the real value of the Net Promoter Score lies in the responses and comments provided by respondents. This is where the explanation for the given score can be found. Thus, the questionnaire should be accompanied by questions such as: “how can we improve our service?” for someone who gave a score from 0 to 6, or “what do you particularly like about our brand?” for promoters.

Regarding satisfaction comments, the online survey software Drag’n Survey has developed an artificial intelligence that scans the comment and specifies whether it is neutral, negative, or positive. A word cloud is also provided to see the positive and negative trends that emerge.

When and how to conduct an effective NPS survey

There are 3 different types of surveys to measure the Net Promoter Score. You can conduct a relationship, transactional, or follow-up survey.

Relationship surveys

These surveys are deployed to all customers at regular intervals, typically every three to six months. Their main objective is to measure overall customer satisfaction with the company. By surveying the entire customer base, these surveys provide an overview of brand perception and identify general satisfaction trends.

Transactional surveys

Transactional surveys are conducted immediately after a specific interaction with the company. They aim to evaluate customer satisfaction regarding a specific touchpoint, whether it’s a purchase, customer service interaction, or delivery. This method allows for collecting immediate feedback on key moments in the customer journey.

Follow-up surveys

Conducted several weeks after an interaction, follow-up surveys focus on evaluating medium-term satisfaction. They specifically examine the product or service usage experience over time. This approach helps understand how the customer perceives the offering after a period of actual use.

Best practices for NPS surveys

The success of an NPS survey relies on several key elements. To obtain relevant and actionable feedback, it’s essential to structure your approach following certain fundamental principles.

Choose the right time to survey your customers

The timing of survey deployment directly influences the quality and quantity of responses obtained. It’s important to adapt timing according to the type of survey: immediately after an interaction for transactional surveys, at regular intervals for relationship surveys, or after a usage period to evaluate long-term satisfaction.

Customize the questionnaire according to customer profile

Adapting the questionnaire to the context and customer profile helps obtain more precise and relevant responses. This involves considering the type of interaction, the customer’s history with the company, and their specific characteristics to formulate adapted questions that will generate actionable insights.

Implement a customer feedback tracking system

Following the collected responses, it is crucial to quickly analyze feedback and implement corrective actions when necessary. This involves having a clear process to handle negative feedback, identify recurring problems, and provide concrete solutions within appropriate timeframes.

Communicate on improvements made

Transparency about actions taken following surveys is essential. It’s important to inform customers about changes and improvements made based on their feedback. This communication demonstrates that the company is listening and taking concrete action to improve its services, which encourages participation in future surveys.

Strategies for improving Net Promoter Score

Effectively managing your Net Promoter Score requires a structured approach, particularly in handling detractors and passives.

Priority actions for detractors

Quick reaction

Detractors require immediate attention. Contact must be established within 24 hours of identifying a dissatisfied customer. Each case requires a solution adapted to the specific problems encountered. Regular follow-up then ensures that the solutions implemented meet customer expectations.

In-depth analysis

Beyond immediate reaction, a detailed analysis of dissatisfaction causes is necessary. This study allows for developing a targeted corrective action plan. Preventive measures are then deployed to avoid the repetition of similar situations with other customers.

Converting passives to promoters

Customer engagement

Passive customers represent an opportunity for improvement. Implementing an adapted loyalty program can strengthen their engagement. Regular personalized communications maintain the connection with these customers. Exclusive benefits can be offered to demonstrate the added value of the relationship.

Continuous improvement

Regular feedback collection from passives helps identify areas for improvement. This feedback guides product and service innovation. Continuous team training ensures better consideration of customer expectations on a daily basis.

When to Use Net Promoter Score in Your Business

Net Promoter Score stands as the benchmark metric for any company seeking to measure and improve customer loyalty in a pragmatic way. Its implementation proves particularly relevant when you’re looking to predict future growth, compare your performance against competitors, or rally your teams around an easily understandable common goal. Companies undergoing transformation or redesigning their customer experience will find in NPS a valuable barometer for measuring the impact of their initiatives. For startups and SMEs, this metric offers the advantage of being simple to deploy without requiring complex or expensive tools. Large organizations successfully use it to standardize satisfaction measurement across different divisions or geographic areas.

The key to success lies in taking action: measuring your NPS only has value if you analyze the associated comments and deploy concrete improvement plans. Start with a pilot survey on a representative sample, adjust your approach based on initial feedback, then roll out the approach more broadly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Net Promoter Score

How to interpret an NPS score of 20?

An NPS of twenty means you have twenty percentage points more promoters than detractors, which represents a positive but improvable result. Specifically, this indicates that your customer base includes more potential ambassadors than dissatisfied customers, which is encouraging for growth. However, this score also suggests that a significant portion of your customers falls into the passive or detractor category. To improve this result, focus primarily on reducing the number of detractors by identifying major friction points, then work on transforming your passive customers into promoters by offering them memorable experiences. The medium-term goal should be to reach the thirty to forty-point mark to position yourself in the upper tier of your industry sector.

What minimum sample size for reliable NPS calculation?

To obtain a statistically significant Net Promoter Score, you must collect at least one hundred responses, although the ideal range is between two hundred and three hundred responses for medium-sized companies. This quantity helps limit the margin of error and obtain a faithful representation of your customer base. Large companies with a substantial customer base should aim for at least one thousand responses to further refine their analyses and be able to segment results by customer type or geographic area. Measurement frequency matters as much as sample size: it’s better to measure regularly with a proper sample than occasionally with a very large sample. If your customer base is limited, survey all your customers rather than trying to reach an arbitrary threshold, while keeping in mind that the results will have a larger margin of error.

Should passive customers be included in NPS calculation?

Passive customers, those who give a score of seven or eight, are intentionally not taken into account in the Net Promoter Score calculation formula, although they are counted in the total number of respondents. This exclusion is based on a fundamental principle: these customers are satisfied but not enthusiastic, and their behavior corresponds neither to that of active promoters nor to that of detractors who harm your reputation. In practice, if you have forty-five promoters, thirty passives, and twenty-five detractors out of one hundred responses, you only calculate the difference between the forty-five percent of promoters and the twenty-five percent of detractors. Passives nevertheless represent a major strategic opportunity because they are most likely to evolve into the promoter category with targeted actions. Therefore, track their evolution in your dashboards even though they don’t directly influence your NPS score, and implement specific initiatives to transform them into brand ambassadors.

How often should you measure your Net Promoter Score?

The ideal frequency for measuring NPS directly depends on the type of survey you deploy and your sales cycle. For relational surveys that assess overall satisfaction with your company, a quarterly or semi-annual rhythm is recommended to track evolution without saturating your customers with solicitations. Transactional surveys should be automatically triggered after each major interaction, whether it’s a purchase, contact with customer service, or delivery, to capture impressions while they’re fresh. For product follow-up surveys, wait two to three weeks after first use to allow the customer to form an opinion based on real experience. B2B companies with long sales cycles will favor semi-annual measurements, while e-commerce players can opt for monthly measurements combined with transactional triggers. The essential thing is to maintain regularity in your measurements to identify trends and measure the impact of your improvement actions.

🤔 What’s the difference between NPS and other customer satisfaction indicators?

NPS differs from other indicators (like CSAT or CES) in:

• Its simplicity: one main question
• Its long-term vision: it measures loyalty rather than immediate satisfaction
• Its predictive capacity for growth
• Its comparability across sectors and companies

📊 How often should I measure my Net Promoter Score?

• For relationship NPS: every 3-6 months
• For transactional NPS: after each important interaction
• For follow-up NPS: 2-3 weeks after product/service use The most important thing is the regularity of measurements to track evolution.

📈 What is a good NPS score?

It depends on your sector, but generally:

• Above 50: excellent
• From 0 to 50: good
• From -100 to 0: needs improvement

Note: Compare yourself primarily to your sector rather than absolute standards.

📱 Should we prioritize email or mobile surveys?

Both channels are complementary:

• Email: ideal for in-depth relationship surveys
• Mobile: perfect for post-interaction feedback
• Multi-channel: recommended to maximize response rate

🎯 What sample size is needed for reliable NPS?

To obtain statistically significant results:

• Minimum: 100 responses
• Ideal: 200-300 responses
• For large companies: 1000+ responses

📋 How to utilize respondent comments?

1. Analyze verbatim by category (promoters/passives/detractors)
2. Identify recurring themes
3. Prioritize corrective actions
4. Implement improvement tracking
5. Communicate on actions taken

🚨 What to do in case of a sudden NPS drop?

1. Quickly analyze causes:
   • Recent company changes
   • Technical problems
   • Competitor actions
2. Contact a sample of detractors
3. Implement an emergency action plan
4. Monitor evolution daily

💡 How to convert passives into promoters?

Effective strategies:

• Offer exclusive benefits
• Personalize customer relationships
• Anticipate their needs
• Communicate proactively
• Provide memorable experiences

🏢 Is NPS suitable for B2B companies?

Yes, with some adjustments:

• Measure at different levels (company, department, user)
• Consider longer decision cycles
• Adapt survey frequency
• Account for multiple decision-makers

🏪 How to use Net Promoter Score in retail?

Specific advice:

• Combine store NPS and brand NPS
• Measure after each significant purchase
• Train store teams on results
• Link NPS to loyalty programs

🌐 How to adapt NPS internationally?

Points of attention:

• Consider cultural differences in scoring
• Adapt question translation
• Adjust benchmarks by country
• Consider local specificities

📱 Which tools to use for tracking Net Promoter Score?

Recommended solutions:

• Dedicated platforms (Drag’n Survey)
• CRM integrating NPS
• Text analysis tools
• Customized dashboards

👥 How to involve teams in improving NPS?

Best practices:

• Regularly share results
• Link NPS to team objectives
• Train on improvement actions
• Celebrate successes
• Encourage initiatives

📊 How to use Net Promoter Score for decision-making?

Strategic applications:

• Investment prioritization
• Product development
• Team training
• Process improvement
• Marketing strategy

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Portuguese – O que é a pontuação de promotor líquido (NPS)? click here