What Is NPS and How to Calculate It

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, measures how likely customers are to recommend a company, product, or service. It is a relationship metric, so the timing and context of the question matter.

This definition belongs to the feedback and survey glossary.

The NPS question

Ask: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” Use a 0-to-10 scale, where 0 means not at all likely and 10 means extremely likely.

You can replace “us” with a specific product or service when the scope needs to be clear. Keep the wording and scale stable when comparing rounds.

Promoters, passives, and detractors

Promoters: scores 9 or 10.
Passives: scores 7 or 8.
Detractors: scores from 0 to 6.

The groups describe response bands, not permanent customer labels. Read the follow-up comments before turning a score into an action.

How to calculate NPS

NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors:

NPS = % promoters − % detractors

If 55% of valid responses are promoters and 20% are detractors, NPS is 55 − 20 = 35.

The score ranges from -100 to 100. It is not an average and should not be calculated by adding the ratings together.

Add a follow-up question

The score shows direction, but not the reason. Add a short open question such as “What is the main reason for your score?”. One useful follow-up is usually better than a long questionnaire.

The NPS survey template includes the score and follow-up. The NPS calculator handles the math when you already have the counts.

How to interpret it

Compare NPS with your own history and keep the audience, channel, timing, and wording consistent. A single score does not explain what changed or what to build next.

Group comments by theme, review the distribution, and check who did not respond. Response bias can affect the result just as much as a change in customer experience.

NPS, CSAT, and CES

NPS tracks recommendation intent, CSAT tracks satisfaction with a specific experience, and CES tracks effort on a task. The comparison guide helps choose the metric that matches the decision.