Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a widely used customer loyalty and satisfaction metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend a company, product, or service to a colleague or friend, based on a single survey question scored on a scale of 0 to 10. Respondents are grouped into three categories: Promoters (scores 9 to 10, loyal enthusiasts who will refer others), Passives (scores 7 to 8, satisfied but not enthusiastic), and Detractors (scores 0 to 6, unhappy customers who may actively discourage others from buying).
The NPS itself is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. The result is a score ranging from minus 100 (everyone is a Detractor) to plus 100 (everyone is a Promoter). A positive NPS is generally considered good; a score above 50 is considered excellent; a score above 70 is world-class. Benchmarks vary significantly by industry, so comparing your score against sector-specific averages is more meaningful than comparing against a universal standard.
For B2B marketing teams, NPS is most valuable as a trend metric rather than an absolute one. Tracking NPS over time and following up with open-ended questions that ask why a respondent gave their score turns a single number into actionable customer insight. Email is the primary channel for NPS surveys: short, well-timed surveys sent at the right moment in the customer lifecycle, such as after onboarding completion or at renewal, consistently achieve higher response rates and more useful feedback than generic annual surveys.
How is Net Promoter Score calculated?
NPS is calculated by asking customers: ‘On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a colleague or friend?’ Respondents scoring 9 or 10 are Promoters; 7 or 8 are Passives; 0 to 6 are Detractors. The NPS is the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors. Passives are not included in the calculation. For example, if 60 percent of respondents are Promoters and 15 percent are Detractors, the NPS is 45.
What is a good NPS score for a B2B company?
NPS benchmarks vary considerably by industry and business model. In B2B software and services, an NPS of 30 to 50 is generally considered good; above 50 is strong. Context matters as much as the absolute number: a company whose NPS has improved from 20 to 35 over 12 months is making meaningful progress, while one stuck at 50 for three years may have stalled. Use industry benchmarks for context and your own historical trend as the primary measure of whether things are improving.
How should NPS surveys be sent via email?
NPS surveys sent by email perform best when they are short (ideally embedding the 0 to 10 scale directly in the email so the recipient can respond with a single click before being taken to a follow-up page), sent at a relevant moment in the customer lifecycle rather than on a fixed calendar schedule, personalised to the recipient’s name and their specific relationship with the product, and followed up with an open-ended question asking why they gave their score. Response rates drop sharply with email survey length, so keeping it to one or two questions is strongly recommended.