Testing & ValidationNPS

What is NPS (Net Promoter Score)?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend your product to a colleague or friend, on a scale of 0 to 10. Respondents are classified as Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), or Detractors (0-6). NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, producing a score from -100 to +100.

Formula

NPS = % Promoters - % Detractors

Example: 100 respondents. 50 give 9-10 (Promoters = 50%), 20 give 0-6 (Detractors = 20%), 30 give 7-8 (Passives). NPS = 50 - 20 = +30. Passives are counted in the denominator but contribute 0 to the calculation.

Benchmarks and interpretation

  • The Qualtrics XM Institute Q3-Q4 2024 U.S. consumer study of 10,000 consumers across 354 organizations reported industry averages from 15.8 for car rental to 34.3 for grocery
  • In that study, software firms averaged 21.1, banks 28.0, retail 33.0, and TV/internet service providers 16.2
  • In the Userpilot report labeled 2025, the B2B SaaS dashboard sample reported a 35.7 average and 39 median NPS across 229 companies
  • Qualtrics consumer averages and Userpilot customer-dashboard results describe different populations; neither establishes a global or company-specific target

When to use NPS

  • Establishing a baseline customer satisfaction benchmark before major product changes
  • Tracking loyalty trends after feature launches or pricing changes
  • Segmenting Detractors for immediate follow-up to prevent churn
  • Comparing NPS cohorts with revenue retention to investigate their relationship
Common mistakes
  • Treating NPS as a vanity metric without following up on Detractor feedback, which wastes the primary value of the survey
  • Surveying too infrequently to see useful trends, or attributing a score change to one action without supporting evidence
  • Averaging NPS scores across very different customer segments (enterprise vs SMB) and losing actionable signal
Practical tips
  • Always include an open-text follow-up question asking why respondents gave that score - qualitative context is where NPS earns its value
  • Separate transactional NPS (after key interactions) from relationship NPS (periodic surveys) to diagnose specific friction points
  • Compare Promoter cohorts with upsell rates and Detractor cohorts with churn rates to investigate their relationship

Related terms

PMF- Product-Market FitChurn RateConversion Rate

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