NPS: definition, calculation and interpretation
Updated on February 22, 2026
Quick definition
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is the net recommendation score that measures customers' likelihood to recommend a company or product to people around them, on a scale of 0 to 10. NPS is one of the most widely used customer satisfaction and loyalty indicators in the world, prized for its simplicity and its correlation with organic growth.
How it works
Formula
NPS = % Promoters (scores 9–10) − % Detractors (scores 0–6)
Example: 60% promoters, 20% passives (scores 7–8), 20% detractors → NPS = 60 − 20 = 40. NPS ranges from −100 (all detractors) to +100 (all promoters).
NPS rests on a single question: "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [product/service] to a friend or colleague?"
Respondents are classified into three categories:
- Promoters (9–10): highly satisfied customers likely to actively recommend
- Passives (7–8): satisfied but disengaged customers
- Detractors (0–6): dissatisfied customers likely to share negative word of mouth
Score interpretation:
- NPS > 0: generally considered positive
- NPS > 50: excellent
- NPS > 70: exceptional
We distinguish transactional NPS (collected after a key interaction) from relational NPS (collected periodically), which gives a global view of overall customer satisfaction.
Why it matters
NPS is a leading indicator of future growth: empirical studies show a strong correlation between high NPS and growth via word of mouth.
A promoter customer is on average 4 to 5 times more likely to repurchase and recommend than the average.
For Customer Success teams, NPS allows them to:
- Quickly identify dissatisfied customers and prioritise corrective actions
- Use detractors as an early warning signal for churn rate
- Turn promoters into active ambassadors via referral programs
How to improve or use it
- 1Analyse detractors' verbatims to identify recurring problems (bugs, missing features, insufficient customer service).
- 2Build a 'close the loop' program: contact each detractor personally to resolve their issue.
- 3Integrate NPS insights into the product roadmap to prioritise fixes.
- 4Turn promoters into ambassadors via referral programs or incentives to leave public reviews.
- 5Measure NPS regularly (quarterly minimum) to track the impact of your improvements.
With Sublim
By combining your NPS with Sublim's behavioural data (pages visited, features used, login frequency), you identify the usage patterns that characterise your promoters and detractors. This analysis lets you build product experiences that reproduce promoter behaviours — a data-driven approach to Customer Success, respectful of privacy and compliant with GDPR.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I measure NPS?
Relational NPS (overall satisfaction) is generally measured every quarter or every six months to track trends over time. Transactional NPS (satisfaction after a specific interaction: purchase, support, onboarding) is triggered automatically after each key event. Avoid over-soliciting your customers with too-frequent surveys: an annual NPS is insufficient, but monthly NPS can create survey fatigue.
What is the difference between NPS and CSAT?
NPS measures the likelihood to recommend (long-term loyalty and advocacy), while CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) measures immediate satisfaction after a specific interaction, on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. NPS is better suited to measuring overall brand relationship, CSAT to assessing the quality of a one-off interaction (support, delivery, purchase).
Is an NPS of 0 bad?
An NPS of 0 means the percentage of promoters exactly equals the percentage of detractors. It's not catastrophic but it is a warning signal: a significant portion of your customers are dissatisfied enough to potentially share negative word of mouth. Any negative NPS means detractors outnumber promoters, which is generally correlated with high churn risk and limited organic growth.
Related terms
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a key performance indicator that …
Churn rate (or attrition rate) is the percentage of customers or subsc…
An analytics goal is an action or behaviour defined as having value fo…
LTV (Lifetime Value), or customer lifetime value, is the total revenue…