NPS promoters, passives and detractors

Promoters answer 9 or 10, passives 7 or 8, detractors 0 to 6 on the question “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”. Your NPS is the share of promoters minus the share of detractors. Passives count in the total but not in the difference.

The three groups

The cut-offs come from Bain, which created NPS. The scale runs from 0 to 10, and the groups are not equal in size: seven answers make a detractor, two a passive, two a promoter.

Promoters: 9 and 10Customers who would recommend you. Bain describes them as loyal fans and says they account for more than 80 % of referrals in most businesses.

Passives: 7 and 8Satisfied, not enthusiastic. Bain calls them “passively satisfied”, with repurchase and referral rates as much as 50 % lower than promoters’.

Detractors: 0 to 6Unhappy customers. Bain says they account for more than 80 % of negative word of mouth.

How each group counts

Take 200 responses: 90 promoters, 60 passives, 50 detractors. That is 45 % promoters minus 25 % detractors, an NPS of +20. Passives make up the other 30 %: they do not appear in the subtraction, but they are in the base every share is taken from.

Each response moves the score by 100 divided by the number of responses, here half a point. So winning back one detractor to a 7 or 8 is worth exactly as much as turning one passive into a promoter.

One customer moves from	Change in NPS (200 responses)
Detractor to passive	+0.5
Passive to promoter	+0.5
Detractor to promoter	+1
Passive to detractor	−0.5

NPS = % promoters − % detractors. It runs from −100 to +100 and is written without a percent sign. Try your own counts in the NPS calculator.

Why passives matter

Passives are easy to ignore because they do not appear in the formula. They still decide where your score goes next.

They hold the score downEvery passive is a customer who is not a promoter. A large passive group keeps NPS low even when almost nobody is unhappy.

They are one step from either sideA small disappointment turns a 7 into a 6, and the customer now counts against you.

Their comments name the missing piecePassives often say what stopped them from giving a 9: a slow reply, a price, a missing feature. That is a short list to work from.

What detractors’ comments tell you

The score says how many customers are unhappy. Detractors’ comments say why. Two traps make the obvious reading wrong.

Frequent is not expensiveIn 4,000 public clothing reviews, fit or size was the most mentioned complaint (32 % of reviews), but “doesn’t look flattering” (15 %) cost the average rating more: −0.14 stars against −0.09. See the example.

Unhappy customers list several problemsA detractor who complains about the wait often also complains about the staff. Comparing the average score of comments that mention a theme with the rest blames each theme for all the others. In our restaurant test, those raw differences came out about twice the separate effect of each complaint.

An effect is not proof of causeA theme that goes with lower scores is where to look first. Whether fixing it raises the score is what the next survey shows.

What to do with each group

Bain recommends following up with customers whose feedback merits it, so employees learn and improve. It calls this closing the loop. The follow-up differs by group.

Group	Follow up with	Ask
Detractors	A personal reply within a few days from someone who can fix the case	“What happened, and what would put it right?”
Passives	A short note thanking them for the score	“What would have made it a 9 or 10?”
Promoters	A thank-you and, where it fits, a request for a review or a referral	“What do you value most about us?”

Questions

What is a detractor in NPS?

A detractor is a respondent who answers 0 to 6 to the question how likely they are to recommend you. The share of detractors is subtracted from the share of promoters to give your NPS.

Is a 7 a good NPS answer?

A 7 makes the customer a passive: satisfied, but not likely to recommend you. It does not lower your score directly, but it does not raise it either, and a 7 is one step away from counting as a detractor.

Why is a 6 a detractor?

The cut-offs are part of the NPS definition by Bain: 0 to 6 are detractors, 7 and 8 passives, 9 and 10 promoters. Bain reports that the groups behave differently, with promoters accounting for most referrals and detractors for most negative word of mouth.

Does NPS ignore passives?

No. Passives are not in the subtraction, but they are part of the total that every share is taken from. More passives means a smaller share of promoters and a lower score.

Can NPS be negative?

Yes. When more respondents are detractors than promoters, the score is below 0. The lowest possible score is minus 100, when every respondent is a detractor.

See which detractor reasons cost the most points

Your score says how many customers are unhappy. Your comments say why. Leverboard measures which reason costs the most, with a likely range and the comments behind every number.

Try it on your data See a sample report

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Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld. Sources: Bain, Measuring your Net Promoter Score and Three types of Net Promoter Scores.