NPS survey questions

An NPS survey needs two questions. The score question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”, answered from 0 to 10. And one open question: “What is the main reason for your score?”. The first tells you how many customers are unhappy, the second tells you why.

The standard NPS question

Bain, which created NPS, words it as “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” and scores the answers on a scale from 0 to 10.

Keep that wording. Replace “us” with your company or product name if it reads better in your survey, and keep it the same from then on: every later score is only comparable if the question stays fixed.

Scale: 0 to 10Eleven answers. Bain chose it because a zero is never read as a good score, while people mix up the ends of a 1 to 10 scale, and because it gives enough choice that satisfied customers do not all pick the top.

Label both endsFor example “Not at all likely” at 0 and “Extremely likely” at 10. Leave the middle unlabeled.

How it turns into a score9 and 10 are promoters, 7 and 8 passives, 0 to 6 detractors. NPS is the share of promoters minus the share of detractors. See the three groups or use the NPS calculator.

The follow-up question

The score cannot tell you what to fix. The comment can. Ask one open question right after the score, the same for everyone:

“What is the main reason for your score?”

It is neutral, it works for a 2 and for a 10, and it asks for one reason, which keeps answers focused.

Make it optionalA required comment box invites filler like “n/a”. An empty comment still counts toward the score.

Give it roomUse a multi-line box, not a single line. In our test on NHS Friends and Family Test comments (median 12 words), one-line comments were mostly praise; the complaints with the largest effects sat in longer comments.

Keep it the same over timeComments from the same question can be compared month to month. Change the question and the themes shift with it.

Follow-ups per group

Some teams show a different follow-up depending on the score. It makes the question feel more personal. The cost: answers to different questions are harder to compare, and a reason a promoter mentions will not show up in what detractors were asked. If you analyze comments across all groups, one neutral question is the safer choice.

Group	Follow-up question
Detractors (0 to 6)	“What disappointed you most?” or “What should we fix first?”
Passives (7 and 8)	“What would have made it a 9 or 10?”
Promoters (9 and 10)	“What do you value most about us?”

When and how to send it

Bain separates two kinds of NPS survey and says not to compare them directly.

Relationship NPSSent without a trigger, often once or twice a year. It measures how customers feel about you overall.

Experience NPSSent right after an interaction, such as a purchase or a support call. It tells you about that moment and lets you recover a bad one quickly.

Do not over-askFor experience surveys, Bain recommends asking the same customer at most once every three months.

Keep the channel and moment fixedEmail, in-app and SMS reach different customers. Change the channel and the score moves on its own.

What not to ask

Each extra question is one more reason to stop. The items below also distort the score or the comments.

Leading wording“How much did you enjoy your visit?” assumes the answer. The recommend question does not.

A different scale1 to 10, 1 to 5 or stars do not give an NPS. Keep 0 to 10.

Two things in one question“How satisfied are you with our product and support?” cannot be answered with one number.

Questions you can answer from your own dataPlan, store, product or date belong in the export, not in the survey. Add them as columns.

A request for a high score“Anything below 9 counts as a fail for us” raises the number and hides the reasons.

Questions

What is the NPS question?

“How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”, answered on a scale from 0 to 10. This is the wording used by Bain, which created NPS.

Should NPS be 0 to 10 or 1 to 10?

0 to 10. Bain uses an 11-point scale because a zero is never read as a good score, while on a 1 to 10 scale people mix up the ends. A 1 to 10 scale does not give a comparable NPS.

What follow-up question should I ask after the NPS question?

One open question for everyone: “What is the main reason for your score?”. It works for every score and asks for one reason. Make it optional.

How many questions should an NPS survey have?

Two is enough: the score and the reason. Add a third only if it answers something your own data cannot, and leave out anything you can join from your customer records.

What does an NPS survey do?

It measures how many customers would recommend you against how many would not, as one number from minus 100 to plus 100. With the follow-up comment, it also tells you why. See how to improve NPS.

Turn the comments into a ranking

Your score says how many customers are unhappy. Your comments say why. Leverboard reads the export of your survey and measures which reason costs the most points.

Try it on your data See a sample report

First analysis free. No card.

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.