NPS Explained: One Question, Real Retention Data

The Net Promoter Score asks one question: 'How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?' on a scale of 0 to 10. It takes customers ten seconds, and it gives you a number that correlates with retention better than most of what your analytics dashboard reports.

How the score works

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  Promoters (9-10): your growth engine — they refer, defend, and stay.
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  Passives (7-8): satisfied but unenthusiastic — one competitor's better offer away.
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  Detractors (0-6): at risk — and they tell other people about it.
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  NPS = % promoters - % detractors. Range: -100 to +100.

The number matters less than the follow-up. A detractor who gets a personal response within 48 hours often becomes a promoter; a detractor who hears nothing becomes a review you'll never control.

The right way to ask

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  Send it after a real interaction — a purchase, a support ticket, an onboarding milestone — not at random.
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  Keep it to the one NPS question plus one open 'why' field.
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  Send it within 24 hours, while the experience is fresh.
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  Never chase the score — act on it.

The free Simbalize customer satisfaction template pairs the NPS question with a follow-up box and a rating scale — launch it in minutes, export results as CSV.

Run NPS quarterly, track the trend, and close the loop with customers who take the time to answer. That loop — not the score itself — is what moves retention.