NPS (Net Promoter score) surveys measure customer loyalty and enthusiasm for your product or service. It is a clear and easy-to-understand metric, but in no way should NPS be the only metric you use. Use it as a starting point to dig deeper into your customer journey and user insights.
Wondering how to take advantage of an NPS Survey to better improve your product experience? Below, we break down each step of the process.
To understand if you should run a CSAT, NPS or CES survey, review this guide where we break down the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
Understanding Net Promoter Score surveys
You’ve probably come across an NPS survey question at least once before. It’s a simple one: “How likely are you to recommend [Company Name/Product Name/Service] to a friend or colleague?”
NPS survey respondents answer by choosing a number between 0 (not likely at all) to 10 (extremely likely). Based on the rating they choose, a customer will fall into one of three categories:
- Promoters: loyal, very satisfied customers who choose a score of 9 or 10
- Passives: customers who are somewhat satisfied with your product, service, or company who choose a score of 7 or 8
- Detractors: unhappy customers who are unlikely to buy from you again who respond with a score of 0 to 6
Use the following formula to calculate your score:
Percentage of Promoters - Percentage of Detractors = NPS score
For example, if 20% of your respondents are Detractors, 15% are Passives, and 65% are Promoters, your NPS score would be 65-20=45. Passives are not included in the formula or your results.
A simple question and scoring system can provide valuable insight into overall customer loyalty and happiness. Satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your business or product to others.
Plus, it may be easier to collect customer feedback and evaluate data from an NPS survey. One question takes mere seconds to complete. Other user experience metrics rely on a series of questions or require more detailed responses, which can discourage customers from responding.
When to conduct an NPS survey on your customer base
We recommend sending an NPS survey after key interactions with your product or brand. For example, you could ask for customer feedback after they use a new feature, complete a task, or finish interacting with your customer support team. This is the perfect time to send an in-product Survey because your product or service is still on their minds.
You might also send periodic surveys to gauge how your customers feel about their experience so far. A survey sent a few months after their first use of your product gives them time to explore and test everything. An annual survey, on the other hand, reassures your customers that you want their feedback consistently so that you can improve your product or service.
How to prepare a good NPS survey
It’s fairly easy to create an NPS survey. And it’s even easier to send targeted surveys, collect customer sentiments, and analyze the results with a tool like Sprig. (We even provide an NPS survey template you can use to speed up the process.)
Should you send more than one question to your users, or is the basic NPS survey question enough? It depends on what you want to achieve.
If you’re looking for more qualitative feedback, you could follow up your first question with an open-ended question that invites more detail. Ask how you can improve their experience, what features you could add, or the reasoning behind the numerical rating they chose.
How to distribute an NPS survey to your existing customers
Even though NPS surveys are short and take a second to complete, not every customer will respond. However, you can take extra steps to boost your survey response rate.
Personalizing your survey is a good first step. Use the name of your respondent to grab their attention. You might also offer an incentive to get more responses, like a digital product, a small discount, or credits to be used in your product. Be clear that the incentive is for survey completion and not giving a good score.
Also, try sending customized NPS surveys to different segments of your customers. To start, you can send further surveys to promoters, passives, and detractors to dig deeper into their goals, expectations, and experiences. Use that data to work on converting detractors and passives into promoters.
How to analyze the results of your NPS survey questions
You’ve set up targeted in-product surveys and responses are rolling in. Now what? What do you do with your NPS score?
A score above 0 is fine, above 20 is favorable, and above 50 is excellent. Above 80 is the top percentile. Bain & Company, the creators of the NPS score, recommend that you benchmark against others in your industry because scores can vary significantly. A leading NPS in one industry can be a lagging score in another.
Bain & Company data from 2022, for example, revealed that streaming businesses averaged an NPS score of 12, while SaaS products average around 40. That’s quite a difference. It’s important to find your industry’s average to see how you stack up against your competitors.
Once you’ve done that, use the results of your NPS surveys plus your industry average to make a plan for improvement. Send out other types of in-product surveys to gather more feedback. Pinpoint changes and updates to be made. Evaluate the results of your implementation — and begin the cycle again with more NPS surveys.
Continuous UX measurement is key to driving innovation and providing the best customer experience. NPS surveys can help with that.
How to leverage your NPS data for growth
First, analyze your NPS survey responses and identify any patterns or themes. Look for common metrics that pop up in each group.
For example, what are the most visited pages in your group of detractors? Are there certain conversion rates that are relatively low within your group of passives? Do your promoters share common behaviors or favor a specific feature in your product?
You can take action on your survey results manually or save time with Sprig. Sprig makes this process quick and efficient with its AI Analysis tool. Sprig AI summarizes results (and lets you ask questions about the results), pulls key takeaways, and transforms data into actionable steps for you to take.
Don’t forget to celebrate any wins you discover with your team, too. If you have an NPS survey schedule (surveying customers once a quarter, for example), set up a regular team meeting to go over the results. Talk about what your data uncovered and your plans to implement it into your product. But also, point out what your promoters love, if you’ve converted any detractors and passives, and what metrics have improved.
The results of your NPS surveys can help you build a better product and customer experience and tell your team what they’re doing right.
Common mistakes to avoid when conducting NPS surveys
When conducting an NPS survey, keep the following in mind:
- Avoid long surveys. The longer your survey, the less likely your customer is to respond.
- Send surveys at the correct time. Your survey should follow a meaningful, important interaction with your product or service, like solving a customer issue or successfully using a new feature.
- Segment your surveys. A generalized survey can gauge customer sentiment regarding your product or service. Segmented surveys, however, are essential for discovering usable customer insights.
- Respect your customers’ privacy and rights. Give your users the option to opt out of your survey. They should also be able to access, edit, or delete their response. Make it clear that their response is private and used only to improve your product.
Be sure you’re following our recommended best practices for NPS surveys to get the best results.
Challenges of NPS surveys
Although NPS surveys can be useful to support data-driven decision-making, they’re not without problems. Some of the most common challenges are:
- Low response rates: Using the wrong channels and sending surveys too often can result in low response rates. Try using a different distribution channel and/or surveying your customers less frequently.
- Inaccurate responses: The NPS survey isn’t perfect — you’ll still get some biased responses that don’t accurately reflect consumer behavior trends. That’s why it’s important to gather other types of user feedback beyond just NPS scores.
- Lack of context: NPS numbers alone may not offer as much insight as you want from your customers. Adding one or two engaging follow-up questions can help you gain context to understand how those numbers relate to specific aspects of your company or products.
While NPS numbers are important, they aren’t everything. It’s essential to augment this type of quantitative data with qualitative responses. With Sprig’s Replays tool, you can view clips of user behavior and gain insights into specific issues that aren’t obvious from NPS ratings.
Improve your product or service with NPS surveys
NPS surveys can give you an overall picture of your customers’ attitudes toward your company, product, or service. To leverage NPS surveys for your organization, you must craft your questions carefully, send them at the right time, and use your feedback effectively. With a customer survey tool like Sprig, you can gain user insights and develop product improvements much more quickly.
Sprig’s in-product Surveys or the newly released Feedback tool allow you to customize an NPS survey template and determine which users you want to target. If you want a closer look at user behavior after collecting results, the Replay feature lets you watch videos of user sessions. Sprig AI Analysis is a must-have for turning your NPS survey results into helpful summaries and actionable steps, too.
Ready to start surveying your users and improving your product? Sprig is ready to help you. Book a demo today.