# Net Promoter Score

**Acronym:** NPS  
**Category:** metrics  
**Short Description:** A customer-loyalty index, from −100 to +100, based on how likely customers are to recommend a brand.  
**Last Updated:** 2026-06-09T00:00:00Z

## Definition

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer-loyalty metric — developed by Fred Reichheld with Bain & Company and Satmetrix and introduced in the 2003 Harvard Business Review article 'The One Number You Need to Grow' — that gauges loyalty from a single question: 'How likely is it that you would recommend [company/product] to a friend or colleague?' on a 0–10 scale. Respondents are grouped into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6), and the score is the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors, yielding a number from −100 to +100.

## Formula

**Formula:** `NPS = % Promoters (9–10) − % Detractors (0–6)`

Your share of enthusiastic promoters minus your share of unhappy detractors.

## Calculation

**Formula:** `NPS = % Promoters − % Detractors`

**Explanation:** Survey customers with the single likelihood-to-recommend question (0–10). Calculate the percentage of Promoters (9–10) and the percentage of Detractors (0–6); Passives (7–8) are counted in the total but not in the subtraction. Subtract the Detractor percentage from the Promoter percentage. The result ranges from −100 (all detractors) to +100 (all promoters).

### Components

- **Promoters**: Respondents scoring 9–10, loyal enthusiasts likely to recommend
- **Detractors**: Respondents scoring 0–6, unhappy customers who may discourage others

## Industry Benchmarks

| Segment | Typical Range | Median | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| All industries (median) | Positive (>0); industry medians ~30–45 | ~42 (2025) | Benchmarks vary widely by sector; compare within your industry, not across. Interpretation bands (directional): >0 is good, >50 excellent, >70 world-class — trend over time matters more than a single absolute score. Bain finds NPS leaders grow at more than ~2x the rate of competitors over time. |

**Sources:** Retently NPS Benchmarks 2025

## Examples

- 100 responses: 60 promoters, 10 detractors, 30 passives → NPS = 60% − 10% = +50
- A score above 0 is positive; above 50 is excellent; above 70 is world-class
- A −20 NPS means detractors outnumber promoters and word-of-mouth is working against the brand

## How AdSights Helps

**Tracking Net Promoter Score:** Promoters are the engine of organic, word-of-mouth acquisition — and the stories they tell are the raw material of high-performing social proof creative. AdSights helps teams identify which testimonial angles, proof points, and customer narratives actually move ad performance, turning the loyalty that NPS measures into creative that compounds. It also surfaces when acquisition is attracting poor-fit customers likely to become detractors, before they erode the score.

## FAQs

### What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

NPS is a customer-loyalty metric based on a single question — how likely you are to recommend a company or product on a 0–10 scale. Customers are grouped into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6), and the score is the percentage of Promoters minus the percentage of Detractors, ranging from −100 to +100. It was introduced by Fred Reichheld and Bain & Company in a 2003 Harvard Business Review article.

### How is NPS calculated?

Survey customers with the likelihood-to-recommend question, then compute the percentage who are Promoters (scored 9–10) and the percentage who are Detractors (scored 0–6). Subtract the Detractor percentage from the Promoter percentage. Passives (7–8) count toward the total response base but are not added or subtracted. A company with 60% promoters and 10% detractors has an NPS of +50.

### What is a good NPS score?

Any score above 0 means you have more promoters than detractors. Broadly, above 50 is considered excellent and above 70 world-class, while the all-industry median sits around 42 in recent benchmarks. Because expectations differ enormously by sector, the most useful comparison is against your own industry benchmark and your own trend over time, not a universal threshold.

### Why does NPS matter for growth?

Because the willingness to recommend predicts both retention and referral — the two forces behind efficient growth. Bain's research finds NPS leaders grow at more than twice the rate of competitors over time, as promoters stay longer, spend more, and bring in new customers through word-of-mouth. NPS turns the diffuse idea of loyalty into a trackable number you can act on.

### What are the limitations of NPS?

It's a single, lagging, stated-intent measure — people don't always act on their stated likelihood to recommend, and a lone number hides the 'why.' Sample bias, cultural differences in scoring, and survey timing all skew results. NPS is most useful when paired with the open-ended follow-up ('what's the primary reason for your score?') and with behavioral metrics like actual referrals, retention, and expansion rather than treated as a target to be gamed.

## Related Terms

### Similar Terms

- **[Customer Retention Rate](/resources/glossary/metrics/customer-retention-rate-crr)**: Higher loyalty (NPS) tends to accompany stronger retention
- **[Viral Coefficient (K-Factor)](/resources/glossary/metrics/viral-coefficient-k-factor)**: Promoters fuel referrals that drive viral growth
- **[Net Revenue Retention (NRR)](/resources/glossary/metrics/net-revenue-retention-nrr)**: Loyal, promoting customers expand and retain, supporting NRR

### Component Terms

- **[Word-of-Mouth](/resources/glossary/general/word-of-mouth)**: NPS proxies the willingness to generate positive word-of-mouth