10 tips to build stellar NPS surveys

Net Promoter Score (NPS®) surveys are a cornerstone of customer feedback. They revolve around a single question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” While the NPS question may be deceptively simple, it has the power to give your company rich and valuable insights into customer loyalty and satisfaction. 

There are a few different types of NPS surveys that you can leverage in different ways to achieve your goals. For example, NPS surveys can request feedback from customers about your business as a whole, which is sometimes referred to as relational NPS or rNPS. NPS surveys can also be used to request feedback on a specific interaction or transaction, like visiting your website, making a purchase, or submitting a support ticket. These are examples of transactional NPS surveys, or tNPS. 

Many organizations use a combination of both relational and transactional NPS surveys to gain insight into the customer experience and make smart decisions to improve the customer journey across every touchpoint. 

Even though NPS surveys are simple by design, it’s still very important to take a strategic approach to make sure you’re getting the most out of this valuable feedback channel. Here are 10 tips to help you improve the effectiveness of your NPS surveys and capture the insights you need to improve your business.

Define specific objectives for each survey

Always start by establishing clear, measurable objectives for your NPS survey. This step is crucial as it directly influences the questions you ask and the audience you target. For example, if your goal is to evaluate customer satisfaction with a recent software update, your survey should be tailored to gather feedback specifically about that update.

Tie your objectives to the broader business goals 

The goals of your NPS survey should also be aligned with your organization's broader business objectives. This alignment helps ensure that the insights you extract from your NPS surveys are relevant and actionable. If you have an organizational goal around long-term customer retention, for example, focus your NPS surveys on aspects of your customer experience that contribute to ongoing loyalty. 

Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) 

Decide which metrics you'll use to assess the success of your NPS surveys. Beyond the NPS itself, consider tracking metrics like survey response rates, customer churn rate, or repeat purchases. These metrics can offer a more holistic and nuanced understanding of customer sentiment and behavior.

Segment your audience

Segmenting your audience enhances the power of NPS surveys. While surveying your entire customer base provides valuable insights into overall satisfaction, breaking down responses by specific segments unlocks more actionable data. For instance, comparing feedback from recent customers against long-standing clients can reveal critical differences in perception and needs. This targeted approach allows you to tailor strategies for different customer groups, ultimately driving more effective improvements in your products or services.

Your customers’ time is valuable, and a survey that takes too long to complete will hurt your response rates. Here are a few tips to keep your NPS surveys brief and easy to complete: 

Limit the number of questions

The strength of an NPS survey lies in its simplicity. While follow-up questions can add more detail and color to your NPS responses, don’t get carried away! Keep your NPS surveys limited to just a few essential questions to maximize your response rate.  

After the primary NPS question, include just one or two follow-up questions that probe into the reasons behind the score. This approach allows you to gather qualitative data without overburdening the respondents. The standard open-ended NPS question is, “What is the primary reason for your score?” However, you can certainly modify this question to meet your needs. 

Focus on actionable questions

Follow-up questions should be designed to prompt customers to give you feedback you can actually act on. Instead of vague or generic questions, ask for specific feedback that will guide improvements in your product, service, or customer experience.

For example, consider asking follow-up questions like:

Ensure clarity and relevance

Clarity is key in NPS surveys. Keep questions concise and directly aligned with your objectives, using language that's accessible to all customers. For example, instead of asking "How would you rate the user interface of our SaaS platform?" try "How easy is our software to use?" This approach not only boosts participation rates but also ensures more reliable data. 

Choosing the right timing and frequency for your NPS survey is crucial to maintaining high completion rates and obtaining quality data. Transactional NPS surveys aim to capture feedback when the customer's experience with your brand is still fresh. Meanwhile, conducting regular NPS surveys at well-spaced intervals allows you to track changes over time without overwhelming respondents. This balanced approach enables you to create a cycle of continuous improvement based on timely, relevant feedback.

Timing is everything 

For transactional NPS surveys, the ideal time to send out a survey is shortly after a customer interaction or experience with your product or service. Whether it's post-purchase, following a support call, or after using a specific feature, prompt surveying ensures the experience remains vivid in the customer's mind. This immediacy leads to more accurate and detailed feedback, providing you with actionable insights to enhance your offerings and customer experience.

Avoid survey fatigue 

Finding the right survey frequency is key to maintaining quality feedback without overwhelming your customers. While regular input is valuable, too many surveys can lead to fatigue and lower response rates. Consider your product or service type, customer interaction frequency, and industry norms when setting your schedule. For many businesses, a quarterly approach works well, but adjust as needed for your specific situation.

Monitor and adjust based on response trends

An intentional survey cadence with intervals allows time to implement meaningful changes based on previous feedback—and for customers to experience these improvements. Be sure to keep a close eye on response trends and feedback quality. If response rates drop or feedback becomes less insightful, it might mean you’re sending too many surveys or sending them at the wrong time. Monitor and adjust your frequency or distribution strategy accordingly.

Incorporate your company’s fonts, colors, and logo in the survey. This not only helps reinforce your brand recognition but also instills a sense of professionalism and trustworthiness in the survey process. 

Send surveys from your domain

Make sure your NPS surveys come from your domain instead of a generic one (e.g., person@yourcompany.com vs. person@outlook.com). This adds authenticity to your email, improves delivery and open rates, and builds trust with your recipients. It also decreases the likelihood of your surveys being flagged as spam. 

Balance branding elements with clarity and simplicity

While branding is important, it should not overshadow your survey's content. Use colors, logos, and fonts that reflect your brand without distracting from or complicating the survey experience. Your primary goal should still be to make the survey easy to read, understand, and complete.

Optimize for different devices

Make sure that your branded survey is optimized for all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This makes it easy for your customers to share their feedback from wherever is most convenient for them. Ensure your survey design and branding elements render correctly and remain functional across all platforms.

Address the customer by name

People are more likely to open an email and respond to a survey when they feel a personal connection. When sending out your surveys, incorporate email personalization, including using your recipient’s first name, to make the communication more individual and engaging.

Mention recent interactions

Personalizing your NPS survey to reflect the customer's latest engagement with your brand can significantly boost response rates and provide more relevant feedback. When crafting your survey invitation, explicitly mention the recent interaction to jog the customer's memory and emphasize the survey's relevance. For example, if sending a survey after a purchase, your email might begin with: "We hope you're enjoying your new [product name]." This context not only increases the likelihood of engagement, but also primes the customer to provide more specific, actionable feedback.

Customize follow-up questions

Enhance the depth of your NPS insights by tailoring open-ended questions to each respondent's rating. Utilizing sophisticated skip-logic allows you to gather more nuanced feedback.

For detractors and passives (those scoring 8 or below), probe into areas for improvement, asking specific questions about their experiences and expectations. Conversely, engage promoters (those selecting 9 or 10) by inviting them to elaborate on what they find most compelling about your product or company. This targeted approach not only yields more actionable feedback but also demonstrates to customers that you value their individual perspectives, potentially boosting engagement and response quality across all satisfaction levels.

Pilot testing your survey with a small group is a crucial step in refining your NPS strategy. This practice helps you identify any potential issues, ensures the questions are clear and effectively structured, and allows you to gauge the overall user experience before deploying the survey to a broader audience. 

Additionally, this preliminary testing phase provides an opportunity to assess whether the survey is capturing the specific insights you're seeking, enabling you to make data-driven adjustments that can significantly improve the quality and actionability of your feedback.

Assess question clarity

The pilot test is important for assessing question clarity and respondent interpretation. Pay close attention to how participants understand key terms and concepts, noting any items that cause confusion or misinterpretation, to ensure your final survey captures accurate, actionable insights across your entire customer base.

Evaluate time to complete

It’s also helpful to know how long it takes to complete the survey. If it’s too long, respondents might lose interest and abandon the survey without finishing it. With a pilot test, you can see how long it took your test group to answer your survey and adjust the survey length if necessary.

Refine the survey accordingly 

Use the insights gathered from your pilot test to refine your survey. This may involve rephrasing ambiguous questions, adjusting their order for better logical flow, or modifying the balance between closed and open-ended questions to optimize response quality and completion rates.

Incorporating open-ended questions in your NPS surveys is crucial for gathering rich, actionable insights. These qualitative responses provide context for numerical ratings, revealing underlying issues and unexpected delights that scales alone can't capture. By encouraging more open expression, you'll uncover trends and improvement opportunities, enabling targeted enhancements that directly address customer needs and preferences.

Capture rich, qualitative data

Open-ended questions help you understand the “why” behind NPS. Unlike rating scales, open-ended questions allow customers to articulate their thoughts in their own words. This provides a wealth of qualitative data, giving you a more comprehensive view of your customers' experiences and perceptions.

Create a dialogue with customers

You can also use open-ended questions to signal to customers that you value their detailed feedback and are willing to listen. This can foster a sense of engagement and loyalty, as customers feel that their opinions are being heard and considered.

Analyzing NPS survey results is a critical step that transforms raw data into actionable insights. Go beyond merely calculating your overall NPS score; segment your results by customer demographics, product lines, or touchpoints to uncover nuanced patterns. Below, we'll explain how to interpret the scores and comments to identify trends, understand customer needs, and make informed improvements to your business.

Identify trends and patterns 

To uncover meaningful insights, integrate your quantitative NPS scores with qualitative feedback. This holistic approach reveals the root causes behind customer satisfaction levels. Look for correlations between NPS and other key performance indicators like customer lifetime value (CLV) or churn rate. Or, use text analysis tools to extract common themes from open-ended responses. These deeper insights will guide targeted improvements, helping you prioritize initiatives that have the most significant impact on customer loyalty and business growth.

Prioritize improvements 

Transform your NPS insights into a strategic action plan by prioritizing improvements that will have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Evaluate feedback themes against factors such as frequency of mention, severity of impact, and alignment with business goals. 

Measure the impact 

After implementing changes, measure their impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. For example, conduct follow-up NPS surveys to see if scores have improved and to get feedback on the changes you made. By regularly tracking progress and adjusting your strategy as needed, you'll create a dynamic cycle of continuous improvement driven by customer feedback.

If a respondent takes the time to provide detailed feedback, it’s a great idea to acknowledge it and continue the conversation. Personalized follow-up on their comments shows that you value their input and are committed to improving. 

Here are a few ways to tips to follow up effectively with open-ended NPS questions: 

Ask for clarification

If the feedback is unclear or you need more details to take action, reach out to the customer for further clarification. Your message should be respectful and convey that you want to better understand their perspective. Here’s an example of how to follow up and get more details from a detractor:

"Thanks for responding to our NPS survey. We’re sorry to hear that you wouldn’t recommend us, and we’d love an opportunity to learn more about what we could do to improve. What could we be doing better?"

Address specific concerns 

If the feedback includes specific concerns or issues, address them directly. Share any details about how these issues are being handled, or your plans to address them. If immediate resolution isn't possible, explain the steps being taken to find a solution. And don’t forget to follow up again when the issue is resolved!

Invite ongoing dialogue 

Encourage ongoing communication. Let customers know that their input is always welcome and valued. Offer channels for them to provide further feedback or stay updated on changes and improvements.

Encourage customer advocacy 

If the feedback is exceptionally positive, consider inviting the respondent to participate in a case study, provide a testimonial, or become a brand advocate. For example, consider asking NPS promoters to share their experience on social media or review your business on the channels that are important to you. 

Learn more about how to follow up with NPS promoters, passives, and detractors.

Transform NPS insights into ongoing enhancements by establishing a systematic approach to acting on feedback. Integrate NPS insights into your operational processes by reviewing findings regularly, sharing improvements with customers, and equipping teams with current data.

This approach allows for informed decision-making and enables proactive issue resolution, while tracking outcomes helps measure the effectiveness of your improvements. By consistently applying these practices, you'll create a dynamic cycle of improvement that adapts to evolving customer needs, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty over time.

Well-structured NPS surveys are a powerful tool for improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Remember, NPS is more than just a questionnaire—it's a bridge connecting customer feedback to actions that drive meaningful improvement.

Get started with our free NPS survey template.  

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.