--- title: "What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)? Definition and formula" url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/net-promoter-score/" description: "NPS asks how likely someone is to recommend you, from 0 to 10, then subtracts detractors from promoters. The formula, and when you can run it in Slack." --- # What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)? **Net Promoter Score (NPS)**: Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a loyalty metric built on one question: how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague, answered from 0 to 10. NPS is the percentage of promoters (9 or 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6), so it runs from -100 to +100. Also known as: NPS. NPS was developed by Fred Reichheld at Bain & Company and popularised in his 2003 Harvard Business Review article "The One Number You Need to Grow". It's meant for customers. The employee version is [eNPS](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/employee-net-promoter-score/). ## Example polls Paste any of these into the message box in Slack. ```text /poll "How likely are you to recommend the new deploy pipeline to a colleague?" "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" limit 1 anonymous close after 7 days ``` An internal NPS for a tool your platform team runs, open for a week. *Premium: more than 5 options, vote limits, closing automatically.* ```text /poll "Community check-in" "Two questions. Your answers are anonymous." anonymous close after 7 days --- "How likely are you to recommend this community to a friend or colleague? 0 is not at all likely, 10 is extremely likely." "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" limit 1 --- "What is the main reason for your score?" short text optional ``` The score and the reason, for a Slack community. *Premium: surveys (several questions), more than 5 options, closing automatically.* ## How the score works Bain's question is "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?", scored 0 to 10. Answers fall into three groups: **promoters** (9 or 10), **passives** (7 or 8) and **detractors** (0 to 6). NPS is % promoters minus % detractors. Passives only count in the total. If 100 customers answer, 50 give a 9 or 10 and 20 give 6 or lower, the NPS is 50 minus 20, which is **+30**. Bain also asks a second, open question: the main reason for the score. That's where the useful detail is. ## Who answered matters The people who answer a survey may not represent everyone you asked. Bain suggests that if you can't learn about the non-responders, you treat them conservatively rather than assume they look like the people who did answer. Report your [response rate](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/response-rate/) next to the score. ## Running NPS in Slack NPS in Slack makes sense when the people you're asking are in Slack with you: members of your customer community workspace, beta users in a shared channel, or colleagues who use a tool your team runs internally. Simple Poll's `scale` poll rates 1 to 5, which can't produce an NPS. Use a choice poll with eleven options, `"0"` to `"10"`, plus `limit 1` so each person gives one score. Both need Premium (more than five options, vote limits). Add `anonymous` if people would hold back, and `close after` so you report a fixed result. Then count the 9 and 10 votes, count the 0 to 6 votes, and divide each by the total. ## FAQ ### Why 0 to 10 and not 1 to 5? The promoter, passive and detractor bands are defined on the 11-point scale. A five-point rating can't be split the same way, so there's no honest conversion. ### Can I run NPS for free in Simple Poll? Not the standard version. Eleven options and a one-vote limit are Premium features. The 14-day trial (`/simplepoll trial`) covers them; see [pricing](https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/). ### Is a negative NPS bad? It means more detractors than promoters among the people who answered. Read the reasons before reacting to the number. ## Related - [What is eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score)?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/employee-net-promoter-score/): Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) asks employees how likely they are to recommend their company as a place to work, on a scale from 0 to 10. The score is the percentage of promoters (9 or 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6), so it runs from -100 to +100. - [eNPS survey for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/enps-survey/): When you want one comparable number for how likely people are to recommend working here, tracked quarter to quarter. - [What is response rate?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/response-rate/): Response rate is the share of people you asked who actually answered: the number of respondents divided by the number of people invited, times 100. - [What is a single-choice poll?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/single-choice-poll/): A single-choice poll lets each voter pick exactly one option. The result shows how a group splits when everyone has to commit to a single answer. ## Sources - [Bain & Company: Measuring your Net Promoter Score](https://www.netpromotersystem.com/about/measuring-your-net-promoter-score/) - [Wikipedia: Net promoter score](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_promoter_score) --- Simple Poll is the #1 polls and surveys app for Slack. Add it to Slack: https://simplepoll.rocks/. Pricing: https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/.