How to Use Net Promoter Score on Your Website to Grow Your Business

What is Net Promoter Score?

Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric developed by Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix in 2003. It measures how likely your customers are to recommend your product or service to others using a simple question:

"On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend [your company] to a friend or colleague?"

Based on their responses, customers fall into three categories:

P
Promoters (9-10): Loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth.
P
Passives (7-8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.
D
Detractors (0-6): Unhappy customers who can damage your brand through negative word-of-mouth.

Your NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. The score ranges from -100 to +100, with anything above 0 considered good, above 50 excellent, and above 70 world-class.

Why NPS Matters for Your Website

Unlike other customer satisfaction metrics, NPS directly correlates with business growth. Research has shown that companies with higher NPS scores grow faster than their competitors. Here's why:

Predictive of Growth

Promoters are 4-5x more likely to repurchase, forgive mistakes, and try new offerings. They account for 80%+ of referrals in most businesses.

Simple to Understand

Unlike complex satisfaction surveys, NPS gives you one clear number that everyone in your organization can rally around.

Actionable Feedback

The follow-up question "Why did you give that score?" provides qualitative insights you can act on immediately.

Easy to Benchmark

NPS is standardized across industries, making it easy to compare your performance against competitors.

How to Implement NPS Surveys on Your Website

1. Choose the Right Timing

The timing of your NPS survey dramatically affects response rates and data quality. Don't ask too early (before they've experienced your product) or too late (when they've forgotten the experience).

Best practices for timing:

After a purchase or conversion is completed
After a customer support interaction
After using a key feature for the first time
At regular intervals for long-term customers (e.g., every 90 days)
After the user has spent meaningful time on your site (e.g., 60+ seconds)

2. Keep It Simple

The power of NPS lies in its simplicity. Start with the core NPS question, then follow up with one open-ended question to understand the "why" behind the score.

Primary question:

"How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?"

Follow-up question:

"What's the primary reason for your score?"

Resist the temptation to add more questions. Survey fatigue leads to lower response rates and less thoughtful answers.

3. Use Non-Intrusive Presentation

Your NPS survey should feel like a natural part of the user experience, not an interruption. Consider these approaches:

Slide-in widgets: A small widget that slides in from the corner, easy to dismiss
In-app prompts: Triggered after specific actions within your application
Exit-intent surveys: Shown when users are about to leave
Embedded surveys: Built directly into thank-you pages or dashboards

4. Segment Your Audience

Different customer segments may have vastly different experiences. Track NPS by:

Customer type (free vs. paid, plan tier)
Time as a customer (new vs. long-term)
Feature usage patterns
Traffic source or acquisition channel
Geographic location

Tools like Popsee let you pass custom parameters (like user ID, plan, or email) to segment your NPS data automatically.

What to Do with Your NPS Results

Collecting NPS data is just the beginning. The real value comes from acting on the insights. Here's a framework for closing the loop:

For Promoters (9-10)

These are your biggest fans. Don't let their enthusiasm go to waste:

Ask for referrals or reviews
Invite them to your customer advocacy program
Feature them in case studies or testimonials
Give them early access to new features
Simply thank them for their support

For Passives (7-8)

These customers are satisfied but not excited. They're at risk of churning to competitors:

Dig deeper to understand what would make them a 9 or 10
Highlight features they may not be using
Offer personalized onboarding or training
Share customer success stories to build connection

For Detractors (0-6)

These customers are unhappy and may be sharing their negative experience with others:

Respond quickly and personally
Acknowledge their frustration without being defensive
Identify the root cause of their dissatisfaction
Offer concrete solutions or compensation when appropriate
Follow up to ensure the issue is resolved

The most important thing is to close the loop with respondents. When customers see that their feedback leads to real changes, they become more engaged and more likely to respond to future surveys.

NPS Benchmarks by Industry

NPS benchmarks vary significantly by industry. Here are some general guidelines:

Industry	Average NPS	Good NPS
SaaS / Software	30-40	50+
E-commerce	35-45	55+
Financial Services	25-35	45+
Healthcare	25-35	45+
Telecommunications	15-25	35+

Remember that your most valuable benchmark is your own past performance. Focus on improving your NPS over time rather than obsessing over industry comparisons.

Common NPS Mistakes to Avoid

Surveying too frequently

Don't ask for NPS feedback more than once every 90 days per customer. Over-surveying leads to fatigue and declining response rates.

Ignoring the follow-up question

The number alone doesn't tell you what to fix. Always include a follow-up question and read every response.

Not closing the loop

Collecting feedback without acting on it is worse than not collecting it at all. Always respond to detractors.

Gaming the score

Never incentivize high scores or cherry-pick who receives surveys. This corrupts your data and defeats the purpose.

Getting Started with NPS on Your Website

Ready to start measuring NPS on your website? Here's a simple action plan:

Choose a survey tool that integrates easily with your website
Define your timing rules (when should the survey appear?)
Set up customer segmentation to track NPS by user type
Create a response workflow for following up with detractors
Establish a review cadence (weekly or monthly NPS reviews)
Share results across your organization to drive customer-centric culture

Start collecting NPS feedback today

Popsee makes it easy to add NPS surveys to your website with a simple script tag. No coding required, and your first 100 responses are free.

Get Started Free