Quick answer
The NPS question is: “How likely are you to recommend [Company] to a friend or colleague?” on a 0–10 scale (0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely). Follow it with one open question: “What is the main reason for your score?”. Answers of 9–10 are promoters, 7–8 passives and 0–6 detractors; NPS = % promoters − % detractors.
The standard NPS question
The Net Promoter Score was introduced by Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company in a 2003 Harvard Business Review article, “The One Number You Need to Grow”. It reduces customer loyalty to a single question about willingness to recommend, because recommending puts the customer’s own reputation on the line. The wording has stayed the same since:
“How likely are you to recommend [Company / Product] to a friend or colleague?”
0 = Not at all likely · 10 = Extremely likely
Every NPS survey question you see is a variation on this sentence. You change only the thing being recommended and, for transactional surveys, add context about the moment. Keeping the core identical is what makes your NPS score comparable over time, across teams and with other surveys that use the same question.
Small format changes can move your score, so treat these as rules rather than suggestions:
NPS question format rules| Element | Standard |
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| Scale | 11 points, from 0 to 10. Don’t start at 1 and don’t shorten it to 0–5 or 1–7. |
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| End labels | 0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely. Leave the points in between as plain numbers. |
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| Layout | One horizontal row on desktop, in order from 0 on the left to 10 on the right. No default selection. |
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| Colors | Neutral. Red-to-green buttons hint at the “right” answer and can shift scores. |
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| Extra options | No “Not sure” or “N/A” on the main question; make the question skippable instead if you must. |
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| Position | First, or right after a one-line intro. Earlier questions can color the answer. |
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The NPS question is a closed-ended rating question, but it’s not a satisfaction scale: it asks about future behavior, not about how something felt. For satisfaction with a single moment, use a 1–5 CSAT question instead (see the CSAT calculator).
NPS question wording by survey type
Choose the version that matches what you want to measure, then keep it fixed:
NPS question wording by type of NPS survey| Type | Question | Measures |
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| Relationship NPS (rNPS) | How likely are you to recommend [Company] to a friend or colleague? | Overall loyalty, tracked every quarter or twice a year |
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| Transactional NPS (tNPS) | Based on your recent [purchase / support conversation / visit], how likely are you to recommend [Company] to a friend or colleague? | One touchpoint, sent shortly after it happens |
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| Product NPS | How likely are you to recommend [Product] to a friend or colleague? | One product or app, once people have used it for a while |
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| Feature NPS | How likely are you to recommend [feature] to a colleague who does similar work? | A new or important feature, shown in the app |
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| B2B NPS | How likely are you to recommend [Company] to a peer or colleague in your industry? | Business customers, often asked of several contacts per account |
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| Employee NPS (eNPS) | How likely are you to recommend [Company] as a place to work? | Employee loyalty, inside an anonymous engagement survey |
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From NPS score question to NPS score
Each answer to the NPS score question puts the respondent in one of three groups. Promoters (9–10) are enthusiastic and likely to recommend you. Passives (7–8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic. Detractors (0–6) are unhappy and may discourage others.
NPS = % promoters − % detractors, from −100 to +100. Passives count toward the total but are neither added nor subtracted. Example: 200 people answer; 120 give 9–10, 50 give 7–8 and 30 give 0–6. Promoters are 60%, detractors 15%, so NPS = +45.
Because NPS is the difference of two percentages, it is noisier than a single percentage. With these 200 responses, the 95% margin of error is about ±10 points, so a move from +45 to +50 may just be noise. Enter your counts in the NPS calculator to get the score, the breakdown and the margin of error.
NPS follow-up questions
The score tells you how many people would recommend you; the follow-up tells you why. The most useful single follow-up is open-ended: “What is the main reason for your score?”. If you can branch on the score, tailor it to each group:
NPS follow-up questions for promoters, passives and detractors| Group | Follow-up | Alternative |
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| Promoters (9–10) | What do you value most about [Company]? | What would you tell a friend about us? |
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| Passives (7–8) | What is one thing that would make you more likely to recommend us? | What’s missing from your experience today? |
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| Detractors (0–6) | What disappointed you, and what could we have done better? | What is the one thing we should fix first? |
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Beyond the “why”, these 16 NPS questions add depth. Pick one or two; an NPS survey should stay short.
Understand the score
- What is the main reason for your score?
- What is the one thing we could do to improve your score?
- What almost stopped you from giving us a higher score?
- Which word best describes your experience with us?
Find the drivers (rating scales)
- How satisfied are you with the quality of the product? (1–5)
- How satisfied are you with our customer support? (1–5)
- How easy is [Product] to use? (1 Very difficult – 5 Very easy)
- How satisfied are you with the value for money? (1–5)
Add context (choice questions)
- Which of these do you use most? (Single choice list of products or features)
- How long have you been a customer? (Less than 6 months / 6–12 months / 1–2 years / More than 2 years)
- Which of these should we improve? (Select all that apply)
- Have you recommended us to anyone in the past 6 months? (Yes / No)
Close the loop
- May we contact you about your answer? (Yes / No)
- Would you like to join our customer research panel? (Yes / No)
- Is there anything else you’d like to tell us? (Long text, optional)
- What is the best email to reach you? (Email, optional)
Open answers need reading and grouping into themes; the open-ended questions guide shows a simple way to code them.
Example NPS surveys
Online store (transactional NPS, 3 questions)
- Based on your recent order, how likely are you to recommend [Store] to a friend or colleague? (0–10)
- What is the main reason for your score? (Long text, optional)
- May we contact you about your answer? (Yes / No)
Software product (relationship NPS, 4 questions)
- How likely are you to recommend [Product] to a friend or colleague? (0–10)
- What is the main reason for your score? (Long text, optional)
- Which feature do you use most? (Single choice)
- How easy is [Product] to use? (1–5)
Employee pulse (eNPS, 3 questions)
- How likely are you to recommend [Company] as a place to work? (0–10)
- What is one thing that would make this a better place to work? (Long text, optional)
- Which team are you on? (Dropdown; use broad teams to protect anonymity)
The first example is the same structure as Florm’s free NPS survey template, which you can copy as it is.
NPS question mistakes to avoid
- Changing the scale or labels. A 1–10 or 5-point version is no longer NPS, and earlier results stop being comparable.
- Leading intros. “We hope you loved your stay! How likely…” nudges scores up. Keep the intro neutral.
- Asking for a 9 or 10. Telling people which score “counts” or tying rewards to high scores makes the number meaningless.
- Burying the question. After ten other questions, fatigue and earlier topics color the answer. Ask it first.
- Surveying too often. Asking the same customer every week trains them to ignore you. Use a fixed rhythm for relationship NPS.
- Mixing audiences. Comparing a post-support tNPS with a quarterly rNPS mixes two different measures. Track them separately.
- Collecting without acting. If detractors who asked to be contacted never hear back, response rates fall next time.
How to ask NPS questions in Florm
Florm has a built-in NPS question type: the standard 0–10 “How likely are you to recommend…” question, with respondents grouped into promoters, passives and detractors automatically and your NPS shown in form analytics.
- Start from the NPS survey template, or add an NPS step to any form in the visual editor and replace “us” with your company or product name.
- Add a Long text follow-up, “What is the main reason for your score?”, and keep it optional.
- On Basic and Professional plans, use logic branching to show different follow-ups to promoters, passives and detractors.
- Pass plan, region or customer ID as hidden fields so you can compare NPS by segment without asking.
- Share the link by email or in your app, or download a QR code for receipts and in-store signs. Read the score, completion and drop-off in analytics, and export responses to Excel or PDF.
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