30 NPS survey questions and follow-ups that explain the score
The core NPS question is always the same: "How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague?" on a 0–10 scale. The real insight comes from what you ask next. This bank gives you 30 follow-up questions — split into questions for everyone, for promoters (9–10), for passives (7–8), and for detractors (0–6) — plus relationship and transactional variants of the main question. A good NPS survey is the score question, one or two follow-ups, and nothing else.
How do you use this question bank?
Keep the survey brutally short: the 0–10 question, one open-ended "why", and at most one more targeted follow-up. If your survey tool supports conditional logic, branch the follow-up based on the score so promoters, passives, and detractors each get a question written for them. Formkii supports this kind of score-based branching on its free plan, but the questions below work in any tool.
Scoring reminder: respondents who answer 9–10 are promoters, 7–8 are passives, 0–6 are detractors. NPS = % promoters minus % detractors, giving a number from -100 to +100.
The core NPS question and its variants
Use the standard wording for benchmarkability, and the variants when you're measuring a specific product, team, or moment.
- How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? (0 = not at all likely, 10 = extremely likely)
- How likely are you to recommend [product] to someone in a similar role?
- Based on your experience today, how likely are you to recommend [company]? (transactional NPS, sent after a purchase or support ticket)
- How likely are you to recommend [company] as a place to work? (eNPS, for employees)
- How likely are you to recommend this event to a colleague? (event NPS)
Follow-up questions for everyone
If you only ask one follow-up, make it the first one on this list.
- What is the main reason for your score?
- What's one thing we could do to improve your score by one point?
- Which words come to mind when you think of [company]?
- What do you mainly use [product] for?
- How long have you been a customer?
- If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?
- Is there anything else you'd like us to know?
Follow-up questions for promoters (9–10)
Promoters tell you what to protect and what to put in your marketing. They're also your referral engine — these questions surface both.
- What do you love most about [product]?
- What problem does [product] solve for you that nothing else did?
- Have you already recommended us to anyone? What did you tell them?
- What almost stopped you from becoming a customer?
- Which feature could you not live without?
- Would you be open to sharing your experience as a short review or case study?
Follow-up questions for passives (7–8)
Passives are satisfied but not enthusiastic, and they don't count toward your score. The goal is to find the gap between "fine" and "great".
- What's missing that would have made this a 9 or 10?
- What does [product] do well, and where does it fall short?
- Which other products do you use alongside or instead of [product]?
- Is there a feature or service you expected from us that you haven't found?
- What would make you choose us without hesitation next time?
Follow-up questions for detractors (0–6)
Tone matters here. Acknowledge the low score, don't get defensive, and ask permission before following up personally.
- We're sorry your experience hasn't been great. What went wrong?
- What was the most frustrating part of your experience with us?
- Was there a specific incident that shaped your score?
- What would we need to change for you to consider recommending us?
- Did our team know about this issue? If you reported it, what happened?
- Are you considering alternatives? If so, what draws you to them?
- Would you be open to a quick call so we can make this right? (optional contact field)
| Segment | Score | What to ask | What to do with the answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promoters | 9–10 | What do you love? Would you refer or review us? | Feed marketing copy, request reviews, launch referrals |
| Passives | 7–8 | What's missing for a 9 or 10? | Prioritize the most-mentioned gaps on the roadmap |
| Detractors | 0–6 | What went wrong? Can we follow up? | Service recovery within 48 hours, root-cause the themes |
Make the open-ended follow-up optional and the survey still works; make it required and your detractors — the people you most need to hear from — abandon it. Optional fields with a good prompt routinely outperform required ones on both completion and answer quality.
Tips for using these questions
- Don't change the wording or the 0–10 scale of the core question. The whole point of NPS is comparability over time.
- Survey a rolling sample monthly or quarterly rather than blasting everyone at once — you get a continuous trendline instead of a yearly spike.
- Send transactional NPS within 24 hours of the interaction, and relationship NPS no more than a few times a year per customer.
- Read every detractor comment within a day or two and reply to the ones with contact details. Speed is the difference between churn and recovery.
- Tag follow-up comments into themes (pricing, bugs, support, onboarding) and report the top themes next to the score. A number without reasons isn't actionable.
- Never ask for a 9 or 10, hint at what score you'd like, or attach staff bonuses directly to raw scores — all three corrupt the data.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard NPS question?
The standard wording is "How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague?" answered on a 0–10 scale. Respondents scoring 9–10 are promoters, 7–8 are passives, and 0–6 are detractors. NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors.
How many follow-up questions should an NPS survey include?
One or two at most. The classic format is the 0–10 question plus a single open-ended "What is the main reason for your score?". Adding a long questionnaire after the score question depresses response rates and turns a loyalty pulse into a chore.
Should NPS follow-up questions be different for promoters and detractors?
Ideally yes. Promoters should be asked what they love and whether they'd refer or review you, while detractors should be asked what went wrong and whether you can follow up. Survey tools with conditional logic can branch automatically based on the 0–10 answer.
How often should you send an NPS survey?
Relationship NPS is typically sent quarterly or twice a year per customer, often to a rolling sample so data arrives continuously. Transactional NPS is sent after specific events like onboarding or a support ticket. Avoid surveying the same person more than once a quarter.
Can you use the NPS question for employees?
Yes — that variant is called eNPS: "How likely are you to recommend [company] as a place to work?" It's scored the same way. Keep eNPS surveys anonymous, because employees won't report a 3 honestly if their manager can see who said it.