Net promoter score (NPS) measures customer loyalty by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters, on a −100 to +100 scale.
NPS = % promoters (scored 9–10) − % detractors (scored 0–6), on a scale of −100 to +100
Of 200 survey responses, 120 are promoters (9–10), 50 are passives (7–8), and 30 are detractors (0–6).
(120 ÷ 200) − (30 ÷ 200) = 60% − 15% = 45 NPS
NPS comes from a single question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?", answered on a 0–10 scale. Respondents are bucketed into promoters (9–10), passives (7–8), and detractors (0–6). The score is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, producing a number from −100 to +100. Passives count toward the total but not toward the score itself.
Its appeal is its simplicity and ubiquity. One question is easy to ask and easy to benchmark, and because almost everyone measures it the same way, NPS has become a common yardstick for loyalty across industries. A positive score means promoters outnumber detractors; a score above 30 is generally good and above 50 excellent, though what counts as strong varies by sector.
The simplicity is also the criticism. NPS compresses a rich distribution into one number, the 0–6 detractor band lumps a furious customer in with a fairly content one, and self-reported intent to recommend does not always translate into behaviour. Treat it as a directional loyalty signal and a conversation starter — the follow-up "why?" is often worth more than the score — rather than a precise predictor of churn or growth.
NPS is the most widely understood proxy for customer loyalty, which makes it a useful shared language with boards and across teams and a rough leading indicator of word-of-mouth growth and retention. Its real value is less the number than the trend and the open-text "why", which surface the satisfaction and friction that show up later as churn or expansion — so it pairs naturally with hard retention metrics rather than replacing them.
B2B SaaS NPS commonly lands in the 30s to 40s, with above 50 considered excellent and above 70 world-class; SaaS benchmark studies put the software-industry average around 40 (sources: Retently 2025 NPS benchmarks; Delighted industry data).
Anything positive means promoters outnumber detractors. For B2B SaaS, a score in the 30s to 40s is solid, above 50 is excellent, and above 70 is world-class. What matters most is the trend over time and how it compares to your own sector.
NPS is a survey-based measure of stated loyalty; churn rate is the actual share of customers who leave. NPS can be a leading signal of churn, but only behaviour confirms it, so the two are read together rather than one in place of the other.
It compresses a 0–10 distribution into one figure, treats every detractor from 0 to 6 the same, and relies on stated intent that may not match behaviour. It is best used as a directional loyalty signal with the follow-up "why?" rather than as a precise predictor.
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