“How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”
From Fred Reichheld · Author of The Ultimate Question; creator of the Net Promoter Score
Why it works
Willingness to recommend forces respondents to put their own reputation on the line — recommending something that flops is socially costly, so people rate honestly in a way they don't when asked 'are you satisfied?' Reichheld's two years of research showed this single item correlated with growth across industries where satisfaction scores didn't. The 0-10 scale and its promoter/passive/detractor cut are what make the answer comparable across customers, products, and time; the number is only useful because the same question is asked the same way of everybody.
When to ask
After a customer has had a real chance to form a judgment — typically a few weeks of active use or right after a moment that should have left an impression. Run it on a recurring cadence so you can watch the score move, not just collect one.
Good follow-ups
- What's the most important reason for your score?
- What would have to change for you to give us a higher score?
- Who would you recommend us to, and what would you tell them?
Watch out for
Treating the score as the answer. The number tells you nothing about why — and without the reason, you cannot act on it. Always pair it with the open follow-up, and resist gaming the score with timing tricks (asking only after a win) or sample selection. If your team is optimizing the metric instead of the underlying experience, the metric has stopped being useful.
Where to ask
- In-product surveygreat
This is the native habitat — a one-tap 0-10 scale fired after a meaningful interaction is exactly how Reichheld designed the instrument to be deployed.
- Long-form surveygreat
Travels cleanly in an emailed relationship survey; the 0-10 scale and the reason follow-up stand on their own without a moderator.
- User interviewworkable
Useful as a structured opener live, but a single 0-10 score from one person is anecdote — the Net Promoter math only means something at sample size.
Use it in a ready-made survey
Net promoter score (NPS)
Measure customer loyalty and route detractors, passives, and promoters to the right follow-up.
This question leads a 5-question survey:
- How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or colleague?
- What is the main reason for your score today?
- What one thing should we improve to earn a 9 or 10 from you?
- What do you value most about the product?
- +1 more
For: Active customers · Sent: 30 days after activation, Quarterly for active accounts
Stage: Champion · A question popularized by Fred Reichheld
Source: https://hbr.org/2003/12/the-one-number-you-need-to-grow