Planet RoadmapNet Promoter Score has become one of the most widely used metrics in SaaS. Its simplicity is its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. One question—"How likely are you to recommend this product?"—produces a single number that is easy to track over time. But that simplicity can be misleading if you treat NPS as the full picture of customer satisfaction.
How NPS Works
NPS asks customers to rate their likelihood of recommending your product on a scale of 0 to 10. Respondents are grouped into promoters (9-10), passives (7-8), and detractors (0-6). Your NPS is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, yielding a score between negative 100 and positive 100.
Most B2B SaaS companies score between 30 and 50. But the absolute number matters less than the trend and what you learn from follow-up questions.
What NPS Is Good For
NPS works well as a high-level health check and a conversation starter. The number itself is less important than the open-ended follow-up: "What is the primary reason for your score?" The qualitative responses are where the real insights live.
- Tracking overall sentiment trends over time.
- Comparing satisfaction across customer segments.
- Identifying promoters for case studies and referrals.
- Flagging detractors for proactive outreach.
Where NPS Falls Short
NPS does not tell you what to build next. A detractor might give you a 3 because of a billing issue, a missing feature, or a bad onboarding experience. The score alone does not distinguish between these very different problems.
Response rates are typically low, which means your NPS may represent a vocal minority rather than your full user base. It also measures sentiment at a single point in time and can be heavily influenced by a recent positive or negative experience that does not reflect the overall relationship.
Using NPS Wisely
Treat NPS as one input in a broader system of customer feedback. Pair it with product analytics, support ticket analysis, and feature request data from tools like Planet Roadmap. When NPS drops, use the qualitative responses to form hypotheses, then investigate with data and interviews.
Survey quarterly rather than monthly to avoid fatigue. Always include the open-ended follow-up question. And never tie NPS to individual employee performance—it distorts the data and the behavior.