Flevy Management Insights Q&A
What is a good NPS response rate?
     David Tang    |    Customer Satisfaction


This article provides a detailed response to: What is a good NPS response rate? For a comprehensive understanding of Customer Satisfaction, we also include relevant case studies for further reading and links to Customer Satisfaction best practice resources.

TLDR A good NPS response rate is generally 30% or higher, varying by industry, with strategies like timely, personalized surveys boosting engagement.

Reading time: 4 minutes

Before we begin, let's review some important management concepts, as they related to this question.

What does Net Promoter Score (NPS) mean?
What does Customer-Centric Strategy mean?
What does Feedback Loop mean?
What does Personalization in Customer Engagement mean?


Determining what constitutes a good Net Promoter Score (NPS) response rate is critical for organizations aiming to accurately gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction. The NPS, a widely recognized metric, measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others. It is a direct reflection of customer experience and has been linked to revenue growth. However, the utility of NPS is heavily dependent on the response rate. A low response rate might lead to skewed results, not truly reflective of the overall customer sentiment.

Consulting giants like Bain & Company, the creator of the NPS framework, suggest that a response rate of 30% or higher is generally considered good, indicating a healthy level of engagement and a representative sample size. However, this figure can vary significantly across industries. For instance, retail and e-commerce might experience higher response rates due to their direct and frequent interactions with customers, whereas B2B sectors, with longer sales cycles and fewer touchpoints, might see lower rates. The key is to benchmark against industry standards, adjusting expectations and strategies accordingly.

Improving the NPS response rate should be a strategic priority. Strategies include simplifying the survey process, ensuring timely distribution after customer interactions, and communicating the value of feedback to customers. Personalization of survey requests can also significantly increase engagement. It's not just about sending out surveys; it's about creating a feedback loop where customers feel heard and see their input leading to tangible changes. This approach not only boosts response rates but also strengthens customer relationships and loyalty.

Framework for Maximizing NPS Response Rates

Adopting a robust framework is essential for organizations looking to maximize their NPS response rates. This involves a multi-faceted strategy encompassing timing, personalization, and follow-up. First, timing is crucial. Surveys should be sent when the experience is fresh in the customer's mind, ideally immediately following a purchase or interaction. This increases the likelihood of receiving a response and ensures that the feedback is relevant and accurate.

Second, personalization can dramatically impact response rates. Tailoring the survey invitation to include the customer's name and specific details about their interaction with the organization can make the request feel more relevant and important. This strategy, recommended by consulting firms like McKinsey & Company, emphasizes the importance of treating customers as individuals rather than numbers.

Lastly, a structured follow-up process can help capture feedback from customers who might have missed or ignored the initial request. This could involve a reminder email or a follow-up call, depending on the customer's preferred communication channel. However, it's critical to balance persistence with respect, ensuring that efforts to increase response rates do not negatively impact the customer experience.

Are you familiar with Flevy? We are you shortcut to immediate value.
Flevy provides business best practices—the same as those produced by top-tier consulting firms and used by Fortune 100 companies. Our best practice business frameworks, financial models, and templates are of the same caliber as those produced by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, and Accenture. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with 20+ years of experience.

Trusted by over 10,000+ Client Organizations
Since 2012, we have provided best practices to over 10,000 businesses and organizations of all sizes, from startups and small businesses to the Fortune 100, in over 130 countries.
AT&T GE Cisco Intel IBM Coke Dell Toyota HP Nike Samsung Microsoft Astrazeneca JP Morgan KPMG Walgreens Walmart 3M Kaiser Oracle SAP Google E&Y Volvo Bosch Merck Fedex Shell Amgen Eli Lilly Roche AIG Abbott Amazon PwC T-Mobile Broadcom Bayer Pearson Titleist ConEd Pfizer NTT Data Schwab

Real-World Examples and Best Practices

Leading organizations often share their success stories and strategies for improving NPS response rates. For instance, a major telecom company implemented a strategy focusing on personalized, timely survey requests and saw their response rate increase by over 20%. They attributed this success to the relevance of the survey timing, which was closely linked to customer interactions, and the personalization of the survey invitations.

Another example comes from the hospitality industry, where a global hotel chain used post-stay surveys to understand guest experiences. By optimizing the timing of these surveys and ensuring that questions were relevant to the guest's stay, they achieved a response rate of over 40%. This high response rate provided valuable insights that led to targeted improvements in guest services and amenities.

These examples underscore the importance of a strategic, customer-centric approach to NPS surveys. By focusing on the customer's experience and making it easy and worthwhile for them to provide feedback, organizations can significantly improve their NPS response rates. This, in turn, leads to more accurate and actionable insights that can drive customer satisfaction and loyalty. Understanding what is a good NPS response rate and how to achieve it is crucial for organizations across all industries. By benchmarking against industry standards, adopting a strategic framework for survey distribution, and learning from real-world examples, organizations can enhance their customer feedback mechanisms. This not only improves the quality of the insights gathered but also strengthens the overall customer experience, leading to increased loyalty and, ultimately, revenue growth. In today's competitive market, a strong NPS response rate is not just a metric of performance but a cornerstone of customer-centric strategy and operational excellence.

Best Practices in Customer Satisfaction

Here are best practices relevant to Customer Satisfaction from the Flevy Marketplace. View all our Customer Satisfaction materials here.

Did you know?
The average daily rate of a McKinsey consultant is $6,625 (not including expenses). The average price of a Flevy document is $65.

Explore all of our best practices in: Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction Case Studies

For a practical understanding of Customer Satisfaction, take a look at these case studies.

Global Expansion Strategy for Semiconductor Manufacturer in Asia

Scenario: A leading semiconductor manufacturer in Asia, known for its high-quality products and technological innovation, faces challenges in maintaining customer satisfaction amidst rapidly evolving market demands and increasing global competition.

Read Full Case Study

Semiconductor Firm's Customer Satisfaction Overhaul in High-Tech Sector

Scenario: A semiconductor company in the high-tech industry is grappling with declining Customer Satisfaction scores, which have been negatively impacted by delayed product deliveries and inconsistent customer service.

Read Full Case Study

Customer Satisfaction Improvement Project for Retail Organization

Scenario: An up-and-coming retail company in the consumer electronics sector is experiencing declining customer satisfaction rates amidst expansive growth.

Read Full Case Study

Customer Experience Strategy for a Regional Cinema Chain

Scenario: A regional cinema chain, well-established in the entertainment industry, is observing a decline in customer satisfaction due to outdated facilities and a lack of innovative offerings, leading to a 20% drop in attendance over the past two years.

Read Full Case Study

Customer Satisfaction Enhancement in Agritech

Scenario: The organization is a mid-sized agritech company specializing in precision farming solutions.

Read Full Case Study

Customer Satisfaction Strategy for Online Education Services

Scenario: An emerging online education platform specializes in professional development courses, facing challenges in maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction amidst rapidly increasing user base.

Read Full Case Study




Flevy is the world's largest knowledge base of best practices.


Leverage the Experience of Experts.

Find documents of the same caliber as those used by top-tier consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, Accenture.

Download Immediately and Use.

Our PowerPoint presentations, Excel workbooks, and Word documents are completely customizable, including rebrandable.

Save Time, Effort, and Money.

Save yourself and your employees countless hours. Use that time to work on more value-added and fulfilling activities.




Read Customer Testimonials

  •  
    "I like your product. I'm frequently designing PowerPoint presentations for my company and your product has given me so many great ideas on the use of charts, layouts, tools, and frameworks. I really think the templates are a valuable asset to the job."

    – Roberto Fuentes Martinez, Senior Executive Director at Technology Transformation Advisory
  •  
    "As a consulting firm, we had been creating subject matter training materials for our people and found the excellent materials on Flevy, which saved us 100's of hours of re-creating what already exists on the Flevy materials we purchased."

    – Michael Evans, Managing Director at Newport LLC
  •  
    "I am extremely grateful for the proactiveness and eagerness to help and I would gladly recommend the Flevy team if you are looking for data and toolkits to help you work through business solutions."

    – Trevor Booth, Partner, Fast Forward Consulting
  •  
    "FlevyPro provides business frameworks from many of the global giants in management consulting that allow you to provide best in class solutions for your clients."

    – David Harris, Managing Director at Futures Strategy
  •  
    "As an Independent Management Consultant, I find Flevy to add great value as a source of best practices, templates and information on new trends. Flevy has matured and the quality and quantity of the library is excellent. Lastly the price charged is reasonable, creating a win-win value for "

    – Jim Schoen, Principal at FRC Group
  •  
    "Flevy is our 'go to' resource for management material, at an affordable cost. The Flevy library is comprehensive and the content deep, and typically provides a great foundation for us to further develop and tailor our own service offer."

    – Chris McCann, Founder at Resilient.World
  •  
    "FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The "

    – Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
  •  
    "As a consultant requiring up to date and professional material that will be of value and use to my clients, I find Flevy a very reliable resource.

    The variety and quality of material available through Flevy offers a very useful and commanding source for information. Using Flevy saves me time, enhances my expertise and ends up being a good decision."

    – Dennis Gershowitz, Principal at DG Associates



Download our FREE Strategy & Transformation Framework Templates

Download our free compilation of 50+ Strategy & Transformation slides and templates. Frameworks include McKinsey 7-S Strategy Model, Balanced Scorecard, Disruptive Innovation, BCG Experience Curve, and many more.