A Net Promoter Score survey is about the shortest useful feedback survey a small business can send. For a trade or service business, think of it as an after-job check-in text: one question about whether the customer would recommend you, and one asking why. It shows who is happy, who is lukewarm and who is unhappy while you can still fix it. Below: the question, how to work out your score, a free template, and what to do with each answer, including a review rule that catches many businesses out.
The one NPS question
The Net Promoter Score was created in 2003 by Fred Reichheld, a partner at Bain & Company, and Bain’s pages still set out the method. The question is “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” Customers answer on a scale from 0 to 10, and their answer puts them in one of three groups. Bain & Company: measuring your Net Promoter Score and about the Net Promoter System, checked 09/10/2026. Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Bain & Company, NICE Systems and Fred Reichheld.
Your fans: the customers most likely to recommend you.
Fence-sitters: happy enough, but not enthusiastic. They count in your total number of replies but don’t move the score either way.
Unhappy customers: unlikely to recommend you, and the first people to call back.
How to work out your score
Work out what percentage of replies were promoters and what percentage were detractors, then take the second away from the first. Count the 7s and 8s in the total number of replies, but leave them out of the sum. The result is written as a number, not a percentage. Because it’s one percentage minus another, it can run from minus 100, if every reply is a detractor, to plus 100, if every reply is a promoter.
Example (made-up numbers): a cleaning business sends the survey after every job for a few months and gets 40 replies. 22 people score 9 or 10, 10 score 7 or 8, and 8 score 0 to 6.
Promoters: 22 out of 40 is 55%. Detractors: 8 out of 40 is 20%.
Net Promoter Score: 55 minus 20, which is 35.
With small numbers, one or two replies move the score a long way. In the same example, if one promoter had scored 6 instead, the score would drop from 35 to 30. So treat a single month’s number as a rough guide, watch how it moves over several months, and read the reasons people give. Your own trend is the comparison that matters most.
Free NPS survey template to copy
Keep it to two or three questions. The first is the NPS question itself. The second asks why, and its answers are usually more useful than the score. The third is optional, and gives you permission to follow up properly.
- Question 1 (0 to 10): How likely are you to recommend [Business] to a friend or colleague?
- Question 2 (short answer): What’s the main reason for your score?
- Question 3 (yes or no, optional): Is it OK if we contact you about your answer?
Swap [Business] for your business name, keep the 0 to 10 scale the same every time so your numbers compare, and don’t make question 2 compulsory. People who skip it still count.
Text version
Hi [Name], it’s [Your name] from [Business]. Thanks for choosing us for the [job]. Quick question: from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [Business] to a friend or colleague? Just reply with a number. Reply STOP to opt out.
When they reply, send one more: “Thanks, [Name]. What’s the main reason for your score?” Then stop. Two texts is a survey; five is a nuisance.
Email version
Subject: A quick question about your [job]
Hi [Name],
Thanks for choosing [Business] for the [job] at [suburb]. Could you answer three quick questions? It takes under a minute, and [Your name] reads every answer.
[Link to the survey]
Cheers,
[Your name], [Business], [phone]
Don’t want emails like this? Reply “unsubscribe” and we won’t send another.
Other client feedback survey questions
The NPS question tells you how many customers would recommend you. These tell you why, and where a job went right or wrong. Pick one or two to add after question 2, not all of them.
- Did we turn up when we said we would? (Yes or no)
- How easy was it to get a quote or book a time? (1 to 5)
- Did the final price match the quote? (Yes, no, or it changed for a reason we explained)
- Did we leave the place as clean as we found it? (Yes or no)
- How did you first hear about us? (A short list, plus Other)
- Is there anything we should have done differently? (Short answer)
A few rules keep the answers honest. Ask about one thing per question. Don’t lead: “How happy were you with our fast service?” tells people what to say. Make sure it works on a phone, say up front how long it takes, and keep the whole survey under a minute.
When and how to send it
- Soon after the job: a day or two after you finish, while the job is fresh in their mind.
- Once per job: not after every call or message. For regular customers, like a weekly clean or monthly bookkeeping, every few months is plenty.
- From your business: from your business email or number, in business hours, signed with your name and business name.
- The way they reached you: text for customers who text, email for customers who email.
- Read every reply: and answer the ones that need it within a day or two.
Survey emails, texts and the Spam Act
Under the Spam Act 2003, marketing emails and texts need the person’s consent, must identify your business and include your contact details, and must make it easy to unsubscribe, with requests honoured within five working days. ACMA: Avoid sending spam, checked 09/10/2026.
A short survey about a job you did for a customer, with nothing to sell in it, is about their job. Keep it that way. Once you add a special, a discount or a newsletter sign-up, it’s marketing, and ACMA notes that buying something from you doesn’t, on its own, give you implied permission (inferred consent, in the law’s words) to send them marketing. Either way, name your business, give an easy way to opt out, such as “Reply STOP”, and honour it straight away. We’re not lawyers, so take advice for your own business.
What to do with promoters, passives and detractors
Contact them first, within a day or two, by phone if they said yes to question 3. Listen, don’t argue, fix what you can, and note what went wrong on their record so it’s there next time.
Look for a pattern in their reasons. If several mention the same thing, such as slow replies or a late arrival, fix it for everyone, then thank them and tell them what changed.
Thank them by name, and tell them you’d be glad if they passed your name on to anyone who needs the same work done. Then send them the same review request as every other customer: no more, no less.
Surveys and Google reviews: ask every customer
It’s tempting to send your Google review link only to the customers who scored 9 or 10. Don’t. Google’s Maps content policy doesn’t allow businesses to discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or to selectively ask customers for positive ones. Sending the review link only to promoters is exactly that, and it’s often called review gating. Google: prohibited and restricted content, checked 09/10/2026.
So keep the two jobs separate. The survey is for you, to learn and to fix things. The review request goes to every customer after every finished job, whatever they scored and whether or not they answered the survey. If your survey ends on a thank-you page, show the same review link to everyone, not just the 9s and 10s.
Our guide on how to get more Google reviews covers the rest of Google’s rules. LeadGenie’s review requests work the same way: every finished job gets the same request, and we won’t set them up to skip customers who might be unhappy.
Ask every customer for a review too. Get Found gives you a review request to send after every job, by link, QR code or an email you send, an alert for every new review, and replies drafted for you to approve. A$29 a month ex GST, with no set-up fee. See Get Found → Make your direct review link and a printable QR code with the free Google review link maker.
Running surveys in LeadGenie
Get Organised, at A$59 a month ex GST with no set-up fee and no lock-in, includes forms and surveys: a form builder that can post straight into the CRM. Build the template above as a survey, and each customer’s answers land on their record, next to their jobs, notes and history. It’s live four to seven business days after your onboarding call.
Get Organised doesn’t send messages for you, so you share the survey link yourself: by email, by text from your own phone, or in person. Review requests work the same way on that plan, with a link, a QR code or an email you send. From Starter, A$199 a month plus a one-time A$999 set-up, review requests go out by email automatically, and from Growth, A$499 a month plus a one-time A$1,999 set-up, they can go by text from your business’s own mobile number. All prices are AUD ex GST, locked in for your first 12 months, and month to month with 30 days’ notice to cancel.
Questions about NPS surveys
What is a good Net Promoter Score?
Any score above zero means you have more promoters than detractors, which is a sound start. Beyond that, there’s no single number that counts as good for every business, because a score only compares fairly with surveys asked the same way, at the same point in the job. The most useful comparison is with your own past scores. If your score rises over several months and the reasons people give improve, the changes you’re making are working.
How do you calculate a Net Promoter Score?
Take the percentage of replies that scored 9 or 10 and subtract the percentage that scored 0 to 6. With made-up numbers: 40 replies, 22 promoters and 8 detractors gives 55% minus 20%, a score of 35. Passives, who score 7 or 8, count towards the 40 replies but aren’t added or subtracted. The result is a number between minus 100 and plus 100, written as a number rather than a percentage.
How many questions should a client feedback survey have?
Two or three is enough after most jobs: the score, the reason for it and, if you like, permission to contact them about their answer. Add one or two specific questions, such as whether you arrived on time, only if you’ll act on the answers. A survey that takes under a minute on a phone is easier to finish, and every question you add gives people one more reason to stop.
Can I send my Google review link only to customers who score 9 or 10?
No. Google’s Maps content policy doesn’t allow businesses to discourage negative reviews or to selectively ask for positive ones, and sending the link only to promoters does exactly that. Send the same review request to every customer after every finished job, whatever they scored. Use the survey to learn and fix problems, and call detractors as well as asking them for a review, not instead. How to get more Google reviews
Do I need consent to send a customer feedback survey?
It depends on whether the survey sells anything. A survey about a job you did, with nothing to sell in it, is about their job. Once it promotes something, such as a special or a newsletter, the Spam Act’s marketing rules apply: you need consent, must identify your business with contact details and must make it easy to unsubscribe. Either way, name your business, include an opt-out and honour it. We’re not lawyers, so check ACMA guidance or take advice.
Is NPS the same as a customer satisfaction survey?
No. A customer satisfaction question usually asks how satisfied someone was with a particular job or visit, often on a 1 to 5 scale. The NPS question asks how likely they are to recommend you, from 0 to 10, which is about the whole experience of dealing with you. You can ask both in the same short survey: the NPS question first, then one about the job itself, such as whether you arrived on time.