NPS Surveys

NPS Surveys in SalesOS let you measure customer loyalty and satisfaction using the Net Promoter Score methodology, directly integrated with your CRM data. Surveys trigger automatically at key lifecycle moments, responses flow back into account records, and follow-up workflows ensure that every piece of feedback receives appropriate attention.

What Is NPS?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric based on a single core question: "How likely are you to recommend [company/product] to a colleague or friend?" Respondents score on a 0-10 scale, and their responses categorize them into three groups:

Your NPS is calculated as:

NPS = % Promoters - % Detractors

The result ranges from -100 (every respondent is a detractor) to +100 (every respondent is a promoter). Most B2B SaaS companies target an NPS between 30 and 50, with world-class organizations exceeding 70.

Survey Types

SalesOS supports two complementary survey approaches that serve different measurement goals.

Transactional NPS

Transactional surveys measure satisfaction with a specific interaction or event. They fire shortly after a defined moment and capture how that particular experience felt.

Use transactional NPS to evaluate:

• Post-deal closure experience (was the sales process smooth?).
• Onboarding completion satisfaction.
• Support ticket resolution quality.
• Product delivery or implementation milestones.

Transactional surveys yield actionable, event-specific feedback that identifies process breakdowns.

Relationship NPS

Relationship surveys measure overall loyalty and sentiment over time. They fire on a periodic schedule regardless of specific events.

Use relationship NPS to track:

• Quarterly or biannual customer sentiment trends.
• Long-term loyalty across your entire customer base.
• Account health trajectories that inform renewal forecasts.
• Year-over-year satisfaction improvement.

Relationship surveys provide the strategic, longitudinal view that informs executive decision-making and customer success strategy.

Creating a Survey

Navigate to Settings > NPS Surveys and click Create Survey to build a new survey.

Step 1: Basic Configuration

Step 2: Question Customization

The core NPS question is pre-configured but fully customizable:

Default question: "How likely are you to recommend [Company Name] to a colleague or friend?"

You can modify:

• The question text to reference your specific product or service name.
• The scale labels (e.g., "Not at all likely" to "Extremely likely").
• The company/product name variable that auto-populates.

Step 3: Follow-Up Questions

Add optional follow-up questions that appear after the score is submitted:

• Open text: "What is the primary reason for your score?" (recommended for all surveys).
• Multiple choice: "Which aspect of our service had the biggest impact?" with predefined options.
• Conditional questions: Show different follow-ups based on the score range.
  • Detractors (0-6): "What could we do to improve your experience?"
  • Passives (7-8): "What would it take for you to rate us a 9 or 10?"
  • Promoters (9-10): "What do you value most about working with us?"

Step 4: Branding

Customize the survey appearance to match your brand:

• Logo displayed at the top of the survey.
• Primary color applied to the score buttons and progress indicators.
• Background color for the survey page.
• Thank-you message shown after submission, customizable per score range.
• Redirect URL (optional) where respondents land after completion.

Step 5: Preview and Activate

Preview the survey across device sizes (desktop, tablet, mobile) before activating. Surveys in Draft status do not send; change to Active when ready.

Trigger Configuration

Triggers define when surveys are sent. Each survey has one or more triggers that determine the timing and audience.

Event-Based Triggers (Transactional)

Schedule-Based Triggers (Relationship)

Trigger Rules

Configure rules to control who receives surveys and how often:

• Cooldown period -- Minimum days between surveys for the same contact (default: 90 days). Prevents survey fatigue.
• Account filter -- Limit surveys to specific account tiers, industries, or segments.
• Contact role filter -- Send only to specific roles (e.g., Decision Makers, Primary Contacts).
• Exclusion list -- Manually exclude specific contacts or accounts.
• Business hours only -- Deliver surveys during recipient's local business hours.
• Skip if recent response -- Do not send if the contact responded to any NPS survey within the cooldown window.

Distribution Channels

Surveys reach respondents through multiple channels, maximizing response rates.

Email

The primary distribution channel. SalesOS sends a branded email containing:

• A personalized greeting using the contact's first name.
• The NPS question with clickable score buttons (0-10) embedded directly in the email body.
• Respondents can submit their score with a single click without leaving their inbox.
• After clicking, they are taken to a web page for optional follow-up questions.

Email surveys support:

• Custom subject lines with merge fields.
• Sender customization (from your rep's email or a shared team address).
• Follow-up reminders for non-respondents (configurable: 3, 5, or 7 days after initial send).
• Unsubscribe link in compliance with email regulations.

In-App

For customers who use your product, in-app surveys appear as a non-intrusive widget:

• A slide-up panel at the bottom of the screen.
• Dismissible without penalty (not counted as a detractor).
• Score submission without leaving the current page.
• Follow-up questions appear inline after scoring.

Customer Portal

Surveys appear as a notification card in the customer portal:

• Displayed prominently on the portal dashboard.
• Remains visible until completed or dismissed.
• Completion is logged in the portal activity timeline.

Response Collection and Scoring

How Scores Are Recorded

When a respondent submits their score, SalesOS:

1. Records the numeric score (0-10) against the contact and account records.
2. Categorizes the response as Promoter, Passive, or Detractor.
3. Timestamps the response and associates it with the triggering event (if transactional).
4. Captures the distribution channel used (email click, web form, in-app, portal).
5. Stores any follow-up question responses as structured data.
6. Triggers configured follow-up workflows based on the score category.

Response Data Fields

Each response record contains:

NPS Dashboard

The NPS Dashboard provides a comprehensive view of your customer satisfaction data. Access it via Analytics > NPS in the left sidebar.

Overall NPS Score

The primary metric card displays:

• Current NPS -- Your overall score calculated from all responses in the selected time period.
• Response count -- Total responses received.
• Response rate -- Percentage of surveys sent that received a response.
• Distribution breakdown -- Visual bar showing the proportion of Promoters, Passives, and Detractors.

Trends Over Time

A line chart shows NPS trajectory over the selected period (weekly, monthly, or quarterly data points). Trend visualization helps identify:

• Seasonal patterns in customer satisfaction.
• Impact of product changes or process improvements.
• Gradual improvement or decline that might not be visible in point-in-time snapshots.

Response Rate Tracking

Monitor survey health with response rate metrics:

Recent Responses Feed

A scrollable list of the latest individual responses showing score, contact name, account, and any verbatim comments. Click any response to view the full detail and take action.

Segmentation

Slice NPS data across multiple dimensions to identify where satisfaction is highest and lowest.

By Product or Service Line

If your organization sells multiple products, segment NPS to understand which products delight customers and which create friction. This informs product roadmap prioritization and identifies cross-sell risks.

By Sales Representative

View NPS grouped by the account owner at the time of response. This reveals:

• Which reps consistently deliver excellent customer experiences.
• Whether specific reps have patterns of detractor responses that indicate process or behavior issues.
• Coaching opportunities for reps with below-average scores.

By Account Tier

Segment by your account classification (Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB) to determine whether satisfaction varies by customer size. Enterprise accounts often expect higher service levels and may score lower if those expectations are not met.

By Region or Territory

Geographic segmentation identifies regional satisfaction patterns that may correlate with local market conditions, cultural expectations, or territory-specific team performance.

By Time Since Acquisition

Cohort analysis shows how NPS changes as customers mature. New customers often score high (honeymoon period), while long-tenured accounts may trend differently based on ongoing value delivery.

Custom Segments

Build custom segments using any CRM field:

• Industry vertical.
• Contract value range.
• Number of products purchased.
• Support ticket volume.
• Feature adoption level.

Follow-Up Workflows

Automated workflows ensure that every NPS response triggers appropriate action.

Detractor Response Workflow

When a detractor (score 0-6) responds:

1. Immediate alert -- The account owner receives a push notification and email with the score and verbatim feedback.
2. Task creation -- A high-priority task is created: "Follow up on detractor NPS response from [Contact] at [Account]."
3. Manager notification -- The account owner's manager is CC'd on the alert if the score is 0-4 (critical detractor).
4. Timeline entry -- The response is logged on the account timeline with a red detractor flag.
5. Health score impact -- The account's health score is adjusted downward to reflect the negative signal.
6. Win-back sequence (optional) -- Enroll the contact in a detractor win-back email sequence designed to acknowledge the issue and communicate resolution steps.

Passive Response Workflow

When a passive (score 7-8) responds:

1. Task creation -- A medium-priority task prompts the account owner to explore what would elevate this customer to a promoter.
2. Timeline entry -- Logged on the account timeline with a yellow passive indicator.
3. Nurture enrollment (optional) -- Add the contact to a nurture sequence highlighting additional value or features.

Promoter Response Workflow

When a promoter (score 9-10) responds:

1. Thank-you email -- An automated, personalized email thanking the respondent for their feedback.
2. Referral prompt (optional) -- A follow-up asking if they would be willing to provide a reference, case study, or review.
3. Timeline entry -- Logged on the account timeline with a green promoter flag.
4. Advocacy list -- The contact is added to your promoter/advocate list for future reference requests.

Closed-Loop Feedback

Closed-loop feedback means every detractor response receives personal follow-up from a human, closing the loop between feedback and action.

Assigning Follow-Up

Detractor follow-ups are assigned based on your configuration:

Follow-Up Process

The recommended closed-loop process:

1. Acknowledge -- Contact the detractor within 24 hours. Thank them for their honesty and confirm you are looking into their concerns.
2. Investigate -- Review the verbatim feedback, recent interactions, support tickets, and deal history to understand the root cause.
3. Resolve -- Take concrete action to address the issue. This may involve escalation, a product fix, a process change, or simply better communication.
4. Report back -- Contact the customer again to explain what was done. Even if you cannot fully resolve their concern, demonstrating that you listened builds goodwill.
5. Log outcome -- Record the follow-up outcome on the NPS response record: Resolved, Partially Resolved, Unresolvable, or No Response from Customer.

Tracking Resolution

The NPS dashboard includes a Closed-Loop tab showing:

• Total detractor responses requiring follow-up.
• Percentage that have been contacted within SLA (default: 48 hours).
• Resolution status breakdown (resolved, in progress, unresolved).
• Average time to first contact after detractor response.
• Repeat detractor rate (contacts who score as detractors in consecutive surveys).

Benchmarking and Goal Setting

Internal Benchmarks

Set NPS targets and track progress:

• Company-wide target -- The overall NPS goal for the fiscal year.
• Team targets -- Per-team goals that roll up to the company target.
• Segment targets -- Different targets for different customer segments (enterprise accounts may have a higher bar than SMB).

The dashboard displays actual vs. target with a clear visual indicator of whether you are on track.

External Benchmarks

SalesOS provides industry benchmark data for context:

Benchmarks update quarterly and are sourced from aggregated, anonymized industry data.

Goal-Setting Framework

Use this framework to set realistic NPS improvement goals:

1. Baseline -- Establish your current NPS with at least 100 responses for statistical validity.
2. Gap analysis -- Identify the biggest detractor drivers from verbatim feedback analysis.
3. Action plan -- Define 2-3 specific initiatives to address the top detractor themes.
4. Target -- Set a target of 5-10 NPS points improvement per year (aggressive but achievable for most organizations).
5. Review cadence -- Evaluate progress monthly with quarterly deep-dive reviews.

Best Practices

• Do not over-survey. Respect the 90-day cooldown period between surveys for any given contact. Survey fatigue reduces response rates and can itself become a source of dissatisfaction.
• Act on detractor feedback quickly. A detractor who receives prompt, thoughtful follow-up often becomes a promoter. The speed of your response matters more than the perfection of your solution.
• Keep the survey short. The core NPS question plus one open-ended follow-up produces the best balance of data quality and response rate. Every additional question reduces completion by approximately 10%.
• Use conditional follow-up questions. Asking detractors "what can we improve?" and promoters "what do you value most?" yields more actionable insight than a generic question for all segments.
• Close the loop on every detractor. An NPS program without closed-loop follow-up is measurement without action. Ensure every detractor response is assigned and tracked to resolution.
• Segment before drawing conclusions. An overall NPS of 40 might mask a segment at 60 and another at 15. Segment by product, rep, tier, and region to identify where intervention is needed.
• Track trends, not snapshots. A single survey round has high variance. Focus on the direction of your NPS over three or more measurement periods to identify genuine improvement or decline.
• Share NPS results broadly. Publish results to the entire organization, not just leadership. When frontline teams see the impact of their work on customer satisfaction, they are more motivated to improve.
• Combine NPS with verbatim analysis. The numeric score tells you how customers feel; the open-text responses tell you why. Invest time in categorizing and analyzing verbatim feedback to drive specific improvements.
• Calibrate your targets to your starting point. An organization at NPS 10 can improve by 15-20 points per year with focused effort. An organization at NPS 60 should target 3-5 point improvement as gains become harder at higher levels.