NPS fell in 20 out of 39 industry-country combinations last year, yet most benchmark guides still treat it as a universal scorecard.
A good Net Promoter Score (NPS) in 2026 depends entirely on your industry, business model, and channel mix. Any score above 0 means more promoters than detractors. A score above 30 is strong. Above 50 is excellent. Above 70 puts you in the top tier globally. But a "good" score in SaaS (median 36) would be below average in manufacturing (median 65).
B2C companies average an NPS of 49 while B2B companies average 38, an 11-point gap driven by relationship complexity
Technology and services industries lead with median NPS scores of 60-66, while B2B software sits at 36-41, according to Retently's 2025 benchmarks
Only 23% of enterprise CX leaders still use NPS as a primary performance metric, per a TELUS Digital and Statista survey
NPS explains roughly 1% of variance in customer spending, according to Marketing Science Institute research covering 250,000+ ratings
Last updated: March 2026
NPS remains one of the most widely tracked customer experience metrics, even as its limitations become clearer. The question "what is a good NPS score?" has no single answer because benchmarks vary by 40+ points across industries. What matters more than the number itself is understanding what drives it. Support quality, resolution speed, and effort required all feed directly into whether a customer becomes a promoter or detractor.
The companies seeing the biggest NPS gains are not running better survey programs. They are fixing the operational inputs that NPS measures: response times, first-contact resolution, and how much effort customers expend to get help.
What Is a Good NPS Score in 2026?
A good NPS score in 2026 falls between 30 and 50 for most industries. Scores above 50 are excellent, and scores above 70 are world-class. However, "good" is relative. A SaaS company with an NPS of 40 is outperforming its industry median. A healthcare company with the same score may be significantly below its peers.
NPS measures the likelihood that customers will recommend your company. Respondents score from 0 to 10. Scores of 9-10 are promoters, 7-8 are passives, and 0-6 are detractors. Your NPS equals the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, yielding a score from -100 to +100.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): A customer loyalty metric calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (0-6 ratings) from the percentage of promoters (9-10 ratings), producing a score from -100 to +100.
Lorikeet is an AI customer support platform that resolves tickets end-to-end, processing refunds, updating accounts, and handling complex multi-step workflows across chat, email, and voice. Teams using Lorikeet consistently report NPS improvements because customers receive instant resolution instead of queue-based responses.
How Do NPS Benchmarks Vary by Industry?
NPS benchmarks vary by more than 40 points between the highest and lowest-performing industries. Manufacturing leads at a median of 65. Software and SaaS sit near the bottom at 30-36. This gap exists because industries with tangible products and simple interactions generate higher satisfaction than those with complex, ongoing service relationships.
Industry Breakdown
According to Retently's 2025 benchmark data, technology and professional services lead with median scores of 60-66. Healthcare ranges from 53-80 depending on segment and methodology. Retail averages around 50. Banking and hospitality sit at 41-44. B2B software and SaaS averages 36-41. Insurance shows the widest variance of any industry, ranging from 23 to 80 depending on segment.
B2B vs B2C Split
B2C companies average an NPS of 49 versus 38 for B2B. Healthcare shows the largest gap at 32 points (B2C: 70, B2B: 38). The difference comes down to transaction simplicity. B2C interactions tend to be shorter, more transactional, and easier to resolve. B2B involves longer sales cycles, multiple stakeholders, and complex support needs.
"NPS is a relationship metric. It measures loyalty attitudes, not customer experiences."
— Qualtrics XM Institute
What Drives NPS Up or Down Operationally?
NPS moves based on three operational inputs: resolution speed, first-contact resolution rate, and customer effort. Companies that improve these three metrics see NPS gains of 15-25 points within 90 days. Companies that only send more surveys see no change.
First-contact resolution rate. Every ticket that requires a callback or escalation creates a potential detractor. Teams with fast first response times and high FCR rates (above 70%) consistently score 10-20 NPS points higher than teams with FCR below 50%.
Customer effort. Gartner research shows 96% of high-effort customers become disloyal versus just 9% of low-effort customers. Reducing the steps to get help directly lifts NPS.
Resolution quality. Deflecting a ticket to a help article is not the same as resolving it. The distinction between deflection and resolution shows up directly in NPS. Customers whose issues are fully resolved score 20-30 points higher than those who were merely deflected.
What NPS Results Can You Expect from AI-Native Support?
Teams that deploy AI agents capable of end-to-end resolution, not just FAQ deflection, consistently see measurable NPS improvements. The gains come from eliminating wait times, reducing effort, and resolving issues in a single interaction.
According to McKinsey, advanced AI deployments reduce service interactions by 40-50%. First-contact resolution typically moves from 20-30% with traditional chatbots to 55-70% with AI agents that access backend systems. CSAT scores improve by 15-25 points when customers receive instant resolution. Average handle time drops from 8-12 minutes to under 3 minutes for routine requests. Cost per resolution falls from $8-12 to $1-3 when AI handles the full workflow.
These improvements feed directly into NPS because each resolved interaction removes a potential detractor and creates a potential promoter.
Teams using AI-native support see 3x faster resolution and 40-50% fewer repeat contacts. See how Lorikeet handles end-to-end ticket resolution.
Should You Still Use NPS as Your Primary CX Metric?
NPS remains useful as a directional indicator of customer loyalty, but it should not be your only CX metric. The Marketing Science Institute found that NPS explains roughly 1% of variance in share of wallet across 250,000+ consumer ratings. Use it alongside operational metrics that you can actually act on.
According to Forrester's 2025 Global NPS Rankings, NPS fell in 20 out of 39 industry-country combinations, rose in only 3, and held steady in 16. The broader trend is clear: NPS is declining industry-wide, and the companies maintaining or growing their scores are those investing in resolution quality, not survey frequency.
Pair NPS with CSAT, customer effort score, and first-contact resolution rate. Together, these four metrics give you a complete picture of customer experience. NPS tells you the outcome. The operational metrics tell you why.
Lorikeet's Take on NPS
At Lorikeet, we have seen teams lift NPS by 15-25 points when they shift focus from survey optimization to resolution quality. Most CX vendors will tell you the path to better NPS is better survey design or faster follow-up on detractor feedback. That helps at the margins. The real lever is resolving customer issues completely in the first interaction, without transfers, callbacks, or "check our help center" deflections. Lorikeet's approach to NPS is operational: give AI agents the ability to take action in backend systems, and the score takes care of itself. If NPS improvement matters to your team, see how Lorikeet drives it through resolution, not surveys.
Key Takeaways
A good NPS in 2026 is 30-50 for most industries, but benchmarks range from 23 (insurance) to 65 (manufacturing)
B2C companies average 49 NPS versus 38 for B2B, with healthcare showing the widest 32-point gap
NPS fell in 20 of 39 industry-country pairs in 2025, per Forrester, signaling an industry-wide decline
The 3 operational drivers of NPS are first-contact resolution, customer effort, and resolution quality
AI-native support teams see 15-25 point NPS gains by resolving issues instantly instead of deflecting them
Frequently Asked Questions
What NPS score is considered good for SaaS companies?
A good NPS for SaaS companies is 36-50, based on 2025 industry medians. The SaaS median sits at 30-36 depending on the benchmark source, so anything above 40 puts you in the top quartile. Focus on resolution speed and first-contact resolution to move the needle, as these are the primary drivers of NPS in software.
How is Net Promoter Score calculated?
NPS is calculated by surveying customers on a 0-10 scale asking how likely they are to recommend your company. Subtract the percentage of detractors (0-6) from the percentage of promoters (9-10). Passives (7-8) are excluded. The result is a score from -100 to +100. A positive score means more promoters than detractors.
What is the difference between NPS and CSAT?
NPS measures overall loyalty and likelihood to recommend, producing a score from -100 to +100. CSAT measures satisfaction with a specific interaction, typically on a 1-5 scale expressed as a percentage. NPS is a relationship metric tracked quarterly or annually. CSAT is a transactional metric measured after each support interaction.
How often should you measure NPS?
Most companies measure NPS quarterly for relationship tracking and after key touchpoints for transactional insights. Avoid surveying the same customer more than once per quarter. Over-surveying drives down response rates and introduces survey fatigue bias. Fred Reichheld, the creator of NPS, has noted that even he no longer fills out surveys.
Can AI improve your NPS score?
Yes. AI that resolves issues end-to-end, not just deflects to help articles, directly improves NPS by reducing customer effort and wait times. Teams deploying action-taking AI agents see NPS improvements of 15-25 points within 90 days because each fully resolved interaction converts a potential detractor into a promoter.
Why is my NPS declining?
NPS is declining across most industries globally. Forrester's 2025 data shows declines in 20 of 39 industry-country pairs. Common causes include rising customer expectations, increased use of deflection-based chatbots that frustrate rather than resolve, and longer wait times due to staffing constraints.
What NPS benchmarks should B2B companies target?
B2B companies should target an NPS of 38-50. The B2B average is 38, so anything above that puts you ahead of peers. B2B scores trail B2C by 11 points on average due to longer sales cycles and multi-stakeholder complexity. Focus on reducing effort in post-sale support interactions, where most detractors are created.
NPS remains a valuable directional metric in 2026, but the smartest CX teams have stopped treating it as a scorecard and started treating it as a symptom. A declining NPS tells you something is broken. An improving NPS tells you your resolution quality is working. Track it quarterly, pair it with operational metrics, and invest in the support infrastructure that actually moves the number.
Want to see what your NPS looks like with AI-native support? Lorikeet runs evaluations against your real ticket types, not demos with scripted scenarios.
