To calculate a customer loyalty score, ask one 0-10 recommendation question ("How likely are you to recommend us?"), then subtract the percentage of detractors (people who answered 0-6) from the percentage of promoters (people who answered 9-10). The result is a single number from -100 to +100. The widely used loyalty-score method described here is based on the Net Promoter Score framework. Net Promoter Score and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld; SegmentOS is not affiliated with or endorsed by them, and refers to its own feature as the Loyalty Score question.

What a loyalty score is

A loyalty score is a single metric that summarizes how willing your customers are to recommend you, derived from a 0-10 "likelihood to recommend" question. Respondents are grouped into three buckets based on their answer:

  • Promoters score 9 or 10 — enthusiastic, likely to stay and refer others.
  • Passives score 7 or 8 — satisfied but unenthusiastic; they do not count toward the score.
  • Detractors score 0 to 6 — unhappy, at risk of churning or spreading negative word of mouth.

The score deliberately ignores passives so that it rewards genuine enthusiasm and penalizes dissatisfaction.

The formula

The loyalty score is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors:

Loyalty score = % promoters − % detractors

Because both terms are percentages of the same respondent base, the score ranges from -100 (everyone is a detractor) to +100 (everyone is a promoter). Passives still count in the denominator when you compute each percentage, even though they are not added or subtracted.

Worked example

Suppose 200 people answer your recommendation question:

  • 110 answered 9 or 10 → promoters
  • 50 answered 7 or 8 → passives
  • 40 answered 0 to 6 → detractors

Step 1 — % promoters = 110 / 200 = 55%. Step 2 — % detractors = 40 / 200 = 20%. Step 3 — Loyalty score = 55 − 20 = +35.

Notice the 50 passives lowered both percentages (by enlarging the denominator) but were never added or subtracted directly.

When to use it

Use a loyalty score when you want one trackable number to benchmark over time, compare across segments, or report to stakeholders. It works best for relationship surveys (overall sentiment about your brand or product) and transactional surveys (sentiment right after a specific interaction). Pair it with an open-text follow-up ("What is the main reason for your score?") so you can explain why the number moved, not just that it did. See what counts as a good loyalty score for interpreting the result.

How to do this in SegmentOS

Add a Loyalty Score question to your study in the survey builder. It is a 0-10 recommendation question, so SegmentOS does the bucketing and arithmetic for you. On the results page, open the question and SegmentOS displays a Loyalty Score chip computed exactly as % promoters (9-10) − % detractors (0-6), shown as a signed number such as +35. You can then break the score down by audience using segmentation to see which groups are most and least loyal, and surface what separates them with notable differences.

Frequently asked questions

Why are passives (7-8) ignored in the loyalty score?

Passives are counted in the denominator when calculating each percentage, but they are neither added nor subtracted in the final formula. The method intentionally rewards only enthusiastic promoters and penalizes only detractors, so lukewarm responses do not inflate the score.

What is the range of a loyalty score?

The score ranges from -100 to +100. You get -100 if every respondent is a detractor and +100 if every respondent is a promoter. A score above 0 means you have more promoters than detractors.

How many responses do I need for a reliable loyalty score?

There is no fixed minimum, but with very small samples a few answers can swing the score dramatically. Aim for at least 100 responses for a stable read, and treat segment-level scores with fewer than ~30 responses as directional only.

Is the SegmentOS Loyalty Score the same as NPS?

It uses the same descriptive method (0-10 question, promoters minus detractors), but "Net Promoter Score" and "NPS" are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld. SegmentOS is not affiliated with or endorsed by them and calls its feature the Loyalty Score question.