How to analyze a survey: best questions for NPS analysis that reveal actionable insights

Learning how to analyze a survey becomes much easier when you ask the right follow-up questions, especially for NPS (Net Promoter Score) responses. NPS alone gives you a score, but the real insights come from diving into the “why” behind each response.

AI-powered survey analysis can quickly reveal what truly matters to your promoters, passives, and detractors by uncovering patterns across massive amounts of feedback.

Best questions for each NPS segment

Different NPS scores call for different follow-up approaches to get the most actionable insights.

Promoters (9–10): These users are your biggest fans—but to maximize their advocacy, you need to pinpoint exactly what makes them love your offering. Here are the best follow-up questions:

• “What specifically do you love most?”

• “What would you tell a friend about us?”

• “Which feature or experience stands out for you?”

Responses to these unlock your most compelling value propositions and help shape messaging or product marketing. In fact, asking “What do you love most about our product/service?” is a proven way to surface your biggest strengths [1].

Passives (7–8): Passives are on the fence—they like you, but something’s missing. Targeted follow-up questions include:

• “What would need to change for you to give us a 10?”

• “What’s holding you back from being fully satisfied?”

• “Which improvement would make the biggest difference for you?”

Passives are often just one feature or fix away from becoming loyal promoters. Questions like “What could we do to earn a higher score from you?” reveal clear opportunities for quick improvements [2].

Detractors (0–6): Detractors risk leaving—and their feedback is a goldmine for churn prevention. Essential follow-ups to ask:

• “What’s the main reason for your score?”

• “What would we need to fix for you to recommend us?”

• “Was there anything particularly frustrating about your experience?”

Uncovering core issues with “What was missing or disappointing in your experience?” is crucial for retention strategy [1].

Great news—an AI survey generator builds dynamic NPS follow-up questions automatically, so you can scale this best-practice approach without extra effort.

Using AI prompts for NPS verbatim clustering

Sifting through hundreds or thousands of NPS comments is not only a time sink—it also introduces bias. That’s where AI-powered verbatim clustering steps in: grouping similar responses into themes so trends stand out fast [4].

Here’s how I use analysis prompts to make survey feedback actionable:

To cluster promoter feedback and flag top value drivers:

Group all promoter comments into themes and rank them by frequency. What are the top 3 reasons people love our product?

This prompt surfaces the defining strengths that you should double down on or spotlight in brand messaging.

To analyze passive responses and spot improvement areas:

Analyze all passive responses and identify the most common barriers preventing them from becoming promoters. Create a priority list based on frequency and impact.

This will help you zero in on small wins that could nudge passives to become advocates sooner.

For detractors, to uncover root causes and churn risks:

Review all detractor comments and identify early warning signs of churn. Which issues appear most urgent based on emotional language and frequency?

AI-driven tools like FeedbackMap can rapidly cluster open-ended answers, making sense of massive feedback datasets nearly instantly [4]. The AI survey response analysis feature in Specific lets you run these kinds of prompts to get quick, reliable insight on your NPS survey data.

Spotting churn risk signals in NPS responses

Detractor feedback—and some passives—usually reveals churn risks you can’t afford to ignore.

Language patterns: Watch for words and phrases like “frustrated,” “disappointed,” “annoyed,” or “thinking about switching”—immediate flags. AI can scan thousands of responses for these words across surveys in a flash [5].

Feature gaps: Any mention of missing features, incomplete integrations, or unaddressed needs can predict churn, especially when detractors cite them far more than promoters. I track which features pop up most often with each segment, so our team knows what to fix or develop next.

Here’s a churn risk analysis prompt to deploy in your next analysis chat:

Identify all responses that mention competitors, alternatives, or cancellation. What are the primary triggers making users consider leaving?

Automatic AI follow-up questions can dig deeper in real time when churn signals appear, getting contextual details the original survey might have missed.

Turning NPS insights into action priorities

After analyzing NPS responses, the big challenge is knowing what to tackle first. It’s easy to get lost in a long list of feature requests or pain points unless you organize them by impact and effort. I like to compare quick wins—the easiest, highest-impact fixes—with longer-term strategic investments.

Quick wins: Address the frequent, simple blockers holding passives back. These changes are often within easy reach—just tweak a feature, clean up a user flow, or clarify communication. Passives want to love you; help them get there.

Strategic investments: Fix root problems that detractors repeatedly complain about, even if it means longer timelines. These efforts keep users from leaving in the long run and shape a stickier product experience.

Here’s a prompt to help prioritize NPS-driven actions:

Based on all NPS feedback, create a prioritized action list. Weight items by: frequency mentioned, impact on score improvement, and implementation complexity. What should we tackle first?

When our team learns what matters through conversational NPS feedback, updating future questions is instant with AI survey editors.

Start analyzing NPS feedback with AI

The best NPS analysis starts with asking the right questions from the beginning. AI-powered surveys adapt follow-ups for every user’s score, revealing what matters most. Create your own survey with Specific’s conversational, user-friendly experience—and discover insights that drive real action.