Using open ended feedback questions is the difference between knowing your Net Promoter Score (NPS)—and understanding the full story behind it. Just seeing a number doesn’t explain why someone is a promoter (9-10), passive (7-8), or detractor (0-6).
Great questions for NPS follow up help you break through the surface, opening space for people to share what really matters to them and guiding you to actionable insight for your next move.
Why different NPS segments need different follow-up questions
The mindset of a promoter is fundamentally different from a passive or a detractor—and if we ignore those differences, we’re missing gold.
Promoters feel emotional loyalty and are eager to advocate, but specifics about what delights them will uncover your superpower features and use cases.
Passives are satisfied but not enthusiastic. Their silence hides what’s just barely missing or what’s preventing true loyalty. You need insight into the gaps between “okay” and “amazing.”
Detractors have pain points or letdowns that need urgent attention. If you listen closely, their feedback will highlight friction or failure points early—before it becomes churn or negative word of mouth.
Generic follow-ups lump everyone together, which softens meaningful feedback. That’s not just incomplete data—it’s a missed opportunity to learn why each segment feels the way they do.
Incorporating open-ended NPS follow-up questions isn’t just a best practice—it’s proven to increase data quality and reveal rich, actionable themes your score alone will never show. Businesses using targeted follow-ups see a dramatic increase in insight depth and engagement rates. [1]
Open-ended questions for promoters (9-10)
Promoters are your champions—their natural excitement can shape your strategic messaging, testimonials, and even product direction. But you’ll only harvest that value if you ask the right questions.
What is the one thing you love most about our product or service?
Who have you recommended us to, and what did you share?
Was there a moment when you realized our product was working perfectly for you? Tell me about it!
Is there anything that might make you hesitate or stop using us in the future?
Sample AI analysis prompts for deeper exploration:
Summarize the unique product benefits that keep promoters recommending us.
What moments or milestones in promoter feedback indicate repeat purchase intent?
With AI, you can drill down on their specific success stories or probe for unexpected drivers of delight. Our AI survey analysis tools make this a breeze, surfacing the language and emotions that turn fans into promoters.
Open-ended questions for passives (7-8)
Passives are perched on a fence—one push makes them a promoter, or tips them into detractor territory. Tactful but pointed follow-up questions can get you the “why not 10?” insight you desperately need.
What’s one thing we could do to make your experience truly exceptional?
Is there anything that’s not working as smoothly as you’d like?
Have you considered similar products or services? What makes you evaluate alternatives?
What would make you rate us a 10 next time?
Sample AI analysis prompts for passive responses:
Identify recurring missing features or service gaps in passive feedback.
Highlight the most common competitor names mentioned by passives.
Conversational surveys go far beyond static lists—using AI, you can uncover subtle friction points or doubts that don’t show up in ratings alone. Even industry leaders found that tailoring open-ended follow-ups with AI increases response depth and helps surface "unknown unknowns" customers wouldn’t have volunteered otherwise. [2]
For practical tips on adding open-ended exploration, take a look at our AI survey generator and see how easy it is to design a smart, segmented survey flow.
Open-ended questions for detractors (0-6)
Detractors can feel like bad news, but they’re actually the most generous with actionable feedback—if we’re ready to listen without defensiveness.
What’s your biggest frustration or disappointment so far?
What were you hoping for when you chose us, and where did we miss the mark?
Are you considering alternatives? What’s drawing you to them?
How could we win back your trust and enthusiasm?
Example AI prompts to mine detractor feedback:
List the most cited pain points leading to low scores.
What expectations did detractors have that we didn’t meet?
AI-driven follow-ups aren’t just fast—they let you gently explore sensitive issues, clarify ambiguous complaints, and even reconnect with customers at risk. In one well-known case, open-ended NPS follow-up helped a UK flower company reduce refund rates by 37% and nearly triple NPS among recipients, simply by acting on hidden themes in verbatim comments. [2]
Read more on designing conversational NPS surveys that draw out candor and concrete details rather than surface-level venting.
How AI-powered branching transforms NPS follow-ups
With Specific, your AI survey doesn’t just ask if someone is a promoter, passive, or detractor—it listens and adapts, routing respondents to segment-specific open-ended questions and probing for detail. Explore our automatic AI follow-up questions feature for details.
Dynamic probing means that after an open-ended answer, the AI asks insightful clarifying questions—in real time—based on each specific response. Whether that’s “What could we do better?” or “What exactly made you choose us over Brand X?”, you get actionable context, not just anecdotes.
Contextual depth is real: because every survey feels like a natural conversation (not a rigid script), respondents stay engaged and our AI detects cues to go deeper or gently move on. That’s what makes our AI-powered surveys truly conversational—uncovering what even follow-up emails or phone calls can’t match.
Traditional NPS follow-ups | AI-powered follow-ups |
|---|---|
One-size-fits-all questions | Segment-specific deep dives |
Manual analysis, time-intensive | Instant AI-generated insights |
Little to no probing | Dynamic probing and clarification |
Responses feel like forms | Feels like a real conversation |
Ready to bring intelligent branching and probing to your NPS survey? Build from scratch or remix a template using the AI survey generator.
Setting up your NPS survey with intelligent follow-ups
To configure branching for promoters, passives, and detractors, jump into the survey flow in the AI survey editor. Define exactly what kind of follow-up you want for each NPS segment, setting the desired depth or tone that fits your brand.
Adjust your follow-up depth—do you want a single clarifier, or a few layers of probing for nuance?
Customize tone: Friendly probing for passives, empathy and urgency for detractors, and celebration for promoters
Set clear stopping rules, so the AI knows when to thank and move on
When you make this shift, your NPS transforms from a simple metric to a living customer conversation—one that reveals both signals and stories for your next big improvement.
Ready to capture actionable feedback? Create your own survey today.