Passives aren’t unhappy — they’re unconvinced. Your job is to find the “almost”: the one thing that would move a 7 to a 9.
The fastest way to lift NPS is often to convert passives (7–8) into promoters (9–10) by removing small friction, clarifying value, and fixing repeat pain points.
A passive score can mean different things: price sensitivity, missing features, confusing onboarding, slow support, or inconsistent delivery.
Action: add a single “area” question (product / pricing / support / delivery / ease of use / other) before the open-text follow-up.
Passives often have no major complaint. They usually need one improvement that makes the experience feel smoother or more valuable.
Action: ask “What could we do to earn a 9 or 10 from you?” and keep it optional but prominent.
A passive is often an experience problem: too many steps, unclear pricing, confusing UI, slow delivery updates, or hard-to-find answers.
Action: map the journey for passives and run a quick funnel analysis (where do they drop off or hesitate?).
Passives respond well to “we listened” updates. It builds trust and can turn lukewarm sentiment into advocacy.
Action: follow up after fixes with a short message or in-app release note: “You asked, we changed X.”
Don’t re-survey immediately. Re-measure after the customer experiences the improvement (next renewal, next delivery, next support interaction, or after onboarding completes).
Action: run milestone NPS (not weekly spam).
Use these when someone selects 7 or 8. Keep it short: one targeted question plus one optional open-text.
“What could we do to earn a 9 or 10 from you?”
Optional: “What’s the main reason you chose a 7/8?”
“Which area most influenced your score?” (Product / Pricing / Support / Delivery / Ease of use / Other)
Follow-up: “Tell us what happened (or what’s missing).”
“What’s the biggest friction point in the product?”
Optional: “Which feature would make the biggest difference?”