Why NPS 25 Is Generally Good — But Context Is Everything

A score of 25 sits in an awkward spot for many teams: it's clearly positive, yet it doesn't feel like a victory. The good news is that the most widely accepted framework puts 25 firmly in "favorable" territory — and the better news is that context matters more than the raw number.

Under Bain & Company's framework, any NPS above 0 is considered good because it means you have more promoters than detractors. Scores above 20 are classified as "favorable," above 50 as "excellent," and above 80 as "world-class." By that standard, an NPS of 25 clears the favorable bar: your customers skew toward recommending you rather than warning others away.

The catch is that absolute thresholds only tell half the story. Qualtrics warns that it's unwise to think about your NPS score in a vacuum — you should focus on how you stack up against competitors and how your score improves over time. Industry averages vary dramatically, so a 25 means very different things depending on where you operate.

Consider where 25 lands across common service sectors, drawing on 2024 U.S. consumer benchmark data from the Qualtrics XM Institute (a study of 10,000 consumers across 354 companies):

• In telecom and internet service, where the average is just 16.2, an NPS of 25 would put you well ahead of peers.
• In insurance (22.0 average) and health insurance (22.3), a 25 still beats the industry norm.
• In healthcare, where SurveySensum reports an average of 46, a score of 25 trails the sector and signals room to improve.

The same pattern holds elsewhere: 25 outperforms hotels, airlines, and software firms (all averaging around 21–22), but falls short of grocery (34.3) and retail (33.0). This is why experts like SurveySensum's Manisha Khandelwal argue that a good NPS score is all relative — the real value comes from identifying trends rather than judging each score in isolation.

For service businesses evaluating providers — whether a clinic comparing vendors or a multi-location operator assessing outreach partners — this means asking two questions: how does the score compare to the relevant sector benchmark, and is it trending upward? A provider running structured, permissioned calling campaigns, like My AI Call Center, should be judged the same way: not against a universal bar, but against what's typical for the industry and the campaign type.

So yes, 25 is generally good. But whether it's good for you depends entirely on which industry's scoreboard you're playing on.

How to Benchmark Your NPS Against Industry Peers for Accurate Evaluation

A score of 25 looks different depending on which industry you operate in — what counts as strong performance in telecom might signal room to grow in healthcare. According to the 2024 U.S. consumer study from Qualtrics XM Institute covering 10,000 consumers across 354 companies, industry averages range from 15.8 for car rental to 34.3 for grocery. Qualtrics XM Institute recommends comparing your organization's NPS to your industry's average rather than evaluating it in isolation.

For service businesses, the spread is especially wide. Insurance sits at 22.0, while healthcare averages 46 and telecommunications comes in at 16.2. PMToolkit's aggregation of the same Qualtrics data shows where a 25 lands: above insurance, hotels (21.9), airlines (21.9), and software firms (21.1), but below banking (28.0), wireless (27.4), and fast food (28.7). SurveySensum's 2024 B2C data corroborates this pattern, placing healthcare at 46 and communications & media at 30.

When you run campaigns across multiple verticals — clinics, franchises, recruiting, membership organizations — a single benchmark won't tell the full story. Qualtrics emphasizes two focal points: how you stack up against competitors in your market, and how your score improves over time. That longitudinal view matters more than any snapshot.

• Identify the right industry benchmark for each client vertical using 2024 Qualtrics XM Institute data
• Track NPS trends quarterly rather than fixating on a single campaign score
• Segment results by campaign type — retention calls, renewal reminders, win-back outreach — to spot where experience gaps live
• Pair NPS with behavioral outcomes like renewal rates and opt-out logs for a fuller picture

My AI Call Center routes every campaign outcome — confirmed, qualified, renewed, opted out — back into your CRM with disposition codes and per-call notes, so you can connect survey feedback to actual customer behavior. That closed-loop approach aligns with research showing that following up with detractors within 48 hours increases retention by 12%.

Turning NPS Into Action: Tracking Trends and Closing the Loop for Real Gains

A single NPS snapshot tells you where you stand today; the trend line tells you where you're headed. Bain & Company's framework classifies any score above 20 as favorable, placing 25 solidly in that range, but the real signal emerges when you track movement across quarters. Qualtrics XM Institute's 2024 study of 10,000 consumers across 354 companies shows service industries clustering at vastly different baselines — insurance at 22.0, healthcare at 46, and telecom at 16.2 — so a static 25 means something different for every provider.

• Survey on a consistent cadence — quarterly cadences correlate with a 5.2% retention lift
• Close the loop with detractors within 48 hours to capture a 12% retention gain
• Target at least 1,200 responses per measurement window for a 5% margin of error
• Benchmark against your specific industry cohort, not the universal scale

My AI Call Center runs Surveys & Feedback campaigns that embed this discipline: structured outreach on approved, permissioned lists, real-time disposition reporting, and routed follow-ups so detractors get a callback before the window closes. The goal isn't a higher number on a dashboard — it's the behavior change that number reflects. When you treat NPS as a longitudinal lever instead of a quarterly report card, the score improves because the experience actually did.