Inbound Marketing: DELIGHT - Surveys

What survey types does HubSpot offer?

HubSpot Service Hub includes four distinct feedback survey types, each designed for different stages of the customer journey. Understanding when to use each type is crucial for building a comprehensive voice-of-customer programme that drives retention and growth.

NPS surveys measure customer loyalty by asking the question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?" Respondents are categorised as Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), or Detractors (0–6). Your NPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, resulting in a score between -100 and +100.

CSAT surveys capture satisfaction with specific interactions or touchpoints. Unlike NPS, which measures overall loyalty, CSAT is best deployed immediately after transactions, support calls, or service delivery to capture in-the-moment feedback.

CES surveys measure how easy it was for customers to get their issue resolved. According to HubSpot's own research, CES outperforms both NPS and CSAT at predicting future spending behaviour—making it particularly valuable for support-heavy businesses.

Custom surveys offer complete flexibility with star ratings, radio selects, dropdowns, and open text fields. They can be delivered via email, embedded on web pages, shared via link, or triggered through HubSpot workflows.

How to set up an NPS survey in HubSpot

Creating your first NPS survey in HubSpot takes approximately 15 minutes. The platform provides a guided setup process with sensible defaults that work for most B2B companies. Here's Whitehat's recommended configuration based on our HubSpot onboarding experience with 100+ implementations.

Step 1: Navigate to Feedback Surveys

In your HubSpot account, go to Service > Feedback Surveys. Click the orange Create Survey button in the top right corner. In the left panel, select Customer loyalty to create an NPS survey.

Step 2: Choose your delivery method

HubSpot offers two delivery options for NPS surveys:

• Email survey: Sent directly to contacts' inboxes. Higher completion rates for B2B audiences. Requires Marketing access permissions with Publish access to the Email tool.
• Web page survey: Displays as a slide-in callout or dropdown banner on pages with your HubSpot tracking code. Better for capturing feedback at specific journey moments.

For B2B companies, Whitehat recommends starting with email surveys. They achieve higher response rates because they reach contacts when they're ready to provide feedback, not when they happen to visit your site.

Step 3: Configure survey settings

Select your survey language, enter your company name, and configure the email details:

• From name and address: Use a real person's name rather than a generic "Customer Success" to boost open rates by 15–25%.
• Subject line: Keep it simple. "Quick question about your experience with [Company]" outperforms cleverer alternatives in B2B contexts.
• Theme colour: Match your brand colours for consistency.

Step 4: Customise follow-up questions

This is where many companies miss an opportunity. HubSpot allows different follow-up questions based on the score given:

• Detractors (0–6): "We're sorry to hear that. What could we do better?" This identifies specific issues to address.
• Passives (7–8): "Thanks for your feedback. What would make your experience a 10?" This surfaces improvement opportunities.
• Promoters (9–10): "That's wonderful! What do you value most about working with us?" This identifies your key differentiators.

Step 5: Set targeting criteria

Who you survey dramatically impacts the insights you gather. HubSpot offers a default option—"Became a customer date is more than 30 days ago"—but B2B companies typically need more sophisticated targeting.

Whitehat recommends excluding:

• Contacts within your own company
• Customers with open support tickets (survey after resolution instead)
• Contacts who received an NPS survey in the last 90 days
• Customers currently in churn discussions

You can use any contact, company, deal, or ticket property in your targeting criteria—including custom properties. For example, if you track "Primary Contact" or "Decision Maker" in your CRM, target only those contacts rather than every user at an account.

Step 6: Configure automation

This is where HubSpot's survey tool shines. In the Automation tab, set up workflows triggered by survey responses. At minimum, configure:

• Reminder email: Send to non-responders after 3–5 days. This typically increases response rates by 15–30%.
• Detractor notification: Alert your Customer Success team via email or Slack when someone scores 0–6.
• Task creation: Automatically create a follow-up task assigned to the contact owner.

Advanced automation strategies are covered in the automation section below.

B2B NPS benchmarks: What score should you target in 2026?

Before obsessing over your NPS score, understand what "good" actually means in your context. The average B2B NPS ranges from 30–40, according to multiple industry benchmark studies. However, scores vary significantly by sector, company size, and customer segment.

According to CustomerGauge's annual B2B NPS benchmark survey of 776 companies, healthcare leads B2B sectors with a median NPS of 58, whilst telecommunications sits at the bottom with 31. B2B International's research found the average B2B NPS is +34, with best-in-class companies achieving significantly higher scores.

NPS benchmarks by B2B sector

Survicate's 2025 NPS benchmark report adds important nuance: B2C companies outperform B2B by 11 percentage points on average (median 49 vs 38). This isn't because B2B companies provide worse service—it reflects the complexity of B2B relationships, where multiple stakeholders, longer implementation cycles, and more demanding requirements naturally create more friction points.

The correlation between NPS and revenue

The business case for NPS isn't just about feelings—it's about money. Research from Optifai's Sales Ops Benchmark 2025 (analysing 939 B2B companies) found that every 10-point NPS increase correlates with a 1–2% reduction in monthly churn. Companies with NPS above 50 see less than 1% monthly churn, whilst those below 20 experience 5%+ monthly churn.

CustomerGauge's analysis goes further: their data shows that B2B companies with Account Experience programmes (systematic NPS + closed-loop feedback) significantly outperform industry benchmarks—often by 13+ points in sectors like logistics.

HubSpot NPS automation: 5 workflows for B2B teams

The true power of HubSpot NPS surveys lies in automation. Collecting scores without action is vanity metrics—connecting feedback to systematic follow-up is where customer retention is won or lost. Here are five automation workflows Whitehat implements for B2B clients during Service Hub onboarding.

1. Detractor recovery workflow

When someone scores 0–6, time is critical. Research shows that addressing detractor feedback within 48 hours significantly improves recovery rates.

Workflow trigger: NPS survey rating is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6

Actions:

• Send internal email notification to Customer Success Manager
• Send Slack notification to #customer-alerts channel
• Create task: "Detractor follow-up call" assigned to contact owner, due in 24 hours
• Update contact property: "NPS Status" = "Requires Attention"
• Add to list: "NPS Detractors – Active"

2. Promoter advocacy workflow

Promoters (9–10) are your growth engine. They're primed to provide testimonials, referrals, and case study participation—but you need to ask whilst enthusiasm is high.

Workflow trigger: NPS survey rating is 9 or 10

Actions:

• Wait 2 days (let the positive feeling settle)
• Send email: "Thank you! Would you share your experience?"
• Include links to G2 review page, Trustpilot, and Google Business Profile
• Create task: "Explore case study opportunity" for account manager
• Add to list: "Potential Referral Partners"

3. Passive nurture workflow

Passives (7–8) are the forgotten middle. They won't actively churn, but they won't advocate either. A targeted nurture sequence can tip them toward promoter status.

Workflow trigger: NPS survey rating is 7 or 8

Actions:

• Send email: "Thanks for your feedback—here's what we're doing"
• Enrol in value-add email sequence (tips, feature updates, best practices)
• Set reminder: Re-survey in 90 days to track movement

4. Renewal NPS campaign

For subscription businesses, timing NPS surveys 60–90 days before renewal creates an early warning system for at-risk accounts.

Workflow trigger: Deal property "Renewal Date" is in 75 days

Actions:

• Send NPS survey to all contacts at the account
• If any response is Detractor: Flag deal as "At Risk" and notify sales
• If all responses are Promoter: Flag as "Expansion Opportunity"

5. Account-level NPS aggregation

For B2B companies where multiple stakeholders exist at each account, averaging individual NPS scores creates an account-level health metric.

Configuration:

• Create company property: "Average NPS Score" (calculated property)
• Roll up individual contact NPS scores to company level
• Use company-level NPS in deal pipelines and renewal forecasting

For detailed workflow configuration guidance, see our complete HubSpot workflow automation guide.

HubSpot NPS reporting: The workarounds you need to know

Here's the frustrating truth: HubSpot's native NPS reporting is limited. You cannot add NPS as a dashboard widget, cannot create custom reports directly from survey data, and cannot easily visualise NPS trends over time. This has been a persistent feature request in the HubSpot Community for over five years.

But there are workarounds. Here's how Whitehat configures NPS reporting for clients who need visibility beyond the basic Analyze tab.

Where to find NPS data in HubSpot

Survey responses are accessible in three places:

1. Service > Feedback Surveys > [Your Survey] > Analyze: Shows overall NPS score, response breakdown, and individual responses.
2. Contact record timeline: NPS responses appear as activities on individual contact records.
3. Default contact properties: "Last NPS survey rating" and "Last NPS survey date" store the most recent response.

Workaround 1: Custom property reporting

Create a workflow that copies NPS scores to a custom contact property. This property can then be used in standard HubSpot reports.

• Create contact property: "NPS Score (Reportable)" – Number type
• Create workflow triggered by survey submission
• Copy "Last NPS survey rating" to your new property
• Build reports using your custom property

Workaround 2: Historical NPS tracking

The "Last NPS survey rating" property overwrites with each new survey. To track historical trends:

• Create properties for each survey period: "NPS Q1 2026", "NPS Q2 2026", etc.
• Use workflows to populate the correct property based on survey date
• Build comparison reports showing quarter-over-quarter changes

Workaround 3: Operations Hub data sync

For advanced reporting needs, export NPS data to a business intelligence tool:

• Use Operations Hub to sync contact data (including NPS properties) to a data warehouse
• Build dashboards in Looker Studio, Power BI, or Tableau
• This enables cohort analysis, predictive churn modelling, and NPS correlation with revenue

Workaround 4: Breeze AI summaries

HubSpot's Breeze AI can generate summaries of survey responses—but requires at least 3 submissions. Access this through Service > Feedback Surveys > [Survey] > Analyze > AI Summary. The beta "Feedback Topics" feature tracks themes across surveys, though it's currently limited in functionality.

B2B NPS survey best practices

Running NPS surveys is easy. Running them effectively—in a way that generates actionable insights and drives retention—requires strategic thinking. Here are Whitehat's recommendations based on our work with B2B companies across SaaS, professional services, and manufacturing sectors.

Survey frequency: How often is too often?

The right cadence depends on your business model:

• Transactional relationships: Survey after each significant interaction
• Subscription/retainer services: Quarterly NPS, with CSAT after key milestones
• Project-based work: Mid-project check-in plus post-project NPS
• Annual contracts: Survey at 30 days (onboarding feedback), 6 months (relationship health), and 60 days before renewal

According to HubSpot's own documentation, typical NPS survey intervals are quarterly, every 6 months, or annually. Surveying more frequently than quarterly risks survey fatigue and declining response rates.

Who to survey at B2B accounts

In B2B relationships, your "customer" is often multiple people. Consider surveying:

• Economic buyer: The person who signed the contract and controls budget
• Primary user: The person who interacts with your product/service most frequently
• Champion: The internal advocate who drove the purchase decision

Each may have different perceptions. A CFO might score you highly on ROI whilst a daily user scores you lower on usability. Both perspectives matter for retention.

Achieving higher response rates

B2B NPS response rates typically range from 5–15%. To reach the higher end:

• Personalise the sender: Surveys from "Sarah, your Account Manager" outperform "Customer Success Team"
• Keep it short: The NPS question plus one follow-up is optimal. Longer surveys see sharp drop-off.
• Explain the why: "Your feedback directly shapes our product roadmap" increases motivation
• Time it right: Send Tuesday–Thursday, avoiding Monday mornings and Friday afternoons
• Send reminders: A single reminder 3–5 days later typically boosts response rates by 15–30%

Closing the loop: The most critical step

According to CustomerGauge, the single biggest predictor of NPS programme success is "closing the loop"—systematically following up with respondents, especially detractors.

Best practice: close the loop with all detractors within 48 hours. This means:

1. Acknowledge the feedback
2. Ask clarifying questions to understand the root cause
3. Commit to a specific action or timeline
4. Follow up when the action is complete

Companies that close the loop effectively can convert 10–20% of detractors into promoters—and prevent significantly more churn than those who simply collect scores.

HubSpot's built-in NPS vs dedicated NPS tools

Should you use HubSpot's native surveys or integrate a dedicated NPS platform? Here's an honest assessment from Whitehat's perspective as a HubSpot Diamond Partner.

When HubSpot's native surveys are sufficient

• You're already using Service Hub Professional or Enterprise
• Your primary goal is triggering workflows based on responses
• You need basic NPS tracking without complex analysis
• CRM integration and contact-level data are your priority
• Your survey volume is moderate (hundreds, not thousands)

When dedicated NPS tools add value

• Advanced analytics: Tools like CustomerGauge, Delighted, and Zonka Feedback offer sentiment analysis, trend visualisation, and predictive churn scoring
• Multi-channel surveys: In-app, SMS, and WhatsApp survey options beyond email and web
• Benchmark databases: Real-time comparison against industry peers
• Text analytics: AI-powered analysis of open-ended responses at scale
• Account-level NPS: Native support for B2B multi-stakeholder feedback

Integration options

If you choose a third-party tool, most integrate with HubSpot via native connectors or Zapier:

• Zonka Feedback: Native HubSpot integration, surveys embedded in HubSpot emails
• Delighted: Bi-directional sync via Zapier or native integration
• CustomerGauge: Enterprise-grade Account Experience platform with HubSpot connector
• Typeform/SurveyMonkey: General survey tools with HubSpot integrations via Marketplace

Frequently asked questions

Need help implementing NPS surveys in HubSpot?

Whitehat is a HubSpot Diamond Partner with 100+ B2B implementations. We'll configure your Service Hub surveys, build automation workflows, and create reporting dashboards that make customer feedback actionable.

References & Further Reading

• HubSpot Knowledge Base: Create and Conduct Customer Loyalty Surveys Official HubSpot documentation on NPS survey setup
• Retently: What is a Good Net Promoter Score? (2025 NPS Benchmark) Comprehensive NPS benchmarks across B2B and B2C industries
• CustomerGauge: 40 B2B NPS Benchmarks for 2025 Global B2B NPS benchmark survey from 776 companies
• B2B International: What Is a Good B2B NPS Score in 2025? B2B-specific NPS benchmarks and cultural survey bias insights
• Survicate: NPS Benchmarks 2025 Industry-specific NPS benchmarks with B2B vs B2C comparison
• HubSpot Knowledge Base: Customer Feedback FAQs Official HubSpot answers to common survey questions

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