## Introduction
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a crucial metric for understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty. Running monthly NPS campaigns allows marketing teams to consistently gather feedback and identify trends over time. However, manually sending surveys, collecting responses, and updating your CRM or analytics tools can be time-consuming and error-prone.
This article targets marketing teams, automation engineers, and operations specialists who want to streamline their monthly NPS campaign workflows using automation platforms like Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat). We will demonstrate how to automate the entire process step-by-step, from triggering the campaign, sending NPS surveys via email, collecting responses, to updating data repositories and informing relevant stakeholders.
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## Problem Statement & Who Benefits
### The Problem:
– Sending monthly NPS surveys manually wastes time.
– Risk of missing survey send dates or duplicating sends.
– Manual collection and aggregation of NPS data is error-prone.
– Lack of real-time alerts when negative feedback is received.
### Who Benefits:
– Marketing teams gain consistent, automated NPS campaigns.
– Customer success and support teams receive timely alerts on detractors.
– Data analysts get clean, automatically updated datasets.
– Startup operations specialists can scale feedback loops without additional overhead.
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## Tools and Services Integrated
– **Zapier or Make:** Orchestration platform to automate tasks.
– **Google Sheets:** To store sent surveys, track responses, and aggregate NPS scores.
– **Typeform or Google Forms / SurveyMonkey:** For creating and distributing the NPS survey.
– **Gmail / Outlook:** For sending personalized survey invitation emails.
– **Slack:** To alert customer success or marketing channels about detractor responses.
– **HubSpot / Salesforce (optional):** To update contacts or leads with NPS data.
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## Overview of How the Workflow Works
1. **Trigger:** A scheduled trigger activates the workflow on the 1st of every month.
2. **Get Customer List:** Pull a list of customer contacts either from Google Sheets or CRM.
3. **Send NPS Survey Invitation:** Email each customer a personalized survey link using Gmail.
4. **Log Sent Surveys:** Record each survey send event in Google Sheets.
5. **Collect Responses:** When customers submit their survey results, capture response data.
6. **Calculate NPS:** Update aggregation spreadsheets and calculate monthly NPS.
7. **Notify Team:** Send alerts via Slack for low scores (detractors).
8. **Update CRM:** Optionally update contact records with latest NPS scores.
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## Detailed Step-by-Step Guide
### Prerequisites
– A Zapier or Make account.
– A survey hosted on Typeform, Google Forms, or SurveyMonkey that captures NPS (score 0-10) and optional comments.
– Access to Gmail or other SMTP-enabled email tool.
– Google Sheets for logging sends and responses.
– Slack workspace (optional).
– CRM access (optional).
### Step 1: Set Up the Scheduler Trigger
The first step is to start the workflow automatically at the beginning of every month.
**Zapier:** Use the built-in “Schedule by Zapier” app,
– Set the trigger to “Every Month”
– Configure it to fire on “Day 1” at an appropriate time (e.g., 9 AM).
**Make:** Use the “Schedule” module,
– Set it to run every month on day 1.
*Tips:* Be mindful of your time zone so emails go out during business hours.
### Step 2: Retrieve Your Customer List
You need a list of customers to send the NPS survey to. Typically stored in:
– Google Sheets
– CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce
**Google Sheets:**
– Set up a sheet with contact emails and any personalization fields.
– Use the “Google Sheets > Get Rows” action to fetch contacts.
**CRM:**
– Use respective API modules to fetch contact lists filtered if necessary (e.g., active customers).
*Tips:* Ensure customer email addresses are accurate to avoid bounces.
### Step 3: Send Personalized NPS Survey Invitation Email
For each contact, send an email containing a link to your NPS survey.
**Zapier:** Use Gmail or Outlook app with “Send Email” action.
**Make:** Use Gmail or SMTP module.
**Email personalization:**
– Use customer’s name
– Include a unique survey link if needed (e.g., prefilled links per user for better tracking).
– Sample email template:
> Hi {{Name}},
>
> We value your feedback. Please take a minute to complete our short survey:
> {{Survey Link}}
>
> Thank you!
*Tips:* Warm up your sending domain and monitor bounce rates.
### Step 4: Log Each Sent Survey in Google Sheets
Immediately after sending each email, log the send event with details:
– Customer email
– Date sent
– Survey link
Helps avoid duplicate sends and track delivery.
**Zapier:** Use “Google Sheets > Create Spreadsheet Row” action.
**Make:** Use “Google Sheets > Add a Row” module.
### Step 5: Capture Survey Responses Automatically
Different survey platforms offer different integration methods:
– **Typeform:** Zapier/Make supports triggers on new responses.
– **Google Forms:** Responses are automatically saved in sheets; can use “Watch Rows”.
– **SurveyMonkey:** Has Webhooks or API integration.
**Zapier:** Trigger on new survey response.
**Make:** Use respective watch modules.
### Step 6: Calculate and Update NPS Score
Once responses are captured:
– Extract NPS score (0-10) from response.
– Append response (email, score, comments, date) to a Google Sheet dedicated to NPS responses.
– Calculate monthly NPS using formula:
“`
NPS = (% Promoters) – (% Detractors)
“`
– Promoters: score 9-10
– Passives: score 7-8
– Detractors: score 0-6
You can do this calculation in Google Sheets with formulas or by fetching all responses and calculating within the automation.
### Step 7: Notify Marketing or Customer Success Teams on Detractors
Set conditional logic in Zapier/Make:
– If the score from a response is between 0-6 (detractor), send a detailed Slack message to a designated channel.
Slack message example:
> New Detractor Alert:
>
> Customer: {{Name}} ({{Email}})
> Score: {{Score}}
> Comments: {{Comments}}
**Zapier:** Use “Filter” step followed by Slack “Send Message” action.
**Make:** Use “Router” with condition and “Slack > Post Message” module.
### Step 8 (Optional): Update CRM with Latest NPS Data
Use CRM modules to update the contact or lead records with the latest NPS score and comments.
Allows sales and support to have up-to-date customer sentiment.
*TIP:* Maintaining a custom field in CRM for last NPS date and score helps historical tracking.
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## Common Errors and Troubleshooting Tips
– **Duplicate Survey Sends:**
Ensure records of sent emails are maintained and logic is added to skip duplicates.
– **Email Deliverability Issues:**
Configure SPF, DKIM, and monitor bounces.
– **API Rate Limits:**
Beware of limits on survey tools or CRM APIs; add error handling or delay modules.
– **Invalid Customer Emails:**
Validate emails before sending; consider using email validation APIs.
– **Survey Response Mismatches:**
Use unique survey tokens or prefills to link responses to contacts reliably.
– **Delayed Responses:**
Set realistic windows for collecting survey data each month and consider reminders.
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## Scaling or Adapting the Workflow
– **Multiple Languages:**
Segment customers by region and send surveys in localized languages.
– **Multi-Channel Surveys:**
Integrate SMS survey links for higher engagement (via Twilio or other SMS providers).
– **Advanced Analytics:**
Feed the collected NPS data into BI tools like Google Data Studio or Tableau.
– **Feedback Follow-up Automation:**
Add steps to automatically create support tickets or tasks for detractors.
– **Frequency Adjustment:**
Modify the schedule trigger to weekly or quarterly depending on business needs.
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## Summary
Monthly NPS campaigns are vital for monitoring customer loyalty, but manual processes limit scalability and timeliness. Automating these campaigns using platforms like Zapier or Make unlocks efficiency, reduces errors, and provides actionable insights faster.
By integrating tools such as Google Sheets, Typeform, Gmail, Slack, and your CRM, you can build a robust, fully automated workflow that handles everything from sending survey invitations to alerting your teams about negative feedback.
With the step-by-step guide and tips provided, your marketing department can implement this automation confidently and customize it to your organization’s evolving needs.
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## Bonus Tip: Use Unique Survey Links for Deeper Insight
To improve survey response tracking and customer experience, generate unique survey URLs with prefilled fields or tokens per customer. This approach lets you:
– Match responses unambiguously to customers.
– Avoid duplicate survey submissions.
– Personalize survey flows based on customer segments.
Most form builders support URL prefill parameters, and Zapier/Make can automate the link generation during the send step.
Incorporating this technique enhances data reliability and actionable feedback quality.