Restflow.io

## Introduction

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a critical metric for understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty. For product teams, timely access to NPS data and the ability to act on it is vital. Manually tracking NPS survey responses, aggregating results, and tagging users based on their scores can be time-consuming and error-prone.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through building an automated workflow using n8n — a powerful, open-source workflow automation tool — to monitor NPS results, analyze them, and automatically tag users in your CRM or marketing tool based on their promoter, passive, or detractor status. This automation will help your product team identify at-risk users, engage promoters for referrals, and ultimately improve customer experience.

## Tools and Services Used

– **n8n**: Workflow automation platform.
– **Typeform (or alternative survey tool)**: Where NPS survey responses are collected.
– **Google Sheets**: For storing and monitoring NPS responses (optional but useful).
– **HubSpot (or another CRM like Salesforce, Intercom)**: To tag users based on their NPS response.
– **Slack**: For internal notification alerts.

## Problem This Solves

– Automates extraction of NPS survey responses.
– Real-time monitoring of NPS trends without manual spreadsheet updates.
– Automatically tagging users in CRM for tailored follow-ups.
– Sending alerts to internal teams when negative feedback is received.

## Step-by-Step Guide to Build the Automation Workflow

### 1. Setting Up the Trigger

**Objective:** Capture new NPS survey responses as soon as they arrive.

– **Method 1: Webhook Trigger**
– Configure your survey tool to send submission data via webhook.
– In n8n, add a **Webhook** node to receive this data.
– This is the most real-time approach.

– **Method 2: Polling API / Scheduled Fetch**
– If your survey tool doesn’t support webhooks, use an **HTTP Request** node or built-in integrations to fetch new responses periodically.
– Add a **Cron** node in n8n to schedule the data fetch (e.g., every hour).

**Example:** For Typeform, you can either use their webhook support or the Typeform node polling new responses.

### 2. Parsing NPS Responses

Once the response data enters n8n:

– Use a **Function** node if needed to parse JSON and extract key details:
– Respondent’s email or unique identifier.
– NPS score (usually 0-10).
– Additional comments.

– Validate data correctness.

### 3. Storing or Updating Data in Google Sheets (Optional)

– Add a **Google Sheets** node to append new responses for record-keeping.
– This also helps in later trend analysis if required.

### 4. Categorizing Users Based on NPS Score

Create logic to categorize respondents:

– **Promoters:** Score 9-10
– **Passives:** Score 7-8
– **Detractors:** Score 0-6

Use an **IF** node in n8n to branch workflow paths based on these ranges.

### 5. Tagging Users in HubSpot

– Using the HubSpot node, search for the user by email or unique ID.
– If the user exists, update their contact profile by applying a tag/label indicating their NPS category — e.g., “NPS – Promoter”.
– If the user doesn’t exist, create a new contact with appropriate tags.

**Setup Tips:**
– Ensure your HubSpot API credentials are properly configured in n8n.
– Map fields properly.

### 6. Sending Alerts for Detractors

– For detractors, add a **Slack** node to send notifications to your product/support team.
– Include relevant details like user email, NPS score, and comments.

### 7. Optional: Aggregate Scores and Calculate Overall NPS

– Add nodes to calculate the updated NPS score over time using Google Sheets data or stored records.
– Use a **Function** node for the formula:

\[ NPS = (% Promoters – % Detractors) * 100 \]

– This allows scheduled reports or alerts when NPS drops below a threshold.

### 8. Error Handling and Robustness

– Use **Error Trigger** node in n8n to catch workflow failures and notify via Slack or email.
– Validate API responses and include retries for transient failures.
– Sanitize incoming data to prevent incorrect tagging.
– Configure timeouts and limits appropriately.

### 9. Deployment and Scaling

– Deploy n8n on a server or use a managed cloud instance.
– For large volumes, optimize with pagination and batch updates.
– Monitor n8n workflow execution logs regularly.
– Consider separating workflows for collection, tagging, and notification for better maintainability.

## Example Workflow Summary

| Step | Node Type | Purpose |
|——-|—————-|——————————–|
| 1 | Webhook / Cron | Trigger on new NPS submission |
| 2 | Function | Parse and extract data |
| 3 | Google Sheets | Store response (optional) |
| 4 | IF | Categorize user by score |
| 5 | HubSpot | Tag user accordingly |
| 6 | Slack | Alert for detractors |

## Common Errors and Troubleshooting

– **Authentication failures:** Double-check API keys and OAuth credentials.
– **Incorrect data parsing:** Use debug mode in n8n to inspect incoming data format.
– **Missing user in CRM:** Add conditional logic to create users if they don’t exist.
– **Rate limits:** Monitor API quotas, add delays or retries.

## Bonus Tips

– Extend tagging by adding user properties, e.g., survey submission date, to track feedback trends.
– Use sentiment analysis tools on NPS comments to prioritize problematic users.
– Integrate with email marketing to send personalized follow-ups automatically to promoters or detractors.

## Conclusion

Automating NPS monitoring and tagging with n8n empowers product teams to react swiftly to customer feedback, engage effectively, and drive retention. With this step-by-step guide, you can build a scalable, robust workflow that reduces manual effort, improves data accuracy, and aligns your CRM data with real customer sentiment.

Start building this workflow today and transform raw NPS data into actionable insights seamlessly.