2025.11.12 – A Perfect 10—Why a Postal Survey Answer Says “Recommend Without Hesitation”

Key Takeaways

What happened. A customer faced a two-part satisfaction survey from the Dutch national postal operator: a 0–10 recommendation scale followed by an open-text “reason” field.
The score. The customer chose 10/10—an emphatic “very likely to recommend.”
The why. Model reasons highlight speed, clarity, and professionalism, mirroring what high-scoring respondents typically praise.
The frame. The format matches Net Promoter Score (NPS), widely used to turn one question and a short comment into actionable insight.

Story & Details

The moment. A survey page asked, “On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a family member, friend, or colleague based on our help with your question or problem?” The respondent tapped 10. The next prompt asked for the main reason for that score.

How to answer the open field. Keep it concise and concrete—what made it work? For example: “Fast, friendly support and a clear fix.” Other strong lines include: “Helpful staff with clear explanations,” “Efficient and professional service,” or “Everything went smoothly—no hassle.” Each gives a crisp cause behind the number.

Why this survey looks familiar. The operator publicly states that NPS is a key customer-value indicator. The 0–10 scale and the follow-up “reason” box are the heart of that method: the number gauges advocacy; the sentence explains it.

What a 10 implies. In NPS, 9–10 are “promoters.” They are most likely to recommend the service and to amplify good experiences. The written reason tells the organization what to keep doing—speed, clarity, and empathy often lead the list.

Conclusions

Numbers need stories. A 10 says the experience excelled; the sentence says how.
Action lives in details. When comments consistently credit speed, clarity, or care, teams know where to double down.
The signal travels. One high score won’t transform a system, but a pattern of tens—each with a sharp reason—maps a path to durable trust.

Sources

• Customer experience KPIs at the Dutch postal operator (NPS highlighted). https://annualreport.postnl.nl/2023/performance-statements/non-financial-statements/customer-value-performance-indicators/customer-experience
• Business report discussion of NPS use in customer value. https://annualreport.postnl.nl/2023/business-report/customer-value/customers-and-consumers-experience-distinctiveness
• Overview of the NPS question and calculation (Qualtrics). https://www.qualtrics.com/articles/customer-experience/net-promoter-score/
• UX-research explainer on NPS and its categories (Nielsen Norman Group). https://www.nngroup.com/articles/nps-ux/
• YouTube — academic explainer: “Net Promoter Score (NPS): the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (IMD Business School). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aiukiDz4so

Appendix

Detractor. A respondent scoring 0–6 on the NPS scale; signals risk of negative word-of-mouth and highlights pain points to fix.

Net Promoter Score. A loyalty metric derived from one question on recommendation likelihood; calculated as the share of promoters minus the share of detractors, yielding a value from –100 to +100.

Promoter. A respondent scoring 9–10; indicates strong advocacy and a high chance of recommending the service to others.

Qualtrics. A widely used survey and experience-management platform often employed to deliver NPS questionnaires and analyze open-text feedback.

Recommendation question. The 0–10 item asking how likely a respondent is to recommend a company based on a recent interaction; anchors the numeric side of NPS.

Transactional survey. A short questionnaire sent after a specific interaction (for example, customer support) to capture immediate sentiment and the reason behind it.