Customer satisfaction survey questions and examples

Customer satisfaction is the gateway to better customer relations.

Use our free customer satisfaction survey templates to get started with research today that will strengthen your business tomorrow.

Know how consumers feel about your company and its services? If not, it’s time to acquire valuable feedback that will lead to product and service improvements. One of the best ways to do so is through customer satisfaction surveys and, thanks to SurveyPlanet, creating one is easier than you might think.

Customer satisfaction surveys: Getting started

To create a customer feedback survey, determine what types of questions to ask. Want feedback about your company’s customer service? Specific products? Pricing? The general experience customers have? Focusing on the areas in which information is sketchy is a good place to start.

For example, if operating an online shop, then ask sensible questions about customer satisfaction with the online shopping experience. Ask customers about how they feel about specific products while also getting answers about how the online shop looks and if finding items is easy.

Learn more about the top 8 ways to gain insight from your customers to better understand how customers really feel about products and services.

Customer satisfaction survey examples

Next, decide what type of customer satisfaction survey to conduct. There are four different types:

  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT customer satisfaction): This type of survey contains simple questions followed by binary choices. For example, “Were you satisfied with your last purchase?” Answer “Yes” or “No.”
  • Customer Effort Score (CES): Measures the level of effort required to either use a product or fix a problem via customer support.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS®): Uses a 1 to 10 scale to gauge how likely someone is to recommend your product/service/company. The NPS score is equal to the percent of detractors (percentage of answers scored at 6 or lower) subtracted from the promoters (percentage of answers scored at 9 or 10). Use this score to track satisfaction over time.
  • Milestone Surveys: A questionnaire sent during key moments in a customer’s journey that leads to a better understanding of the customer experience.

Customer satisfaction survey best practices

To get the most out of a customer satisfaction questionnaire, it’s imperative to follow best practices. The following tips will ensure that respondents stay engaged with a client satisfaction questionnaire and provide honest feedback.

1. Limit the number of questions in your survey

It’s important to keep a survey focused. If too many questions are asked, it’s common that respondents will get bored halfway through and exit the survey. Try to keep things short and to the point. Read our blog "How Long Should Your Survey Be" and use our survey length estimator to better understand the perfect survey length for your next questionnaire.

2. Use simple language

Don’t use industry jargon that the average person won’t understand. Keep the language at a level that avoids miscommunication. If a customer satisfaction survey is hard to understand, inconclusive answers will result. And respondents can also become frustrated and leave the survey early.

3. Ask what their overall rating is first

To know a respondent’s overall rating of your service, ask that question early. If nit-picky questions are asked first, the overall rating question might be skewed by coming later.

4. Send the survey after a customer’s experience

Respondents will answer a customer satisfaction survey more meaningfully when it is sent directly after their purchasing experience. Since their acquisition is fresh on their mind, more accurate and meaningful answers will result.

5. Offer an incentive for responding

Providing an incentive for completing the survey will result in more responses, which means better data. Incentives can be a small gift—a sample product, purchase discount, gift card, or entry into a drawing to win a larger prize. The better the incentive, the more people will respond.

Business types that can benefit from a customer satisfaction survey

Although any type of business can benefit from a customer satisfaction survey, the following four industries get the most bang for their buck. Discover all the detailed benefits of surveying your customers by reading one of our previous articles.

Product manufacturers

Customer satisfaction surveys provide manufacturers with feedback about new and existing products. This feedback can be used to make changes to designs or get ideas for future products that will meet customer needs.

Find out how a feedback questionnaire can help your business here.

Software manufacturers

Software developers are always looking for ways to improve. A well-written customer satisfaction survey can provide new feature ideas or software improvements that existing customers want to see.

Service providers

Those working in the service industry know that the customer is always right. Client satisfaction questionnaires provide service providers with insight into what customers actually want, what they don’t like, and what services they would like to see down the line.

Restaurants

Nearly 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. By asking the right customer satisfaction survey questions, restaurant managers can better gauge customer needs and implement necessary changes to ensure their clientele keep coming back.

Read our "Tips to Help Business Owners Increase Their Survey Response Rate" about how to better understand both customers and employees.

Using data gathered from customer satisfaction research

Well-conducted customer satisfaction surveys help businesses retain customers and examine overall customer loyalty. The main purpose of conducting a customer satisfaction questionnaire is to collect data about experiences, improve business based on the data collected, and show customers you care about their opinion.

A survey will deliver insights into whether customer expectations are being met and help discover more about a target market. It is vital to discover which consumers are happy and which are not.

Additionally, data collected through a survey can help better ascertain broad trends in the marketplace.

For example, respondents might indicate they’re most satisfied with a certain product or have good experiences with a specific customer service representative. Fully comprehending answers from a survey—individually and collectively—can help managers develop helpful insights that will improve business operations.

Need assistance with analyzing gathered data?

We got you covered! Read the "Ultimate Guide To Survey Data Collection" and better understand everything you need to know about methods, examples, and analysis of survey data.

Customer satisfaction survey question examples

Writing survey questions is challenging. Keep in mind that each and every customer satisfaction survey question should be concise and to the point.

To get started, see our customer satisfaction survey question examples, which will help determine the types of questions to ask:

  • Which of the following words would you use to describe our service?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how well does our service meet your needs?
  • What types of features would you like to see in future products?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, when you had a problem how helpful was our customer support?
  • How likely would you purchase something from us again?
  • How can we improve your experience in the future?
  • How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?
  • How do our prices compare to our competitors?
  • What would persuade you to shop from us more often?
  • Do you have any suggestions as to how we can improve our website?
  • What products are you most interested in?
  • How did you find us?
  • What competitors did you consider before choosing us?
  • What made you choose us?

Finally, even though yes/no questions and Likert-scale questions are quicker and easier to answer, an open-ended customer satisfaction question can be very valuable. By letting customers express opinions and feelings in their own words—and give suggestions—the most valuable information can be garnered and used to your advantage.

Find the right customer satisfaction survey sample with the assistance of SurveyPlanet

To access more customer survey examples or explore complete templates, visit SurveyPlanet. We have several pre-made surveys and pre-written sample customer satisfaction survey questions to choose from. Log in to your account or sign up for a free account to start creating a customer satisfaction survey today.

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