Customer feedback helps you to understand the needs of your clients and how well you meet them. Every service or product you create is meant to solve a problem or fulfill a need. The only way to know if you are achieving your objectives is by undertaking frequent customer surveys.
Satisfied customers are likely to return to your business and make a purchase. Loyal customers are ten times more valuable than their first order. That’s why you should leverage customer satisfaction surveys to know whether you are truly offering excellent customer service.
In this article, we’ll cover 20 customer satisfaction survey questions to help you create your customer survey. At the bottom of the article, you can download a copy of a sample customer survey.
4 Categories of Customer Survey Questions
If you want to obtain valuable customer feedback, you should ask the right questions focused on four areas. Each question:
- 1. Product feedback
- 2. Ease of using products and navigating your website
- 3. Position of the company against its competition
- 4. General experience with the company
Product Feedback
One way of increasing customer retention and getting more customers is by collecting feedback about your services or products. If you don’t find out how pleased customers are with what you offer, you won’t manage to assess their needs and provide efficient solutions.
When looking for customer feedback on your products, here are some questions you can ask to collect valuable information.
1. Which Of The Following Phrases Best Describes [Product/Service]?
- Fine
- Fine but it has some issues
- Buggy
- Amazing
- Life-saving
Why would a business want to know how customers describe their product? Because it matters to know if they find it life-saving or buggy. If you don’t want to give your customers specific words, you can make the answer open-ended.
The answers will show you whether you communicate your product’s value to customers or not. If your goal is to offer the most advanced graphics software and people describe it as “Like Microsoft Paint but with one extra nice feature,” then you are failing terribly at communication.
TIP:Analyze the result and determine the most common positive phrases used to describe the product. That is what your clients are looking for, and you can use the works in future marketing campaigns.
2. How Well Does [Product/Service] Satisfy Your Needs?
Although this seems like a broad question, it is precise enough to offer significant results. Providing a service or product that satisfies your client is the first step to increasing retention. If the product fails to meet the end user’s needs, they might stop buying from you.
TIP:You need to back up this question with the next query to understand the features your clients require.
3. Which Three Features Do You Value The Most?
- Design
- Customer responses
- Easy navigation
- Customer integrations
- Great HTML code
The question is ideal for SaaS organizations or any other company that offers dozens of features. You need to know the features that clients actually value the most so that you can capitalize on those.
You would be shocked to discover that the feature that your clients value the most is the one you consider secondary. Discovering this difference is your best shot at beating your competitors.
Get the bonus content: 10 Keys to Great Landing Pages
4. Which Features Are Missing?
- Great HTML code
- Customer integrations
- Easy navigation
- Customer responses
- Design
- The product has all of these features
If you want to retain clients, you should work on making products that satisfy their needs. If the product doesn’t offer what the customer wants, they will switch to another provider. The same goes for eCommerce; the customers will return if they find a product that fulfills their needs.
TIP:Use the answers to client feedback you get from these survey questions to improve your product. Consider the most suggested features and include them in the product.
5. If You Had the Opportunity of Changing One Thing About [Product/Service], What Would It Be?
This is a different way of asking the previous question only that this time you leave the answer open-ended. In this case, you are allowing your customers to suggest a change they would want you to introduce.
Since you aren’t giving any multiple choices, your clients are at liberty to express their needs freely. Just like in the first query, this one will also help to boost client retention.
TIP:When considering the propositions, group them into related terms first. Different clients may have varying ways of expressing a feature they want. Next, focus on the frequent suggestions. Failure to act on these needs is a mistake that might cost you a lot.
6. How Does [Product/Service] Help To Achieve Your Objectives?
The query will help you to source information that you wouldn’t gauge using analytical tools. You want to know why clients buy the service or products, or rather the problem they are trying to solve.
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The answers will help you to determine the most robust feature of your product. That way, you can prioritize future improvements that you can make. Sometimes you will realize that clients’ needs would be better fulfilled in another product. That way, you can change the product’s description before customers buy it and notice it doesn’t suit their needs.
7. How Would You Rate The Worthy Of [Product/Service] Based On The Price?
It is an appropriate question to pose whenever you are considering changing the price of your service or product. If the general feedback suggests that the product is costlier than its value, you should think about lowering the cost or adding more features. In this case, you can use discounts and introduce sales to achieve your financial goals.
TIP:You should ask this question after the customers spend some time with the product. Use it as a follow-up question a month or so after finalizing the purchase.
Ease Of Use And Navigating Your Website
Do your customers have a hard time unpacking products, using them, or navigating your website? You could have a fantastic product, but consumers are unable to follow user instructions, which render it unusable. Part of collecting valuable customer survey feedback is to know whether clients understand your products’ features and can navigate your website both before, during, and after a sale.
8. How Would You Describe The Ease Of Navigating Our Website?
- Very easy
- Easy
- Fair
- Hard
- Very hard
If you haven’t put your brand online, then you might as well be out of business. Therefore, this is a vital question for any seller that runs a website. It will guide you on the necessary design changes you should make to the web pages.
Don’t mind negative feedback because you would rather hear it as opposed to having unsatisfied clients. The question is best posed to potential clients and new users. Since they look at your site with a fresh perspective, they may realize things you hadn’t noticed.
9. How Much Effort is Required When You Speak to Support?
- A small amount of effort
- The usual amount of effort
- A lot of effort
Customers prefer buying from companies that support their needs. Consumers always require assistance, whether it is with a product or navigating your site. It is essential to have a platform where users can file complaints and receive the support they require quickly.
It is also beneficial for your organization. Speedy action to solve issues and support clients will increase retention and ease your workflow.
10. Did You Find The Information You Were Searching For On Our Site?
It’s in your best interest for potential clients visiting the site to find the information they are looking for quickly. That way, they will be happy with the ease of navigation, and they will look forward to buying more products and services from your website. Before you know it, you will have several return clients and referrals.
TIP:If there is some information that clients may have a challenging time tracing, you should put it on a page where they can access it quickly. It is even worthwhile adding another section on the options that will link to the sub-page.
11. How Much Effort Did It Take To Find What You Need
The question will give you a clear idea of how your efforts are reflecting on your clients’ needs. If your customers had to work harder than they expected to find what they wanted, you might want to reconsider some things. Find ways of making the customers’ experiences pleasant by eliminating the difficulties that they cite in their answers.
It’s also possible that your clients expected your service or product to be harder to use than it is. If you managed to surpass your customer’s expectations, that is amazing, and you should keep up the spirit moving forward.
TIP:Consider accompanying this question with number nine so that it serves as a follow-up query.
12. How Responsive Were We in Answering Your Question?
- Very responsive
- Fairly responsive
- Not responsive
The feedback survey question is great for determining whether you have maintained the right level of interaction with clients. It indicates whether you have invested the proper amount of support in ensuring a seamless experience.
13. To What Degree Do You Agree With This Statement? [Company] Made It Easy For Me To Manage My Issues
- Strongly agree
- Partly agree
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
This question is vital because it gives you a broad perspective of what clients think about your customer service. You can use the replies to observe the overall experience your customers had while on the site. It also helps you to know whether they like your products and how their requests were handled.
Allow clients to give a particular rating and then leave room for them to write their opinion. Any customer feedback you receive from this query is crucial since it gives you information on whether there is a shortcoming that you should address.
TIP:For questions 10 to 13, you should send them as soon as the customer receives support. That way, their perspective will be fresh, and they will give you a hint of what you are doing right or wrong.
Company Vs. Competition
In business, you cannot run a one-person race, because you aren’t alone. You are part of a marathon race, even though you may not notice it. If another company is offering better products, customers won’t mind running to them. Therefore, you should strive to be a market leader. Start by doing a customer survey on your position in the competition.
14. How Does [Product/Service] Rate In Comparison To Our Competitors?
This is an ideal question because it is straightforward and measurable. It will give you a clear perspective of how well your products are doing compared to your competitors. Consider adding a follow-up query to understand your client’s opinion better. It’s a good starting point before considering taking further steps.
TIP:Send this customer satisfaction query within a month after the purchase. Allow the client to use the product first so that they give an informed answer, but also, don’t allow too much time to pass.
15. Which Other [Products/Services] Did You Consider Before Choosing [Product/Service]?
- Competitor 1
- Competitor 2
- Competitor 3
- Other _________
You may assume that this client feedback question isn’t vital to understanding your competition, but it is. You need to know the exact features that your customers love in the products you sell.
Some customers consider companies you wouldn’t imagine are your competition. It would benefit you to know if they were comparing you to a different type of product. Check if your communication with potential clients gives a bright outlook of your product that matches your vision.
You will improve your services and products by using the feedback wisely. That’s the right way of getting ahead of your competition.
16. Why Did You Choose [Product/Service] Instead?
- Feature 1
- Feature 2
- Price
- Other _____
Again, this type of question helps you to understand the features that set you aside from your competition. You want to know what gives you an advantage over everyone else.
It is not only vital to know what you should improve, but also what your customers value. You can use the feedback to develop your product strategies.
General Experience with Company
In addition to the specific feedback that we have discussed above, you can also inquire about the overall experience that clients had with your company. If customers enjoyed your services, they are likely to recommend you to their friends and may also return to make additional purchases.
You can compare answers in your survey with the actual acquisition to help you create a model of repeat purchases.
17. On A Scale Of 0 To 10, How Likely Are You To Recommend Our Business To Friends?
The lowest number on the scale, which in this case is zero, should stand for highly unlikely. The query is pretty simple, and you should follow it up with “Why.” That way, clients have an opportunity to explain why they would or wouldn’t recommend your company to other people.
18. How Likely Are You To Buy [Product/Service] Again?
- Highly unlikely
- Not likely
- Likely
- Highly likely
You are probably wondering why you should bother asking this question when you can use sales analytics to find out the number of return customers. Unfortunately, this isn’t efficient for those establishing businesses or those that sell durable items over many years. For instance, a car manufacturer would have to wait a long time before creating repeat customers.
The whole idea is to gauge customer satisfaction. Therefore, don’t wait for several years, yet you can pose this question to find out.
TIP:Send such surveys regularly, such as annually. The frequency will depend on the customer lifecycle and the nature of your industry. Observe the average rate your clients are making purchases and adjust your survey cadence towards that cycle.
Note the trends and find out the reasons for the decrease or increase of the intent of buying again. You can also compare the answers with the actual acquisition to help you create a model of repeat purchases.
19. If Someone Were To Ask You About [Product/Service], What Might You Tell Them?
The question is best left open-ended. That way, you will be on a fishing expedition to understand the customer’s general perception of your brand. It will help you to confirm if what you think of your company is what the clients feel.
You will know whether the image that is out there reflects on your organization’s mission and beliefs. That way, you know what to change and how to do it.
20. What Else Would You Like Us To Know?
It is a general customer feedback query that covers many things. Irrespective of the focus of your survey, you should always ask if your clients have anything else to say. That way, you will get additional insights on issues that you wouldn’t even imagine. It helps you to act swiftly.
TIP:Tip: You can send it in a targeted website survey or through email with other follow-up questions.
5 Best Practices of Customer Surveys
Surveys are excellent tools for gathering information. If you want to get exact outcomes, you should ask questions the right way. Here are 4 rules for better customer surveys.
KISS (Keep It Simple and Straightforward)
If you want to get valuable customer feedback, you should ensure simplicity. You are asking busy individuals to spare some time for you. Therefore, you don’t want to use much of their time by not making the queries accessible. Since you want to get sincere answers, make the survey straightforward and easy to understand.
Include an Open-ended Question or Two
Open-ended questions require the respondent to express their opinions freely. You don’t need many open-end items; you can have one or two. The respondents will have an opportunity to write what is on their minds without being limited to the multiple choices.
Ask One Question at a Time
How would you feel if someone came up to you demanding answers for a string of queries? That is how annoying a lengthy customer survey feels. Multiple questions also make it challenging for the respondent to offer precise solutions. Try combining them or posing a few at a time.
Avoid Polar Questions
Polar queries are those with only two possible answers; confirmatory or negative. They are known as yes/no questions. Although they are easy to analyze, such surveys are limited because you don’t receive comprehensive customer feedback to boost your business. Respondents don’t have the opportunity of telling you what is on their minds.
Offer an Incentive/Thank You Bonus For Completing a Survey
There is no more valuable resource than our time. Be sure to express your sincere thanks to a customer who spent their precious time answering your survey.
Consider offering a bonus for completing the survey, like company swag (think stickers, t-shirts or even gift cards) or a free download, discount or another freebie that would be helpful. Remember, surveys can contain extremely valuable insights and information that can transform your business strategy or marketing. That’s why it’s worth the cost of investing in survey bonuses or thank you’s.
Wrapping Up
Customer feedback can serve as the foundation of successful business practices. You cannot offer a great product or service before understanding what your clients need or the experiences customers have with your product or services.
Utilize customer surveys so you can gain a firm understanding of customer and client needs. Customer surveys can also help you determine your customer pain points so you can be invested in creating the products and services they need.
When collecting information, try to get your surveys right from the start. Ask essential questions in the best way possible so that you get the valuable feedback you need. And then, most importantly, listen to what your customers are telling you and make adjustments.
Build Your Customer Survey
Use the sample customer survey below to help you create a custom survey that will target your base.
Get the bonus content: Sample Customer Survey
More Resources for Customer Feedback
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How to Get Useful Feedback From Your Clients
5 Tips for Getting Amazing Testimonials
Kristen has been writing tutorials to help WordPress users since 2011. You can usually find her working on new articles for the iThemes blog or developing resources for #WPprosper. Outside of work, Kristen enjoys journaling (she’s written two books!), hiking and camping, cooking, and daily adventures with her family, hoping to live a more present life.
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