Customer satisfaction survey questions
Customer satisfaction surveys are increasing in popularity throughout businesses all over the world. They are integral to helping companies measure customer sentiment and satisfaction with their product or service. Not only can they help by providing your business with some quick wins, but they also fuel long-term growth and success.
This all sounds great, right? But how do you know which questions to ask in your business’ customer satisfaction survey? In this article, we’re going to cover what a customer satisfaction survey is, the benefits of using them, as well as our top 10 example questions that you can make use of today.
What’s a customer satisfaction survey?
A customer satisfaction survey is pretty broad as it can come in various forms, lengths, and can contain an array of different question types. Customer satisfaction surveys commonly contain anywhere between 5 to 10 questions. As a general rule of thumb, surveys with fewer than 5 questions may not provide enough insight, while surveys with over 10 questions are often too long and the customer will lose interest or simply won’t engage. The questions typically centre around your product and/or service and the customer’s experience with your business. Ultimately they aim to understand whether a customer was satisfied with their experience - if that can be done in one question then that’s also OK!
Customer satisfaction surveys are often sent out digitally, whether that be through a follow-up email after you’ve left a hotel or through a QR code placed on your table at a restaurant, for example. They can also come in the form of phone calls or in-store hardcopy surveys.
The core purpose of a customer satisfaction survey is to identify how satisfied your customers are with each aspect of your offering. Gaining feedback from happy and unhappy customers is equally important to pinpoint your areas of strength and areas for improvement. This feedback is incredibly valuable and can be used to change or inform your overall business strategy.
The benefits of a customer satisfaction survey
Improve customer retention
Genuinely caring about your customers’ feedback by creating change based on their input can work wonders for customer retention. Using customer satisfaction surveys to give customers a chance to share with you what they like and dislike about your product/service will emphasise that your customers are more than just a source of revenue. This, of course, demonstrates that your business truly values its customers which will make them more likely to stick around. It also enables you to remove the friction points that might cause a customer to seek an alternative solution.
Assist with business growth
Using the insights derived from customer satisfaction surveys to better your business cultivates brand loyalty and a positive reputation. Satisfaction surveys help to build confidence that your business cares about its customers which can also land your business informal or word-of-mouth referrals. The feedback gathered can also be used in marketing efforts to boost sales, particularly positive reviews. Ultimately, customer satisfaction surveys can assist your business growth in terms of customer retention and acquisition, as well as boost marketing and sales efforts. Customers will tell you what they like, and what surprised them about working with you. You can lean on that in your sales pitches and marketing to overcome other prospects’ hesitations.
Pinpoint areas for improvement
While every business loves the idea of receiving positive feedback, it’s often the negative feedback that proves to create the most positive change. Every piece of negative feedback your business receives is an opportunity to progress. For example, if multiple customers indicate that your service is slow, it would be wise to investigate how to speed up the process. Customer satisfaction surveys can reveal an abundance of helpful insight into where you can improve your business. You can also prioritise areas to work on, with customers highlighting the most impactful areas needing attention.
Inform your business strategy
At a business level, customer satisfaction surveys can be used to inform your overall strategy. When you put the customer at the centre of all business decisions, there’s so much opportunity for growth. A survey can include questions concerning all aspects of a business such as customer support, company policies and procedures, price points, and more. This will provide insight into what business activities are serving a business, and which are not. The key is to use the insight gleaned from customer satisfaction surveys to create real change.
Top 10 example questions to use in your next customer satisfaction survey
Now that you’re aware of what a customer satisfaction survey is and why it can be so beneficial to use in your business, let’s look into a few questions you can implement in your next customer satisfaction survey. Below are Review Tui’s 10 favourite example questions that generate helpful and actionable insights:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your experience with [your company name]?
- How likely are you to recommend [your product/service] to your friends and family?
- How could we improve your experience with [your company name]?
- Do you feel like our team answered your inquiry promptly?
- Please rate your satisfaction with our team in resolving your issue.
- Is there anything we could do better next time?
- What (if anything) almost stopped you from purchasing from [your company name]?
- How likely are you to purchase again from [your company name]?
- Did anything surprise you during your experience purchasing from us?
- Do you have any other feedback you’d like to share?
We love these questions because they are all directly linked to the customer’s satisfaction with your product or service, and invite ideas to be suggested meaning that you gain the most valuable insights into where you can improve your business from the ground up. There’s also a nice variety of question types in the above list (including multi-choice, slider, checkbox, and long-form text) to keep the respondent engaged. While short and relatively easy to answer, these questions can be applied to almost any business and will generate data to improve your business while accelerating its growth.
Ultimately, Review Tui believes customer satisfaction surveys play an integral role in any business' continued growth and success. When you ask your customers how they feel and genuinely care about their response, the changes that can come from it are a sure-fire way to boost customer satisfaction and, consequently, your business’ success.
Generating feedback from a customer satisfaction survey is extremely beneficial for your business and is an easy task when you employ the right tools. Review Tui is a platform designed to make it easier to gather and analyse customer feedback. Launching in 2022, it’s a cloud-based feedback platform that makes it easier to gather, understand, and analyse your feedback no matter whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise. Sign up to Review Tui and gain early access by clicking on the button below.