Customer feedback survey questions that get useful answers

A good customer survey is short, asks about real experiences and leads to a change. Most surveys fail at all three: too long, too vague and never acted on.

Decide what you want to learn

Pick one goal per survey. Are you checking satisfaction after a purchase? Finding out why people did not come back? Testing an idea for a new service? The goal decides the questions.

Keep it short

• Three to five questions.
• One open question, where they can write in their own words.
• Ask about what happened, not what they might do.
• Say how long it takes: one minute, two minutes.

Questions about the overall experience

1. How satisfied were you with your experience, from 1 to 5?
2. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend, from 0 to 10?
3. What is one thing we could have done better?
4. What did you like most?

Questions about the purchase or service

5. Did the product or service do what you expected?
6. Was anything unclear before you bought?
7. How easy was it to book or order, from 1 to 5?
8. Was the price fair for what you got?

Questions about support

9. Did we solve your problem?
10. How quickly did we reply?
11. Was there anything you had to ask twice?

Questions about why they chose you

12. How did you first hear about us?
13. What made you choose us over other options?
14. What almost stopped you from buying?

Questions for customers who left

15. What made you stop using us?
16. Where did you go instead?
17. What would have made you stay?

Questions to find new ideas

18. What else do you wish we offered?
19. What is the hardest part of [the problem we help with] for you right now?
20. If you could change one thing about us, what would it be?

Write questions people can answer honestly

Leading questions get flattering answers you cannot use. Neutral questions get the truth.

Send it at the right time

Ask soon after the experience, while it is fresh. A day or two after delivery, a finished job or a support chat. Ask everyone the same way, not only the customers you expect to be happy.

Act on the answers

• Read every written comment, not only the scores.
• Look for the same issue coming up more than once.
• Fix one thing at a time.
• Tell customers what you changed because of their feedback. It is the best reason for them to answer next time.

Happy answers are also a natural moment to ask for a Google review. Unhappy ones deserve a personal reply. There are templates in how to respond to a customer complaint.