In this post, we’re covering everything you need to know about customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, including:
- Customer satisfaction surveys defined
- Are these surveys still relevant?
- Types of surveys
- Customer satisfaction survey templates and examples
For your business to survive and thrive, measuring customer satisfaction is key. You need to take frequent pulses on how your customers feel about your brand, products, services and interactions to identify pain points and benchmark your performance over time. Customer satisfaction surveys are an incredible tool that marketing, support and product teams can leverage to understand how well they perform in their customers’ eyes.
Let’s dive in.
What is a Customer Satisfaction Survey?
Customer satisfaction surveys are questionnaires that measure customer sentiment towards a product, service or a specific micro-level interaction like a customer service interaction or online shopping event. CSAT surveys can be time-based (i.e., sent one day after purchase or three months post-purchase) or event-based (i.e., at the end of a free trial or onboarding process).
Are these types of surveys still relevant?
To grow your business, you need to know how you’re performing against expectations and uncover customer pain points and points of friction. CSAT surveys provide incredible insights into how a customer perceives your brand and products and can indicate future loyalty and spend.
CSAT surveys are the most direct way to understand if you’re meeting customer expectations. Today’s customer journey is complicated and loyalty is fragile. One poor experience can be enough to drive even your most loyal customers away.
These surveys enable brands to flag where things go wrong in the customer journey. They allow you to improve your product, services and operations to retain customers.
Without leveraging CSAT surveys, you’re operating in the dark. Getting feedback directly from the customers you need to impress and asking them directly for things that can be improved is essential to be a company that competes on customer experience (CX).
The benefits don’t stop there, though. Surveys like this also make customers feel appreciated and listened to. It can also help you identify champions who could be asked (or incentivized) to post reviews or refer friends.
To download a copy of our 2021 Customer Service Benchmark report, visit here.
Types of customer satisfaction survey questions
Generally, CSAT surveys include between 6-8 questions. There are a few common types of survey questions, including closed-ended questions, which see a person select a response from predefined answers, and open-ended questions, which see a person respond in their own words.
There are benefits to both types of questions. Closed-ended questions provide clean data that can be used for rich analysis and benchmarking. Open-ended questions provide qualitative data, reveal new insights and alert an organization to problems or opportunities they had not yet thought of.
In your surveys, it’s important to mix question types to encourage participation and minimize perceived effort.
Here are the different types of questions you can use in your surveys:
- Rating scale (or ordinal) questions: Rating scale questions ask the customer how they feel about a product, service or interaction by rating it on a numbered scale (i.e., 1-5). If you use a rating scale question, add context to the numbers (i.e., 1 is poor and 5 is excellent). Here’s an example of a rating scale question:
- Binary questions: Binary questions limit responses to two inputs, such as yes/no or thumbs up / thumbs down. Binary questions can eliminate any ambiguity present in scale questions as everyone can perceive things slightly differently. One person’s 5 response could be another person’s 4. Here’s an example of a binary survey question:
- Likert scale questions: These questions are also on a scale but measure extreme views on a 5 to 7-point scale. The medium point represents neutrality, with the lowest number (1) representing one extreme and the highest number (5) representing the other extreme. Here’s an example of a Likert scale question:
- Nominal questions: When there are limited available responses, nominal questions work well. These are multiple-choice questions in which the user selects one option from a predefined set of answers. Unless there is an “All of the Above” option, answers don’t overlap. Here’s an example of a nominal survey question:
- Open-ended questions: These questions allow a person to write feedback in their own words. While the insights that can be gleaned from open-ended questions are incredible, customers perceive them as requiring more effort. Limit open-ended questions to one or two in your survey. Here’s an example of an open-ended survey question:
Here are the top 17 customer satisfaction survey templates and examples for 2021
These surveys can measure feedback on customer service interactions, product and services, brand experience, as well as customer effort (CES) and net performer score (NPS).
Customer Service Questions
- Overall, how satisfied were you with your interaction today?
- Very Dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neutral
- Satisfied
- Very Satisfied
- Did we fully resolve your issue?
- Yes
- No
- On a scale of 1-5, did we make you feel heard and appreciated?
- 1 – Not at all
- 2 – Somewhat
- 3 – Neutral
- 4 – Yes
- 5 – Absolutely, Yes
- How did you feel today during our interaction? Select all that apply.
- Listened to
- Appreciated
- Frustrated
- Annoyed
- Other ____
- How easy was it to get your issue resolved today? (Customer Effort Score question)
- 😡 – Extremely Difficult
- 🙁 – Difficult
- 😐 – Average
- 🙂 – Easy
- 🤩 – Very Easy
- Which of the following would you describe the support you received today? Select all that apply.
- Fast
- Personal
- Empathetic
- Convenient
- Effortless
- Incomplete
- Difficult
- Other_____
Product Questions
- Is this the first time you’ve used our product/service?
- Yes
- No
- How well does our product meet your needs?
- 1- It does not meet my needs in any way
- 2- It meets my needs, but not in every way I expect
- 3 – Neutral
- 4 – It meets my needs
- 5 – It exceeds my expectations
- How has your experience been with [product/service]?
- Very Unenjoyable
- Unenjoyable
- Neutral
- Enjoyable
- Very Enjoyable
- What made you ultimately choose this [product/service] over others?
- Is there anything that you would change about our product/service?
- Which features are the most valuable?
- How satisfied are you with the quality of our product?
- Very Dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neutral
- Satisfied
- Very Satisfied
Experience Questions
- How would you rate the onboarding process?
- 😡 – Extremely Difficult
- 🙁 – Difficult
- 😐 – Average
- 🙂 – Easy
- 🤩 – Very Easy
- What could we have improved with our online shopping experience?
- What could we have done differently?
NPS Questions
- How likely are you to recommend this [product/service] to your friends and colleagues?
Very Unlikely [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Very Likely
Best Practices for Customer Satisfaction Surveys
When you’re developing CSAT surveys, there are a few best practices to keep in mind.
- Be very clear in your messaging: Keep questions concise. Remove ambiguity and avoid using jargon.
- Use a mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions: Start your survey with a low-effort, closed-ended question that will more likely entice the person and get them engaged.
- Incorporate open-ended options into closed-ended questions: You don’t want an engaged customer to stop taking the survey because they don’t see a relevant answer in a nominal question. You can get around this by adding an “Other” option with a text box for a person to explain in more detail. You can also follow up on scale questions with a prompt to go into more detail. For instance, after asking: “On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with your experience today?” you can follow up with people who ranked on the low end a follow-up question: “What could we have done better?”
- Understand your goals for the survey: Are you benchmarking your customer experience over time? Are you looking for specific ways to enhance your product or service? Design your survey to give you the data that will be most beneficial for your team.
- A/B Test: You’re probably not going to launch the most effective survey at the first shot. A/B test your messaging, timing of when a survey is sent, and delivery method in order to get the most customers engaged.
Final thoughts: Why every CX leader should consider using CS surveys
CS surveys provide invaluable feedback on how your customers perceive your products, services, support and brand. Triggering CSAT surveys at key points along the customer journey is essential for companies to compete and grow their business today. Loyalty is tied closer than ever to CX. Without leveraging CSAT surveys, you will be operating in a vacuum, unaware of friction and pain points that can be detrimental to your business. These surveys enable gathering feedback from your customer base–these will improve levels of satisfaction, customer retention, and create more satisfied customers.
To learn more about improving the customer experience, visit:
- How a SaaS Chatbot Can Reduce Churn Rates
- How Customer Self Service Can Help Your Business & Your Customers
- The Top 11 Zendesk Alternatives
- How Ticket Triage AI Can Revolutionize Customer Service