Experts from our market research company recently recorded a video to walk through sample customer satisfaction survey questions and why they are so important to ask.
These are the same questions we’ve used to help our clients measure high areas of satisfaction and critical areas of improvement.
Prefer to read? Below, we discuss some of the most important questions to ask in a customer survey.
Sample Question #1: Importance and Satisfaction Rating Scales
Emily Taylor, Senior Research Analyst
Importance and satisfaction rating scales are the most important question series in a customer survey.
First, respondents are asked to rank the level of importance of several factors when deciding to make a purchase or choose a specific business to work.
An example of a customer survey question for a bank or credit union could be:
Please rank the following factors in order of importance of your financial provider, where 1 is the least important and 5 is the most important.
Respondents would choose from a list of different factors such as:
- Variety of products
- Friendliness of staff
- Ability to answer questions
- Knowledge level of staff
- Cleanliness of the branch
- Wait time to see staff
The next question on this customer survey example would be to ask respondents to rank how satisfied they are with these same factors.
The feedback from both customer survey question examples is used to create a grid that compares importance and satisfaction with the factors tested.
This gives organizations clear-cut areas to focus on improvements on and promote in future marketing or advertising content.
Ultimately, the grid creates four different quadrants:
- Factors that are of high importance and high satisfaction.
- Factors that are weakness areas in the market or high importance and low satisfaction.
- Factors that are status-quo areas in the market or low importance and high satisfaction.
- Lastly, factors that are an uphill battle for the market or low satisfaction and low importance.
Sample Question #2: Likelihood to Recommend
Tim Gell, Research Analyst
I would argue “Likelihood to Recommend a Brand” is the most important question that can be included in a customer survey.
Respondents provide a rating between 0 to 10 with “0” being Not at all likely and “10” being Extremely likely.
This question ultimately gets you a Net Promoter Score (NPS) that provides a lot of value for any organization.
Respondents are divided into Detractors (0 to 6), Passives (7 to 8), and Promoters (9 to 10). The percentage of Detractors is then subtracted from the percentages of Promoters providing a score between -100 and +100.
The Likelihood to Recommend question is also often followed up with: “Why did you rate [COMPANY NAME] a [INSERT SCORE]?
Importance of Measuring NPS
NPS is a standard measure of brand advocacy. It is widely accepted as a quick metric to measure how well your brand resonates with customers.
The follow-up of asking customers why they provided this score also gives companies a deeper meaning behind the rating.
Looking at responses by Detractors, Passives, and Promoters sheds some light on brand advocacy or a lack thereof.
This type of sample customer survey question provides a benchmark metric for future waves of the study as well as comparisons to competitors in the industry.
Changes can be made as a result of this feedback then assessed through the next round of ratings.
Sample Question #3: Competitive Assessment
Elizabeth Sincavage, Research Assistant
It can be extremely helpful to ask customers about competitors. Some customer survey example questions regarding competitors include:
- Are you aware of [INSERT COMPETITOR]?
- What is your perception of [INSERT COMPETITOR]?
- Have you ever purchased from [INSERT COMPETITOR]?
- What was your experience like working with [COMPETITOR]?
This question helps identify new competitors and helps your organization identify how you compare to others in the market.
Importance of Competitor Comparisons
This customer survey question example helps identify new competitors and helps your organization identify how you compare to others in the market.
These are important details to know as a brand, especially if you are in a competitive industry.
There are a variety of ways organizations can leverage feedback from this survey question such as:
- Identify new opportunities in the market.
- Capitalize on your strengths in marketing and advertising messaging.
- Capitalize on the competitor’s weaknesses to win a share in the market.
- Understand gap areas in the market.
Sample Question #4: Factors of Choice
Chris Coville, Project Manager
Lastly, a sample customer survey question our market research company recommends using is, “What are the top factors that drove customers to choose your company?”
This can be worded in a few different ways to focus on decision-making, what drove inquiries, or what drove product/service selection.
Importance of Identifying Factors of Choice
The feedback from this question carries many valuable insights for your business including:
- Helps better understand the customer journey
- Identifies what resonates with your target audience
- Identifies what drives action or purchase from the consumer
This question is regularly used when our market research team speaks through recommendations and next steps with our clients.
A lot of our clients work in marketing roles and this question is valuable for developing messaging in advertising campaigns.
In other words, the digital or traditional ads you develop should feature the top factors from the survey question.
If you are a bank or credit union…
You might find accessibility or interest rates are important. Those factors should be heavily featured in messaging.
If you are a restaurant chain…
You might find the top factors that drive usage are atmosphere and entertainment. Those are the key areas to feature in advertising campaigns.
Segmenting Data
Additionally, value can also be obtained by segmenting the results of this question by different target audiences.
A customer survey report from our market research firm might find there are different decision-making factors for Gen Z. vs. Millennials.
This would lead your marketing team to create a segmented advertising campaign featuring unique messaging for each audience.
By doing so, your organization is much more likely to drive clicks to your website and convert leads to customers, than if you were to promote a generalized advertising message to a wide net of consumers.
Other Sample Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions
- How did you first become aware of [INSERT COMPANY NAME]?
- What features are most valuable to you? What features are least valuable to you?
- Demographic questions such as age, gender, income level, etc.
- How do you prefer to shop for [INSERT TYPE OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE]?
- What one word would you use to describe [INSERT COMPANY NAME]?
- What is your preferred method of communication? Email, phone, physical mail, etc.
*Editor's Note: This blog was originally posted in April of 2020 but has since been updated.
Contact Our Customer Satisfaction Survey Company
Drive Research is a national market research company located in New York. Our customized customer satisfaction surveys provide affordable and actionable insights you need.
Interested in receiving a proposal or estimate for a customer satisfaction study? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Carroll
A SUNY Cortland graduate, Emily has taken her passion for social and content marketing to Drive Research as the Marketing Coordinator. She has earned certificates for both Google Analytics and Google AdWords.
Learn more about Emily, here.
