Turning your head away from a problem does not make it go away. And yet, more often than not, that's the modus operandi of most companies. Measuring customer satisfaction lets you analyse possible problems, and more notably, it shows you the path to improvement. Well then, how do you measure customer satisfaction? The answer is customer satisfaction surveys.
Customer satisfaction surveys are used to understand customers' perceptions of your company. They measure customer satisfaction scores (later as CSAT). This is a measure of how happy the customer is with your service. You can ask whatever you need to know at different points of the customer journey.
In this article, we will talk about the best practices to create an efficient customer survey, some industry examples and how to create this survey with a customer survey template. Read on to find out!
Best Practices to Create and Excellent Customer Satisfaction Survey
Customer satisfaction surveys can be deceptive in that they are not as simple as they initially appear. Asking the right questions is critical to a survey. You do not want to bore your respondent, nor do you want them to give wrong information.
Wrong information from surveys can often be disastrous. It can lead to you making wrong decisions based on biassed or incomplete data. This is why it is essential to design customer satisfaction surveys to get results.
Here are some practices to keep in mind for getting answers you can actually use.
Choose the correct tool for your survey: Before collecting feedback, you need to choose the correct customer feedback tool. Decide it based on your goals and plans. Choose a tool that gives you the ability to collect answers in different forms - images, sliders, mcqs, etc. . It should also let you examine basic metrics, and set an automated response email for taking the survey. Look into all of this before deciding on a survey tool.
Mobile-Friendly: Almost all internet users use mobile. If you send out a survey, the chances are that it will be opened on mobile. A survey not optimised for mobile can be a huge turnoff. After all, nobody will bother booting up their PC to fill in a survey. This is why it is vital to ensure that the survey is mobile-friendly. You’ll get more answers and better results overall.
Keep your survey brief: Determining the correct length for your survey can be difficult. Asking too few questions will leave you without enough information. And asking too many questions will likely lead to abandonment. It is highly crucial to find the proper equilibrium between the two.
There is no set standard for how long a survey should be. However, most researchers agree that the best surveys take about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. If it takes longer than that, users will likely lose interest in the survey.
Choosing the right questions: Asking the right questions is vital. Questions that are unrelated to the service will not yield any critical information. This will result in a waste of time and resources for both the customer and the company.
It is important to ask questions that help you identify problems. Take a step back and carefully craft your questions. The type of question you ask will determine the response you receive, which will influence the decisions you make.
Apply the feedback: The best way to show that you listen to your customers is to put the feedback to action. Just collecting feedback and then not making decisions based on that is a waste of time. Converting feedback suggestions into action also validates the respondents, ensuring even better survey engagement next time.
How to Design a Customer Satisfaction Survey?
A survey is the best way to collect feedback when it comes to measuring customer satisfaction. Here is how you can design a customer satisfaction survey:
1. Pick an Editable Template
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With One Of Our 200+ Templates
Choose any template that best suits your brand. There are 200+ ready-to-use templates available. They are easy to use, and you can make any edits you want. It is easy to change every aspect of the templates from design to functionality.
2. Customise the Design
When it comes to customising the template's design, there are multiple things you can do. You can change the template's background to match your brand's design.. You can add a touch of personalization by adding your brand's logo. You can upload your fonts to align with your brand identity. You can even set the roundness of the buttons used in the template.
3. Ask Your Questions
When it comes to surveys, questions play a vital role. The correct questions will get you actionable customer feedback, and wrong questions will lead to unusable, generic feedback. Keep your questions concise, easy-to-understand and relevant.
You can ask questions in multiple formats – text only, image answers, multiple-choice questions, or a drop-down list. If you are unsure which questions go best with your survey topic, you can also consider A/B testing.
4. Put Happy and Unhappy Customers in Different Buckets
When setting up survey questions and final pages, you can easily segment your customers into promoters, passives and detractors. You can create different Thank You! pages for each group.
For example, with an unhappy customer, you can show a result where you apologise, give them a coupon and let them know you will be working on their feedback. With a happy customer, you can thank them for taking the survey, give them a coupon, and maybe some additional incentive to leave a review on your website Amazon, G2 or Trustpilot.
5. Embed It in Your Website
After you have completed the survey, have a look at the preview. If you think everything is good to go, you can publish it. Then you can share it however you like – on social media, in emails, or embed it on your website.
5 Best Customer Satisfaction Survey Examples
1. Uber

Uber asks for feedback from two audiences. The passenger and the driver. And their surveys do a great job of collecting input from both. Their surveys are short, transparent, simple, and to the point. Great for effectively doing its job.
2. Netflix

Their algorithm recommends movies and shows to the users. And this would be an impossible task to accomplish if they did not understand their customer. They actively track what the user likes or dislikes and base their recommendations on that. This survey here aims to achieve just that.
3. Drift

They use a simple Net Promoter Score (NPS) system in their survey. Their sole question is the likeliness of getting a recommendation from their user. This can be a sufficient measure of a customer's satisfaction with your business in many cases.
4. Skype

Skype asks for customer feedback after every call. Although annoying at times, this allows them to intimately know their users. This simple three-question survey is their standard way of asking for feedback. It is simple and adequately covers all the areas regarding their service. In addition, they also provide the option to write out their thoughts.
5. McDonald’s

McDonald's uses a clever strategy of incentivizing feedback. On successful completion of feedback, users get to redeem an offer. This assures that respondents pay attention and input the correct information. Another great thing about this survey is the receipt on the right-hand side. Doing this ensures that users know exactly what they are being asked about.
Free Customer Survey Templates You Can Use
Researching and creating a customer satisfaction survey can be an arduous task, and it is a time-consuming and difficult task. You can use free customer satisfaction survey templates to save time and effort, and several businesses provide such amenities online. Online survey templates are often designed and created by a dedicated team, and they provide an easy way to create surveys without much effort.
In addition, many online survey providers will also give you supplementary analysis tools. All these pair perfectly with pre-built survey templates, allowing you to examine your survey result in more depth.
Here are 5 free customer survey templates that you can use:
1. Customer Satisfaction Survey Template

Want to know if your customers are satisfied with your service/product or not? Gather All the relevant data with this customer satisfaction template. You can edit it according to your brand design, and ask questions more relevant to your product/service. Get this template ->
2. Customer Feedback Survey Template

Gather relevant and actionable customer feedback with this template. Ask interactive, short and easy questions. Give your customers the option to answer these questions in an interactive way with image answers, multiple choice questions, slider answer options, etc. Get this template ->
3. Customer Satisfaction Survey Template

This template here helps you to get a comprehensive view in your customer’s minds with different types of questions – multiple choice questions, image questions, and an open text box as well. Collect the data and understand if your customer is happy with your product/service or not. If not, look for a common point in all the surveys and solve the problem! Get this template ->
4. Customer Support (Bug Report) Survey Template

Want to make sure there is no bug in your product bugging (pun intended) your customers? Run a customer satisfaction survey where you can ask your customers to report any bugs they have encountered in your product. This is the best way to not only know about the bug but also increase your customer satisfaction rate. Get this template ->
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Wrapping Up
Customer satisfaction surveys are strong tools to collect feedback and insights into the mind of your customers. On average, customers share a good experience with nine people while a poor experience with 16 people. This is why it is important to figure out issues and solve them effectively.
Knowing and understanding how customers feel about your business is vital in expanding your firm. This is why it is important to design a compelling customer satisfaction survey. Effective feedback leads to data-based decisions. And this leads to an increase in revenue growth.