A good customer satisfaction survey measures an organization’s strategy from the customer’s
perspective, so the questions should be carefully chosen. A good feedback survey is concise,
relevant, and well-thought-out. When constructing a feedback survey, it’s essential to consider two
different perspectives – how enjoyable it is to respond to the survey and how to make the reporting
of results as clear as possible. We’ve listed five practical tips to help you avoid common mistakes and
create an excellent feedback survey.
1.Present the feedback survey in connection with the customer encounter
It’s advisable to measure customer experience shortly after the customer interaction to ensure that
it reflects the most genuine and accurate perception of the event. This ensures a good response
rate, and the customer’s perception of the customer experience is the freshest and “cleanest”
(external events haven’t influenced it). Also, consider the target audience and the right channel –
whether targeted text message surveys, email surveys, feedback devices, or surveys embedded on
websites are the best fit for the situation.
2.A good feedback survey is concise and well-thought-out
Keep the feedback survey brief and easy to answer. Choose carefully the aspects of the
organization’s customer experience that are most important to measure and monitor their
improvement. The questions themselves should not be leading, and the answer choices should be
clear. Thoughtfully crafted questions increase the reliability and usability of the results. Avoid
excessively long surveys. Consider carefully which questions are mandatory for the respondent. In
some questions, it should also be possible to select multiple different options.
3.Make the survey appealing
Make the survey visually interesting to capture the customer’s attention. Using your visual identity in
the survey reinforces the brand image and increases the visibility of the satisfaction survey. If the
survey has multiple pages, it’s a good idea to show the respondent the progress with page
numbering and/or a progress bar. Surveys should also be made accessible.
4.Plan the usability of the feedback survey results
Design the survey so that the information it provides is easy to understand and can be utilized in the
locations, departments, and teams where it will be analysed later. Predefined answer options aid in
reporting and make the survey more user-friendly, but open-ended feedback can reveal new ideas
or areas for improvement. Analysing open-ended feedback can help extract essential information
from a large dataset.
5.Measure with a simple and consistent scale
Keep the measurement scales used in the customer survey simple and as consistent as possible,
making it easier for the respondent to answer and for the results to be interpreted. However, ask
about different aspects clearly, and avoid asking two different things in the same question
simultaneously.
A good feedback survey communicates to the customer that their perspective matters. It’s worth
investing time and effort in planning and designing an excellent feedback survey because creating
new questions and surveys can make it more challenging to track the development of customer
experience. Improving customer experience is a long-term effort, so it’s good to be able to compare results over extended periods. Measuring customer experience helps build better services and
makes an organization’s operations more customer-centric when feedback is genuinely utilized.
