Survey Questions: Find the Best Tools for Crafting Effective Surveys

Understanding the customer experience is critical to any savvy business owner. You want to know what your clients think about your products and services, storefront, and interaction with your team. The best way to learn whether your company is meeting your customer expectations is through surveys. 

A survey contains a list of questions you ask your clients to answer about your business. You can use their feedback to assess how they feel about your company and whether it meets their expectations. But what are good survey questions? It’s vital to ask questions that provide clear insights into your client’s thoughts and experience. 

Once you gather survey responses via email templates or other tools, you can use the input to evaluate your business operations and potential areas for improvement.

Types of survey questions

There are various types of survey questions you can include in your assessment. Some companies employ a mix of survey questions, while others stick with one kind. You can choose the format that best aligns with your survey goals and will yield the most insightful data. 

When designing these, you’ll want to focus on the five key question categories: 

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• (And as a bonus, how)

Multiple choice questions

A multiple choice survey question presents clients with a few different pre-defined answers to select from. It’s important to understand that the choices presented in a multiple-choice format may not apply to every customer. You can add an “other” answer option so clients can input their own responses.

Rating scales

A rating scale survey question allows recipients to select an answer via numerical rating. Typically, the higher end of the scale is closest to a “yes” or “extremely likely” answer, while the lower end of the scale falls under the “no” or “not at all likely” response.

Likert scales

Likert scale questions evaluate the survey-taker’s agreement with a specific statement on a numerical scale. This usually ranges from one to five. The lower range of the scale indicates disagreement, the midpoint is neutral, and the higher end expresses agreement with the statement.

Matrix questions

Matrix survey questions group a series of inquiries with the same answers to choose from in a single simple table. The recipient can quickly select the appropriate response to each question in the table. However, be aware that some matrix questions may not display correctly on smartphones, which can limit the responses you receive from customers. 

Dropdown questions

Dropdown questions allow recipients to select a pre-determined answer from a list that appears when they click on a box. Dropdown questions are similar to multiple choice questions, but they appear in list format and may provide additional answers to select from. 

Open-ended questions

An open-ended question requires the recipient to state an answer using their own words. These inquiries often provide the best feedback and insights since clients can write their responses. However, open-ended survey questions require extra effort, so you may see fewer customer responses if your survey contains many of these. 

Ranking questions

Ranking questions ask recipients to rank their feelings or preferences about various subjects. For instance, you might ask customers to rank their favorite products with your organization. You can also use them to get insights about your customer’s interests. 

Image choice questions

Some organizations include picture-based options, which is known as an image choice question. You could use image choice questions to generate feedback about product improvements or branding. For instance, you could send recipients a selection of possible company logos and ask them to pick the one they feel best represents your business.

Click map questions

Click map questions allow companies to get feedback about visible aspects of their product packaging or website. To use click map questions effectively, ask clients to click on the part of an image that is most appealing or informative. 

Close-ended questions

A close-ended question provides just a few options for survey takers, such as “yes” or “no.” They’re helpful when you want a quick answer to a specific question. However, they don’t allow clients to provide additional information about their responses, so it’s best used when you need concise insights.

Slider questions

In a slider survey question, respondents can select an answer on an interactive sliding scale, which they can maneuver using a mouse or touchpad. Usually, the scale represents a range of numbers, such as one to five. The figures on this scale will rank to what degree someone agrees or disagrees with a statement.

Survey question examples

There are many ways you can use survey questions to learn more about your customers and how they feel about various aspects of your business. Here are a few examples.

Demographic survey questions

A demographic survey question aims to learn more about who your shoppers are. It can include inquiries about their age, ethnicity, gender, education, and income. Examples include:

• What age group do you fall into?
• What is your zip code?
• Are you married?
• What industry do you work in?
• What is your current job title?

Demographic questions are helpful for customer segmentation and marketing purposes. 

Customer service survey questions

Most companies want to know how clients feel about their purchases or shopping experience. Customer satisfaction questions can help you gather helpful feedback to incorporate into your products or purchasing process. Here are a few examples of customer service survey questions:

• How likely are you to recommend [company name] to others?
• Would you buy [product name] again?
• On a scale of one to five, how satisfied are you with your shopping experience?
• How can we improve the checkout process?
• Do you have feedback about your shopping experience that you’d like to share?

User experience survey questions

User experience surveys aim to understand how clients interact with a business website or app. The customer’s responses are useful for future improvements to make the user experience as seamless and easy to navigate as possible. Some user experience survey question examples include:

• How easy was it to find what you were looking for on a scale of one to five?
• How did you learn about our website?
• What did/didn’t you like about your experience?
• Was there anything you would change about the website or app?
• What is the most important feature of the app or website to you?

Product survey questions

Sometimes, companies develop a product and anticipate customers will use it in a specific way, but the customer uses it for a different purpose. Product survey questions help gather client feedback that is useful for product improvements and marketing. These can be great for survey research. Some examples of product survey questions include:

• How would you rate the value of our product?
• Did you find the product easy to use?
• What is your favorite feature of the product?
• Is there something you dislike about the product?
• Would you recommend this product to your friends or family?

Employee survey questions

Not all surveys are customer-oriented. Companies and nonprofit organizations can also use them to gather feedback about their employees and what they like or dislike about the working environment. Here are a few examples of employee survey questions.

• What do you like most (or least) about working for our company?
• Do you feel that your manager supports your growth?
• How could we make the organization a better place to work?
• What employee benefit would you most like to see that isn’t currently available?
• Would you consider volunteering again for our nonprofit? 

Student survey questions

Learning organizations, such as universities, colleges, and other schools, can use student survey questions to gather helpful feedback about their student’s experience. Some student survey questions examples include:

• What course have you most enjoyed this school year?
• Do you feel your teacher or professor provided you with adequate support during the course?
• What did you most (or least) like about the course?
• Were you informed of tutoring options to help you succeed in the course?
• How would you rate your overall experience with the course?

Writing effective survey questions

As you draft your survey questions, follow these tips to make sure they’re effective.

1. Aim for conciseness and simplicity

Your survey recipients provide feedback on their own time, so avoid asking too many questions. Otherwise, response rates may drop. Instead, start with a few basic questions the respondent can answer in less than three minutes. If you require more extensive feedback, add a link at the bottom of your survey directing the respondent to additional optional questions they can answer.

2. Ask your simplest question first

Some companies see higher survey response rates if their questionnaire begins with a very easy question, such as a close-ended inquiry. Since the question requires only a few seconds to read and answer, customers may be more inclined to respond and finish the entire survey. 

3. Avoid asking too many questions

You may want to know as much as possible about your customers’ experience, their thoughts about your products, and other brand aspects. However, if you pile on too many questions, they’re more likely to exit your questionnaire. Instead, identify three to five key questions that are critical to your business. The shorter your survey, the higher your response rates will be.

4. Stay on topic

Each survey you share should concern one specific topic instead of trying to cover several at once. For instance, if you want to learn more about how clients interact with your website, ask questions geared entirely to user experience. When your surveys focus on a singular subject, it’s easier to evaluate results. You’re also less likely to confuse respondents.

How do you ask a customer to complete a survey? 

Once you’ve created your survey, you need customers to answer it so you can start reviewing their responses. There are several ways you can request clients to complete a survey.

• Include the survey at the end of the product checkout process.
• Send an email requesting feedback a week or two after a customer makes a purchase.
• Text your client to complete a survey after buying a product.
• Add the survey to a social media post.

You can also include an incentive to answer the survey, such as a future product discount or free shipping, to improve your response rates. 

Best practices and considerations

Keep these tips in mind to optimize your survey response rates and respondent satisfaction.

1. Ask mobile-friendly questions

Many clients may use smartphones or other mobile devices to answer survey questions. Test your survey on a smartphone and PC to ensure its functionality across different screen sizes. 

2. Respect the client’s time and privacy

Your clients are giving up some of their free time to answer your survey, so try to keep it short and to the point. Also, avoid asking questions that dig too much into a client’s personal details. You may want to anonymize your survey results so clients feel they can speak freely. 

3. Avoid asking biased questions

Examine your questions carefully for hints of any bias that can erode your results. For example, characterizing your company as “the best” and your competitors as lesser can harm the objectivity of your survey results. Instead, keep your questions neutral and straightforward.

4. Choose the right platform for survey distribution

Many brands share their surveys through email, text, and social media. Choosing software that contains survey functionality for all three platforms is essential. Constant Contact’s comprehensive marketing software program allows you to effortlessly design and share customer surveys through all three channels. 

Use cases for surveys

There are many reasons why you might turn to surveys to learn more about how clients view your business, including:

• Learn why a product isn’t selling: Is a new product failing to gain traction with your customers? Use a survey to find out what clients dislike about it.
• Drive your pricing strategy: Surveys can help you determine the right price point for your products.
• Get customer testimonials: You can use surveys to actively request client feedback and share positive comments in future marketing campaigns.
• Learn how customers interact with your website: If you recently updated your website (or created a brand new one), a survey can help you learn how clients view its functionality. This can tell you what they like, what gets them to stay, and why they may leave.
• Measure customer satisfaction: Surveys can tell how clients feel about your products, brand, and purchase process. 

Understanding the impact of surveys

The first step to creating an effective survey is to determine your goal. What do you hope to learn from the survey? Once you know its purpose, you can write good survey questions that align with your objectives. Then, distribute the survey to your customers and wait for their responses.

With the results you obtain from your survey, you’ll learn what clients like about your business and discover potential ways to improve it. To learn more about surveys and how to use them successfully, read “Client Satisfaction Survey Examples to Help Learn from Your Customers.