Questionnaires are valuable tools for learning about your customers. They can help you understand what customers think, feel, and need. Done right, questionnaires deliver transformative insights that drive customer satisfaction.
In my experience as a customer support rep at HubSpot, I’ve found that going straight to the source is the best way to understand customer needs and expectations. Accordingly, questionnaires allow you to garner direct information on the customer journey and transform valuable data into actionable insights. This is particularly important in a world where 63% of customers expect companies to anticipate their needs.
In this article, I’ll share tips, examples, and templates to help you craft thoughtful and effective questionnaires that yield valuable, actionable customer insights. Creating a questionnaire may seem daunting, but I’ll help you through the process and have you crafting them from scratch in no time.
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- Optimized for actionable insights
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Questionnaire Definition
A questionnaire is a research tool used to conduct surveys. It is a structured set of questions to understand a topic from the respondents’ point of view. Questionnaires typically have closed-ended, open-ended, short-form, and long-form questions.
Your questionnaire should include unbiased and logical questions. For instance, don’t ask for feedback on a product still in development. To complete the questionnaire, the customer would have to imagine how they might experience the product or service rather than share their actual experience.
Instead, I like to ask broad questions about the qualities and features my customers enjoy in the products or services they already use. I then incorporate that feedback into new offerings.
Survey vs. Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a tool for conducting a survey, which is the process of gathering, sampling, analyzing, and interpreting data from a group of people.
The confusion between these terms stems from the fact that questionnaires and data analysis were treated as separate processes before the Internet became popular. Before the Internet, questionnaires were completed on paper, and data analysis occurred later as an individual process. Nowadays, these processes are typically combined since online survey tools allow questionnaire responses to be analyzed and aggregated in one step.
However, questionnaires can still be used for purposes other than data analysis. Job applications and medical history forms are examples of questionnaires that are not intended to be statistically analyzed. The key difference between questionnaires and surveys is that they can exist together or separately.
What makes a good questionnaire?
- Define the goal.
- Make it short and simple.
- Use a mix of question types.
- Proofread carefully.
- Keep it consistent.
A good questionnaire gives you valuable data to construct a comprehensive understanding of the customer’s point of view. Here are some things to consider when crafting a quality questionnaire.
Define the goal.
I find it essential to have a clear goal for each questionnaire. While it’s tempting to ask a variety of questions simultaneously, you’ll get more valuable results if you focus on one thing at a time.
For example, if I sent out a questionnaire to ask customers about their satisfaction with a recent order, I would save demographic questions for another time.
Make it short and simple.
Questionnaires should be concise and easy to finish. Focus on only the most essential questions that get to the heart of the customer’s experience with your business.
According to HubSpot research, 47% of those surveyed say their top reason for abandoning a survey is the time it takes to complete it. Speaking from personal experience, I doubt I’d complete a survey longer than five minutes if no incentive were involved.
Pro tip: Give your customers an estimated time to complete your survey. They will appreciate the transparency and be more likely to complete the questionnaire if they know it is brief upfront.
Use a mix of question types.
Your questionnaire should include a combination of question types, such as open-ended, long-form, and closed-ended questions.
Open-ended questions give users a chance to share detailed answers. However, closed-ended questions with specific answer choices are more efficient and easier to quantify.
Proofread carefully.
While checking spelling and grammar is important, you should also edit for clarity and leading questions. You want to avoid overly technical terms that may confuse respondents and leading questions that may produce biased results.
Pro tip: Keep your language as simple as possible to avoid confusion. In such circumstances, I keep my writing at an 8th-grade reading level to ensure clarity. To help with this, I use Hemingway Editor. This smart text editor can identify readability issues and give me a readability score to ensure I’m not going overboard with flowery language or packing too much information into one sentence.
Keep it consistent.
Consistency makes it easier for respondents to complete your questionnaire quickly and reduces bias by making the questions less confusing. Keep response scales, question types, and formatting consistent to produce the most valuable data.
I’m not saying you should stick to only one question type for your questionnaire. Instead, I recommend grouping questions of the same kind. I recommend starting with simple multiple-choice questions and saving open-ended response questions for the end of the questionnaire.
How to Make a Questionnaire
Creating a questionnaire is more than just crafting questions. You must ensure your questionnaire is set up for success with best practices and optimal flow so your respondents can fill it out quickly and easily. Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. Here are the key steps to creating a killer questionnaire.
1. Use questionnaire templates.
Building a questionnaire from scratch is daunting, so don’t do it! Use a questionnaire template to help you get started.
I love HubSpot’s collection of customer-facing questionnaire templates that can help you quickly build and send a questionnaire to your clients and analyze the results on Google Drive.
Download HubSpot’s Questionnaire Templates Now
2. Know your question types.
You need to start with the right questions to get meaningful feedback. Based on your specific goals for your questionnaire, decide between open-ended, multiple-choice, or rating scale-type questions.
Vrnda LeValley, customer training manager at HubSpot, recommends starting with an alignment question like, “Does this class meet your expectations?” because it gives more context to any subsequent positive or negative scores. She continues, “If it didn’t meet expectations, then there will potentially be negative responses across the board (as well as the reverse).”
3. Keep it concise.
I’ve found that customers appreciate it if you value their time as much as they do. Show your customers that you respect their time by keeping your questionnaires as brief as possible while still getting the data you need. The shorter your questionnaire, the more likely your customer will complete it. I know this to be true in my own survey completion history.
In addition, shorter questionnaires yield more focused datasets that are easier to analyze and yield more pertinent insights.
Pro tip: Aim for a completion time of under five minutes. When creating a questionnaire, place yourself in the customer’s shoes from start to finish.
4. Design for clarity.
As much as I’d love each questionnaire to be a stunning work of art, there is no need. Ensure your questionnaire is simple, easy to read, and free of extraneous elements that might distract respondents from the questions.
If I’m filling out a customer questionnaire, there is a good chance I’m doing it on my phone. Accordingly, mobile responsiveness is paramount. If your questionnaire isn’t mobile-compatible, it will severely affect your completion rate.
Ensure buttons are easy to see and click, and navigation is clear and intuitive. Any slight misstep in the UX/UI of your survey can tank your response rate, so it’s best to keep it simple.
Pro tip: Use a familiar and easy-to-read font in a text size that everyone can read. I like sans-serif fonts like Helvetica and Proxima Nova.
5. Follow a research process.
The key to a successful questionnaire is clearly defining your objectives. I like to start by asking, “What specific information do I need?” Determining the purpose of your questionnaire will help guide you and ensure that each question provides the data you need.
Think of it like conducting a scientific experiment. You’re probably not mixing up hydrofluoric acid in an Erlenmeyer flask (or maybe you are; I don’t judge), but you should define clear research objectives and develop a hypothesis for what you expect to uncover with your questionnaire.
I haven’t thought about the term hypothesis since chemistry class, but it’s not just for science.
Hypothesis: A proposed explanation as a starting point for further investigation.
For example, your hypothesis could be that customers save time and money by using a new feature in your product. With that in mind, you can craft questions that uncover to what extent your hypothesis is true.
6. Use clear, unbiased language.
Clarity is key when crafting an effective questionnaire. Avoid technical jargon and unnecessarily complex verbiage. Try to keep your writing at an 8th-grade reading level and use neutral, unbiased language that doesn’t attempt to sway customers one way or another.
For example, instead of asking, “Some say that we create the best software products in the world. Do you agree?"
Try, “How would you rate our software products on a scale of 1 to 10?”
Pro tip: Keep questions focused and singular. Avoid asking two questions in the same sentence.
7. Focus on essential questions.
Before including any question in my survey, I ask myself:
- Is this question redundant?
- Can I get this data another way?
- Will this information be useful?
- Does this serve our research goals/hypothesis?
If the question passes all these qualifications, it is worth including in a questionnaire.
Focusing on essential questions serves your goals, respects the customer’s time, and ensures quality responses. I don’t want to sit through a 100-question survey, and I bet your customers don’t either. Keep it short, sweet, and concise by asking only what’s necessary.
8. Maintain a logical flow of questions.
A good questionnaire is like a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
When creating your questionnaire, start with the most basic questions, such as demographics. You can use this information to segment your customer base and create different buyer personas.
Next, you can get into the meat of your questionnaire with specific questions about your products/services. Make sure to group related topics so it doesn’t seem like anything is coming out of left field.
End your questionnaire with an opportunity for customers to provide open-ended feedback. This information is valuable as it gives you direct insight into the customer journey and specific experiences people have had with your brand.
9. Consider your target audience.
Whenever you collect customer feedback, you must consider the goals and needs of your audience. After all, the participants in this questionnaire are your active customers. Your questions should be geared toward their interests and experiences with your company.
You can even create multiple surveys that target different buyer personas. For example, if you have a subscription-based pricing model, you can personalize your questionnaire for each type of subscription your company offers.
Consider offering relevant incentives for the completion of your questionnaire. Even a 5% discount code can show respondents that you are considerate of their time and appreciate their patronage.
10. Test your questionnaire.
Once your questionnaire is complete, it’s essential to test it. If you don’t, you may ask the wrong questions and collect irrelevant or inaccurate information. Start by giving your employees the questionnaire to test. Then, send it to small groups of customers and analyze the results. If you’re gathering the data you’re looking for, you should release the questionnaire.
Pro tip: Testing should also include accessibility and verification that the questionnaire works on multiple devices.
HubSpot’s customer survey tool lets you craft questionnaires that are mobile-responsive and consistent across all device types.
30 Free Survey Templates
Collect actionable insights for your business with our professionally designed survey templates.
- Pre-built templates for all business needs
- Follow survey design best practices
- Customizable fields and response formats
- Optimized for actionable insights
Download Free
All fields are required.
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In-Depth Interviews vs. Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be a more feasible and efficient research method than in-depth interviews. They are a lot cheaper to conduct. That’s because in-depth interviews can require you to compensate the interviewees for their time and give accommodations and travel reimbursement.
Questionnaires also save time for both parties. Customers can quickly complete them on their own time, and your company’s employees don’t have to spend time conducting the interviews. They can capture a larger audience than in-depth interviews, making them much more cost-effective.
It would be impossible for a large company to interview thousands of customers in person. The same company could get feedback from its entire customer base using an online questionnaire.
When considering your current products and services (as well as ideas for new products and services), it’s essential to get the feedback of existing and potential customers. They are the ones who have a say in purchasing decisions.
What makes a good survey question?
- Have a goal in mind.
- Draft clear and distinct answers and questions.
- Ask one question at a time.
- Check for bias and sensitivity.
- Include follow-up questions.
To create a good survey question, you have to choose the right type of questions. Include concise, clear, and appropriate questions with answer choices that won’t confuse the respondent and will offer data on their experience.
Good survey questions can give a business good data to examine. Here are some more tips to follow as you draft your survey questions.
Have a goal in mind.
To make a good survey, consider what you are trying to learn from it. Understanding why you need to do a survey will help you create clear and concise questions that you need to ask to meet your goal.
Pro tip: I recommend crafting a mission statement to guide your survey creation. If your questions serve your goal and align with your mission statement, the data you collect should yield quality insights.
Draft clear and distinct answers and questions.
You have a goal in mind for your survey. Now, you have to write the questions and answers according to the form you’re using.
For instance, be clear if you’re using ranks or multiple-choice in your survey. Here are examples of good and poor multiple-choice answers.
Poor Survey Question and Answer Example
The hotel:
- Has a desirable location in the city.
- Has staff that makes me feel welcome.
- Has a rewards program that I use.
- Offers rates that can’t be beat.
Good Survey Question and Answer Example
What is the main reason you decided to stay at our hotel?
- The hotel has a location in downtown San Francisco walking distance from the train station.
- The staff offer remarkable service at the hotel, making it a desirable place to stay.
- I am a member of this hotel’s rewards program, which incentives me to stay at this chain.
- The price for the room was lower than competitors.
I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what’s being asked in that first example (the poor one). The survey didn’t fully explain the question, and the options were confusing.
In the good example above, the question and answer choices are clear and easy to understand.
Always ensure that answers and questions are clear and distinct to create a good experience for the respondent. This will give your team the best outcomes from your survey.
Ask one question at a time.
It’s surprisingly easy to combine multiple questions into one. They even have a name — they’re called “double-barreled” questions. But a good survey asks one question at a time.
For example, a survey question could read, “What is your favorite sneaker and clothing apparel brand?” I find this question confusing because it asks about two things at once. Is it asking about my favorite sneaker brand? Or my favorite clothing brand? Or does it have to be a brand that makes both sneakers and clothing?
Asking two questions simultaneously may confuse your respondents and result in unclear answers. Instead, each question should focus on obtaining specific information.
For example, ask, “What is your favorite sneaker brand?” then, “What is your favorite clothing apparel brand?” Separating the questions allows your respondents to give separate and precise answers.
Check for bias and sensitivity.
Biased questions can lead a respondent toward a specific response, and they can also be vague or unclear. Use neutral language that doesn’t sway the respondent in one way or another.
Every time I take a survey, I have to scroll just a bit longer to find my birth year in the dropdown menu. At least, it seems that way. Questions such as age, religion, or marital status can be helpful for demographics, but they can also be uncomfortable for people to answer, so be sensitive when collecting this information.
Pro tip: Think carefully about question placement. Sensitive questions that appear in context with other survey questions can help people understand why you are asking. This can make them feel more comfortable responding.
When you do that, you should check your survey for leading questions, assumptions, and double-barreled questions. You want to make sure that it is neutral and free of bias.
Include follow-up questions.
Asking more than one survey question about an area of interest can make a survey easier to understand and complete. It also helps you collect more in-depth insights from your respondents.
Questionnaire Templates
1. Free HubSpot Questionnaire Template
HubSpot offers a variety of free customer surveys and questionnaire templates to analyze and measure customer experience. Choose from five templates: Net Promoter Score (NPS ®), customer satisfaction, customer effort, open-ended questions, and long-form customer surveys.
2. Client Questionnaire Template
It’s a good idea to gauge your clients’ experiences with your business to uncover opportunities to improve your offerings. That will, in turn, better suit their lifestyles. You don’t have to wait for an entire year to pass before polling your customer base about their experience, either. A simple client questionnaire, like the one below, can be administered as a micro survey several times throughout the year. These quick survey questions work well to retarget your existing customers through social media polls and paid interactive ads.
1. How much time do you spend using [product or service]?
- Less than a minute
- About 1 - 2 minutes
- Between 2 and 5 minutes
- More than 5 minutes
2. What has been your most significant pain point in the last month?
- Finding enough time for important tasks
- Delegating work
- Having enough to do
3. What’s your biggest priority right now?
- Finding a faster way to work
- Problem-solving
- Staff development
3. Website Questionnaire Template
Whether you just launched a brand new website or you’re gathering data points to inform a redesign, customer feedback is essential in both processes. A website questionnaire template will come in handy to collect this information using an unbiased method.
1. How many times have you visited [website] in the past month?
- None
- Once
- More than once
2. What is the primary reason for visiting [website]?
- To make a purchase
- To find more information before making a purchase in-store
- To contact customer service
3. Are you able to find what you’re looking for on the website homepage?
- Yes
- No
4. Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire Template
If you’ve never surveyed your customers and are looking for a template to get started, this one includes some basic customer satisfaction questions. These will apply to just about any customer your business serves.
1. How likely are you to recommend us to family, friends, or colleagues?
- Extremely unlikely
- Somewhat unlikely
- Neutral
- Somewhat likely
- Extremely likely
2. How satisfied were you with your experience?
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
3. Rank the following items in terms of their priority in your purchasing process.
- Helpful staff
- Quality of product
- Price of product
- Ease of purchase
- Proximity of store
- Online accessibility
- Current need
- Appearance of product
4. Who did you purchase these products for?
- Self
- Family member
- Friend
- Colleague
- On behalf of a business
- Other
5. Please rate our staff on the following terms:
- Friendly __ __ __ __ __ Hostile
- Helpful __ __ __ __ __ Useless
- Knowledgeable __ __ __ __ __ Inexperienced
- Professional __ __ __ __ __ Inappropriate
6. Would you purchase from our company again?
- Yes
- No
7. How can we improve your experience for the future?
________________________________.
5. Customer Effort Score Questionnaire Template
The following template gives an example of a brief customer effort score (CES) questionnaire. This free template works well for new customers to measure their initial reaction to your business.
1. What was the ease of your experience with our company?
- Extremely difficult
- Somewhat difficult
- Neutral
- Somewhat easy
- Extremely easy
2. The company did everything possible to make my process as easy as possible.
- Strongly disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neutral
- Somewhat agree
- Strongly agree
3. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “extremely quickly” and 10 being “extremely slowly”), how fast were you able to solve your problem?
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
4. How much effort did you have to put forth while working with our company?
- Much more than expected
- Somewhat more than expected
- As much as expected
- Somewhat less than expected
- Much less than expected
6. Demographic Questionnaire Template
Here’s a template for surveying customers to learn more about their demographic background. You could substantiate the analysis of this questionnaire by corroborating the data with other information from your web analytics, internal customer data, and industry data.
1. How would you describe your employment status?
- Employed full-time
- Employed part-time
- Freelance/contract employee
- Self-employed
- Unemployed
2. How many employees work at your company?
- 0-20
- 21-50
- 51-100
- 101-1,000
- 1,001+
3. How would you classify your role?
- Individual Contributor
- Manager
- Director
- VP
- Executive
4. How would you classify your industry?
- Technology/Software
- Hospitality/Dining
- Services
- Consulting
- Entertainment
Below, I’ve curated a list of questionnaire examples that effectively gather valuable qualitative and quantitative data.
4 Questionnaire Examples
1. Customer Satisfaction Questions
I received this questionnaire after an annual appointment with my optometrist. This specific questionnaire targets patient satisfaction. Since the company specializes in medical services and not products, patients cannot provide much input on new ideas and products for the company to ideate and produce.
I think this questionnaire is effective because it’s clear and concise. As someone with a busy daily schedule, I wouldn’t want to invest more than a few minutes in a company questionnaire.
This was also a mobile-friendly questionnaire. All the questions fit on one screen, which saved me from loading several pages. The open-ended question was optional, and I left it blank since I had no strong feelings on the matter. However, offering an open-ended question is a great way to get more in-depth feedback.
2. Customer Effort Score (CES) Questions
Recently, I took a Greyhound bus to and from New York City and received this survey via email. This is an example of a Customer Effort Score question. These questions measure the ease of a customer’s experience, not just their satisfaction with the overall experience.
This specific Greyhound survey measured:
- How easy my experience with checking luggage was.
- Whether or not an employee helped me load and unload my luggage.
- How long the loading and unloading process took.
- How all of that experience affected my overall trip.
The questionnaire was easy for me to complete, with clear, close-ended questions. Based on this questionnaire, Greyhound will measure how much effort their customers need to put into their bus journeys and potentially find ways to make their trips easier.
3. Psychographic Questions
Emerson College’s Center for Spiritual Life sent me the above survey during the spring semester. Since it was directed at students, its goal was to improve the center’s direction and reach.
As a student, I don’t typically fill out surveys because my time is spent completing assignments. Emerson College recognized this and has started offering to enter students into drawings to win prizes if they complete specific surveys. Offering incentives in exchange for getting customers to fill out your surveys is an excellent tactic. And, often, the prize can be cost-effective, like a gift card or small cash prize.
4. Demographic Questions
Adobe recently sent this questionnaire to my coworker, Sophia Bernazzani. It’s solely composed of close-ended questions. Rather than learning about a customer’s experience with the brand, it focuses on gaining demographic information. The goal of this kind of questionnaire is to collect user data.
Demographic questions require less effort to fill out than customer-experience ones. They are also made up of multiple-choice questions that take less time. This is effective for customers who don’t have the time to prioritize company questionnaires. I find this is a simple way for companies to collect data about their customer base, which will help them understand their target audience in the future when planning campaigns and new products.
Based on these examples, I’ve included some tips and best practices below for mastering the design of your next questionnaire.
Questionnaire Design
Questionnaire design is a critical part of the survey creation process. It involves creating questions that accurately measure the respondents’ opinions, experiences, behaviors, or actions. Questionnaire design includes question development, writing, organization, and testing.
30 Free Survey Templates
Collect actionable insights for your business with our professionally designed survey templates.
- Pre-built templates for all business needs
- Follow survey design best practices
- Customizable fields and response formats
- Optimized for actionable insights
Download Free
All fields are required.
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Questionnaire Length
The number of questions in your questionnaire should depend on the information you want to collect. When presenting the questionnaire, you should also consider your customer journey map and customer needs. If the customer is in a hurry, it may not be appropriate to display a 10-question survey. Where they are in the buyer’s journey will dictate how many questions you can ask.
A good rule of thumb is most customers spend about five minutes filling out a 10-question survey. That means your 50-question form takes about half an hour to complete. Unless you’re offering an incentive in return, that’s a big ask to your busy customers.
Questionnaire Presentation
The way a questionnaire is presented can make a significant impact on how the survey is perceived. Just about everything can affect the respondent’s experience with the survey. They can be affected by:
- The spacing between questions.
- The number of questions.
- Design and layout.
- How instructions and questions are written.
Some presentation elements that make a great questionnaire include a progress bar, back and forward buttons, clear text boxes, beck boxes, and radio buttons for selecting the appropriate response to a question.
I suggest spending time in the questionnaire presentation and design stage to develop a survey your customers want to complete.
Question Progression
Question progression refers to the order and layout of your questionnaire. Most surveys begin with a multiple-choice format or rating scale. These questions take less time to answer and make the questionnaire seem to take a shorter amount of time.
Once these questions are out of the way, the questionnaire should conclude with short-answer or open-ended questions. These sections typically take more time to complete depending on how much time your customer will spend on them.
Questionnaire Goal
Understanding your questionnaire goal will help you create your questionnaire. Make sure the goal is clear. If it’s confusing, the questionnaire will be too. The respondents will be bewildered, and that can harm your data. If you know the goal of the questionnaire, you will have more concise and clear data.
The goal of a questionnaire is to ensure that the business gets what it needs from the respondents. Knowing and explaining what you need will get you what you want.
Questionnaire Terminology
The words you use in your questionnaire are important. Don’t use business jargon that the respondents won’t understand. For instance, if you ask the respondent how your fast AI benefitted them, explain what an AI is (whether you think they know it or not). This will help your questionnaire stay clear.
Your questions should be simple and to the point and use straightforward language. Lastly, always make sure you frame your questions based on your subject. I recommend considering social and economic factors to ensure the questions can be answered clearly.
Survey Question Examples
There is a range of different types of questions you can use in your questionnaire to collect data — we’ll go over these here. You can use customer feedback software to run surveys and collect data that you can act on in your business strategy.
Learn more about HubSpot's Customer Survey software.
Multiple Choice
Multiple-choice questions offer respondents several answers to choose from. This is a popular questionnaire format because it’s simple for people to fill out and for companies to analyze. Multiple-choice questions offer a familiar experience that limits responses to only a few pre-selected options.
Multiple-choice questions can be in single-answer form (respondents can only choose one response) or multiple-answer form (respondents can select as many responses as necessary).
When to use:
- Multiple-choice questions are handy when collecting quantitative data, meaning data that can be represented numerically. For example, you can find the exact number and percentage of respondents using a particular social media platform using a multiple-choice question.
- When there are only a limited set of possible answers to a question, multiple choice is your best bet.
Pro Tips
- Include an “Other” option for flexibility if there is a chance that some respondents don’t identify with any of the options. If a respondent chooses “Other,” you can prompt them to fill in their response in an open-ended format.
- Ensure your multiple-choice options are mutually exclusive unless you use a multiple-answer format where respondents can select multiple options for the same question.
Multiple-Choice Survey Question Examples
- “Which social media platforms do you use most often?”
- TikTok
- X
- Other
- “What type of products are you most interested in?”
- Electronics
- Home goods
- Apparel
- Outdoor Equipment
Rating Scale
Rating scale questions offer a scale of numbers and ask respondents to rate topics based on the sentiments assigned to that scale. I’ve found this is particularly effective when assessing customer satisfaction because responses can be easily quantified and charted visually.
When to Use
- Rating scale questions are effective when measuring satisfaction, likelihood, or the extent to which a respondent agrees with a statement.
- Use a rating scale question if you are attempting to track a metric over time.
Pro Tips
- Clearly define the endpoints of your rating scale (e.g., 1 = Very Unsatisfied, 10 = Very Satisfied.
- Use an odd-numbered scale to allow a completely neutral option (for example, 0 = Very Dissatisfied, 5 = Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied, and 10 = Very Satisfied).
Rating Scale Survey Question Examples
- “Please rate your satisfaction with the customer service you received today on a scale of 1-10.”
- “On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?”
- “Please rate your satisfaction with our checkout process on a scale of 1-10.”
Yes or No
Yes or No survey questions are as simple as you think. These types of questions are straightforward and require a simple “yes” or “no.” It doesn’t get much easier than that! You can also refer to them as binary or dichotomous questions if you want to impress.
When to Use
- Use Yes or No questions when you want to segment your respondents quickly. For example, you might consider asking a Yes or No question like “Have you used our product before?” at the beginning of a questionnaire to quickly create two groups of people based on familiarity with your offerings. If you are using smart survey software, you can dynamically serve up a different set of questions based on that initial Yes or No response.
- Yes or No questions are best used for preliminary, qualifying questions.
Pro Tips
- Avoid combining two questions into one. For example, instead of asking, “Have you used our product before, and did you find success with it?” separate those into yes or no questions.
- Use follow-up questions to gather initial context based on the respondent’s Yes or No selection.
Yes or No Survey Questions Example:
- “Have you ever used HubSpot before?”
- “Have you purchased an item from our brand in the past 6 months?”
- “Did you find this article useful?”
Likert Scale
Likert scale questions measure how much a respondent agrees or disagrees with a given statement. You’ll typically see a range of responses, such as:
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Neutral
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
Likert scale questions are similar to rating scale questions, and a Likert scale question is technically a type of rating scale. However, the difference lies in the purpose. A Likert scale question measures attitudes or opinions, while a rating score question provides a numerical score or evaluation. Likert scale questions allow you to capture the nuance of opinion in how your customers feel, making them a popular and widely used survey question type, especially in customer satisfaction surveys.
Check out this post to learn more about the Likert scale.
When to Use
- When you want to measure opinions, attitudes, or behaviors across a spectrum.
- When you already know how customers might feel about a product update, new feature, or redesign, use a Likert scale question to uncover more nuanced information about how your customers feel about a change or juncture.
Pro Tips
- Use a consistent scale throughout all Likert scale questions in your questionnaire.
- Include a balanced number of negative and positive response options (e.g., Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree.)
Likert Scale Survey Question Examples
- “How satisfied are you with the service from [brand]?”
- Very Dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied
- Satisfied
- Very Satisfied
- “How much do you agree with the following statement: My onboarding process was smooth.”
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Neutral
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- “Overall, how satisfied were you with your online shopping experience?”
- Very Dissatisfied
- Dissatisfied
- Neither Satisfied or Dissatisfied
- Satisfied
- Very Satisfied
Open-Ended
Open-ended questions allow customers to respond in their own words about an experience. Instead of limiting them to a few multiple-choice selections, respondents can write at length and deliver valuable, highly nuanced insights, provided you are asking the right questions.
To get the most out of your open-ended questions, you must ask engaging and pertinent questions that encourage customers to fill that empty text box with serious prose.
When to Use
- Use open-ended questions when you are looking for highly detailed, qualitative feedback.
- Open-ended questions are great for exploring customer opinions, needs, and pain points by examining their personal experiences with your brand.
Pro Tips
- Use open-ended questions sparingly to avoid overwhelming your respondents. If your survey is chock full of open-ended questions, the responses you receive will likely become less detailed, and many people will drop out entirely. Make those open-ended questions count!
- Use open-ended questions as a follow-up to appropriate closed-ended ones. For example, suppose someone responds “Dissatisfied” to a Likert scale question about the level of service they just received. In that case, you can serve them an open-ended question to gain more details about their experience and uncover what you can do better next time.
Open-Ended Survey Question Examples
- “What are your personal goals for using HubSpot? Please describe.”
- “Please tell us how we can improve your experience next time.”
- “What features would you like to see added to our product?”
Matrix Table
A matrix table usually contains multiple-choice questions grouped together. Choices for these survey questions are traditionally organized on a scale, which helps to understand the relationships between different survey responses.
I like matrix tables because they condense multiple questions into one easy-to-digest area. You could easily present many multiple-choice questions as individual units, but displaying them as a matrix table speeds up the questionnaire process and lets you group similar questions.
When to Use
- Use a matrix table to gather feedback on multiple attributes of a single topic simultaneously. For example, suppose you have multiple questions about the customer experience related to a new feature. In that case, you can combine them in a matrix table for heightened organization and ease of completion.
Pro Tips
- Group related topics together to prevent confusion and make your survey more logical and easy to complete.
- Avoid making your matrix overly complex or lengthy so as not to overwhelm your respondents.
Matrix Table Survey Question Examples
- “Rate your level of agreement with the following statements about HubSpot on a scale of 1-5.”
- HubSpot makes my job easier: Strongly Disagree = 1, 3 = Neutral, Strongly Agree = 5
- I would recommend HubSpot to a friend or colleague: Strongly Disagree = 1, 3 = Neutral, Strongly Agree = 5
- HubSpot saves me time in my day-to-day activities: Strongly Disagree = 1, 3 = Neutral, Strongly Agree = 5
- “Please rate the following aspects of your customer service experience with us on a scale of 1-5.”
- Friendliness: Poor = 1, Excellent = 5
- Responsiveness: Poor = 1, Excellent = 5
- Knowledgeability: Poor = 1, Excellent = 5
Rank Order Scaling
Rank order scaling questions ask respondents to rank terms by order of preference or importance, which helps understand customer priorities. I like rank order scaling questions because specific questions require more nuance than an agree or disagree.
Asking customers to rank their preferences is excellent because it removes the need to assign absolute values. I find that for some questions, asking customers if they strongly agree or disagree with something automatically creates a black-and-white mentality, which is sometimes not conducive to understanding more nuanced customer preferences.
When to Use
- Use rank order scaling to determine customer priorities or preferences. I’ve found that rank order scaling questions can be valuable in uncovering customer needs, especially after you’ve narrowed a few prominent use cases for your product and are looking to dive deeper into which aspects to focus on first.
- Rank order scaling can help you understand the relative importance among options. Using rank order scaling, you can condense what would be many Likert scale questions into a single rank order question to determine what features, aspects, or use cases a customer values most.
Pro Tips
- Provide a clear and concise list of items to rank that are logically related to each other.
- Avoid including too many items to rank to prevent your respondents from becoming fatigued. I recommend capping it at six rank items.
Rank Order Scaling Examples
- “Rank the following factors in importance when choosing a new job.”
- Salary
- Location
- Work-life balance
- Fulfillment
- Benefits
- “Please rank the following customer service attributes by importance to you.”
- Responsiveness
- Friendliness
- Resolution Speed
- Knowledgeability
- Omniplatform Availability
- “Please rank the following factors in order of importance when choosing a new car.”
- Gas mileage
- Price
- Service availability
- Brand reputation
- Style
- Horsepower
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Semantic Differential Scale
This scale features pairs of opposite adjectives that respondents use to rate a feature, experience, concept, or brand perception. Semantic differential scale questions help understand customer attitudes and beliefs, especially regarding brand and product positioning.
Semantic differential scales are commonly used in psychological research to assess attitudes and beliefs. Since psychology and market research often intersect, these questions are commonly used to uncover how consumers perceive various concepts or factors.
Semantic differential scales are similar to Likert scales. However, the difference is that semantic differential scales measure attitude towards an object or concept using bipolar adjectives. In contrast, a Likert scale measures the degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement.
When to Use
- Semantic differential scales are helpful when you want to ascertain your customers’ perception of something. For example, a clothing brand might ask customers to indicate the extent to which they view their brand on the spectrum of casual versus formal.
- I find semantic differential scales come in handy for brand and product positioning. If you are launching a new product or service, you could use a semantic differential scale to understand to what extent consumers’ view of your brand matches your intended market niche.
Pro Tip
- Use contrasting adjectives that are relevant to your goals or intended brand perception.
Semantic Differential Scale Question Examples:
- “Rate your overall impression of our brand.”
- Friendly……….|..........Unfriendly
- Innovative……….|..........Traditional
- Boring……….|..........Exciting
- “Please indicate your impression of our clothing brand.”
- Casual……….|..........Formal
- Traditional……….|..........Modern
- Subdued……….|..........Exciting
- Cheap……….|..........Expensive
Side-By-Side Matrix
A Side-By-Side Matrix includes two or more sets of questions horizontally for easy comparison. Answering similar questions can be fatiguing for respondents, but the side-by-side matrix allows you to combine many interrelated questions to alleviate boredom and reduce survey completion time. I like side-by-side matrices because they look neat and compact, making your survey more effective and easy to complete.
The side-by-side matrix is helpful because it allows your survey to capture a wealth of structured data in an easily digestible format. Using a side-by-side matrix, you can turn what would have been 40 separate Likert scale questions into a single unit, which significantly decreases the cognitive load on your respondents.
When to Use
- The side-by-side matrix comes in handy when you have many interrelated questions. For example, you have three main products in your arsenal. Instead of asking the same questions three times over regarding each product, you can organize it as a matrix that quickly allows respondents to answer the same question regarding each product, all on the same page.
- If your survey is getting too long, consider how you can combine related questions into a side-by-side matrix to reduce completion time and dropoff.
- The side-by-side matrix is useful when conducting a gap analysis. It allows you to measure the difference between expectation and delivery for various attributes in one easily digestible block.
Pro Tips
- Use simple and straightforward labels to prevent confusion.
- Prioritize a clean and readable design so the matrix doesn’t appear overwhelming. This necessitates testing to ensure the matrix format is easy to navigate and understand.
Side-by-Side Matrix Question Examples
Stapel Scale
The Stapel scale is a unipolar rating scale, which means it measures a participant’s attitude or perception about one specific attribute. Typically, it uses numerical values on either side of a single adjective or descriptor (usually -5 to +5) to indicate agreement or disagreement with a claim.
The Stapel scale is similar to the semantic differential scale. The difference is that the Stapel scale uses a single adjective, while the semantic scale asks respondents to indicate their attitude between two opposing adjectives.
I like that a Stapel scale question does not contain a neutral point, which forces responses to align with a positive or negative association to the chosen adjective.
When to Use
- The Stapel scale helps collect actionable insights, as respondents can’t leave the question blank or choose a neutral response by default.
- Use a Stapel scale when measuring specific product, service, or experience attributes, where numerical data is preferred.
Pro Tips
- Use clear, descriptive adjectives relevant to your research and survey goals. Avoid any ambiguous adjectives or words that aren’t commonly understood.
- Ensure that respondents understand that negative values represent disagreement and positive values represent agreement.
- To minimize fatigue, don’t go overboard with too many Stapel scale questions in your survey.
- Maintain a consistent scale throughout questions. I recommend -5 to +5.
Stapel Scale Survey Question Examples
- “Rate the following attributes of our brand on a scale of -5 (Strongly Disagree) to +5 (Strongly Agree).”
- Innovative: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- Reliable: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- Trustworthy: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- High-Quality: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- “Please rate the quality of the customer service you received based on the following attributes.)”
- Helpful: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- Understanding: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- Professional: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
- Knowledgeable: -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, +4, +5.
Constant Sum Survey Questions
A constant sum survey question allows respondents to distribute a fixed number of points to different choices across multiple items or attributes. Since the constant sum question makes people allocate a finite number of points, it forces respondents to rank their priorities or preferences definitively.
I think of it as a type of desert island question. Say you are stuck on a desert island and can only bring three things; what are they? A constant sum question is similar, but instead of allowing you three items of your choosing, you must make a finite selection from a predetermined list.
There are two main types of constant-sum survey questions. The first asks respondents to distribute a finite number of points among options to determine priority. The respondents must then type their numerical answers into corresponding text boxes.
The second type asks respondents to select a finite number of options from a predetermined list using a multiple-choice style. For example, you might be asked to select your three favorite options from a list of five.
When to Use
- Constant sum survey questions are helpful when evaluating how customers consider priorities and trade-offs. They generate actionable data and illuminate the degree of importance customers place on specific options, which makes this type of survey question helpful for customer satisfaction and needs analysis.
- Constant sum questions are beneficial for strategic decision-making. I recommend using them to allocate resources or prioritize product enhancements/features.
Pro Tips
- Use precise language to ensure that customers understand the point allocation process and that they must select a certain number of options.
- Limit the number of options to 5-7 to prevent choice paralysis.
- Include validation mechanisms in your survey to ensure that the respondents cannot proceed without making the appropriate number of selections or allocating all points.
Constant Sum Survey Question Examples
- “What is your budget for the following marketing expenses? Please distribute 100 points across the following options:”
|
Expenses |
Points |
|
Paid Campaigns |
|
|
Events |
|
|
Freelancers |
|
|
Agencies |
|
|
Research |
- “Which of the following aspects are most important to your decision when choosing a new phone? Please select three options.”
- Battery life
- Camera quality
- Screen size and display resolution
- Storage capacity
- Operating system
- Customer support and warranty
- Price
Image Choice
An image choice survey question presents respondents with a selection of images and asks them to choose the one that best fits their preference or expectation. I think asking participants to select images is a unique survey question type that is particularly useful for branding, visual testing, and other types of design-focused decision-making.
When to Use
- Use image choice survey questions to gather feedback on visual elements and creative assets like logos, packaging, website design, etc.
- Use image choice survey questions when simple text-based questions, such as when evaluating UX or design prototypes, don’t provide enough context.
Pro Tips
- Ensure that all images are high-quality and visually clear.
- Limit the number of image options to 3-5 to prevent fatigue.
Image Choice Survey Questions Example
- “Which of these three images best represents your brand voice?”
- “Which of the following logos is the most trustworthy, in your opinion?”
- “Which of the following office spaces would you most like to work in?”
- “Which website layout do you find the most appealing?”
Choice Model
The choice model survey question offers a hypothetical scenario and asks participants to choose their preferred option from several choices. The choice model is a specific type of multiple-choice question that aims to gain an understanding of trade-offs and real-world decision-making. The choice model allows you to paint a vivid decision-making scenario.
When to Use
- You can use choice model survey questions to simulate real-world decision-making scenarios with nuanced choices.
- You can also use choice model survey questions to uncover preferred combinations of features or package deals.
- I like using choice model survey questions to understand customer preferences for products or services with many possible attribute combinations at different price points.
Pro Tips
- Clearly define the attributes for each alternative option, and indicate price if that is a factor.
- Randomize the order of options to prevent bias.
- Limit the number of options to 3-5 to prevent fatigue and ensure you only gather relevant and actionable information for your research goals.
Choice Model Survey Questions Example
- “If you were buying a car, which of the following options would you choose, assuming a similar price across the board?”
- A gas-powered, used car from a luxury brand with 40,000 miles and 22 mpg.
- A hybrid used car from an everyday car brand with 20,000 miles and 36 mpg.
- A brand new, gas-powered car from an everyday car brand with 31 mpg.
- “If you were dining at a restaurant, which meal combination would you choose?”
- Roasted chicken breast with mashed potatoes and a healthy side salad.
- Steak and french fries with a buttery lemon herb sauce.
- Salmon with broccoli and alfredo pasta.
Click Map Questions
Click map questions show respondents an image and prompt them to click on specific areas of the image according to a related question. They are often used to understand user behavior on websites and apps. Sometimes, knowing where users expect to encounter certain elements on a web page is tough.
Click mapping allows you to create website designs, visual layouts, and product features that are intuitively laid out in accordance with user behavior, expectations, and preferences.
When to Use
- Click map questions are best for when you’re testing out different designs and layouts.
Pro Tips
- Be sure to have predefined goals so you know what to look for in the feedback.
- Test out multiple images/layouts on different audiences so you can determine the best option.
Click Map Question Examples
- “Please click on the area of this product’s packaging that is most appealing to you.”
- “Please click on the area of this web page where you expect to find Account and Settings information.”
- “Please click on the section of the website where you would expect to find pricing information.”
Data Upload
This type of survey question asks the respondent to upload a file or document in response to a question. Data upload questions can help your team collect qualitative data or supporting evidence that cannot be captured through other traditional question formats. As a former support rep, I’m most familiar with data upload questions in the context of technical support, where users upload screenshots or log files to demonstrate errors or other product issues they may be experiencing.
When to Use
- To gather additional information regarding technical issues or errors.
- To analyze warranty claims or other product issues.
- For collecting user-generated content.
- For collecting resumes, cover letters, or identification documents.
Pro Tips
- Clearly specify your accepted file formats (JPG, PFD, PNG, etc.) to avoid compatibility issues and save users from annoying error messages.
- Limit file size to ensure smooth uploads and avoid overloading storage.
- Ensure data privacy and security, especially when asking respondents to upload sensitive documents like IDs.
Data Upload Question Examples
- “Please upload a screenshot of the error you encountered during your purchase.”
- “Please upload a photo of your driver’s license or other photo ID for verification.”
- “Please share your submission for our logo design contest by uploading your file below.”
Benchmarkable Questions
Benchmarkable questions ask survey respondents to compare their performance, experiences, or preferences against other groups, such as peers, industry averages, or other historical data. Benchmarkable questions are common in B2B style surveys where respondents are often more keyed into industry trends and the expectations and norms of their peers. However, you can still use benchmark questions to understand buyer personas and other groups.
When to Use
- To compare respondent’s information to industry standards or other known datasets.
- When assessing progress over time compared to historical benchmarks.
- When attempting to understand consumer preferences compared to group behaviors or expectations.
Pro Tips
- Present benchmark data to respondents as clearly as possible so they can provide you with the most accurate representation of their comparable experiences or preferences.
- Use relevant and up-to-date benchmarks to ensure meaningful comparisons.
- Use unbiased language to encourage honesty.
Benchmarkable Survey Questions Example
- “Compare your company’s marketing budget to other companies in your industry.”
- “Compared to other companies in your industry, to what extent do you use AI tools in your hiring processes?”
- “Compared to your peers, how much money do you spend on athleisure wear?”
- More
- Less
- About the same
Good Survey Questions
1. “What is your favorite product?”
I think this question is a great starter for your survey. Most companies want to know what their most popular products are, and this question cuts right to the point.
It’s important to note that this question gives you the customer’s perspective, not empirical evidence. You should compare the results to your inventory to see if your customers’ answers match your actual sales. You may be surprised that your customers’ “favorite” product isn’t the highest-selling one.
2. “Why did you purchase this product?”
Once you know their favorite product, you must understand why they like it. The qualitative data will help your marketing and sales teams attract and engage customers. They’ll know which features to advertise most and can seek out new leads similar to your existing customers.
3. “How satisfied are you with [product]?”
When you have a product that isn’t selling, you can ask this question to see why customers are unhappy with it. If the reviews are poor, you’ll know that the product needs reworking, and you can send it back to product management for improvement. Or, if these results are positive, they may have something to do with your marketing or sales techniques. You can then gather more info during the questionnaire and restrategize your campaigns based on your findings.
4. “Would you recommend [product] to a friend?”
This is a classic survey question used with most NPS® surveys. It asks the customer if they would recommend your product to one of their peers. This is extremely important because most people trust customer referrals more than traditional advertising. So, if your customers are willing to recommend your products, you’ll have an easier time acquiring new leads.
5. “Would you recommend [company name] to a friend?”
Similar to the question above, this one asks the customer to consider your business as a whole and not just your product. This gives you insight into your brand’s reputation and shows how customers feel about your company’s actions. Even if you have an excellent product, your brand’s reputation may be the cause of customer churn. I recommend your marketing team pay close attention to this question to see how to improve the customer experience.
6. “If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?”
I find this is a good question to ask your most loyal customers or ones that have recently churned. For loyal customers, you want to keep adding value to their experience. Asking how your product can improve helps your development team find flaws and increases your chances of retaining a valuable customer segment.
For recently churned customers, this question gives insight into how you can retain future users who are unhappy with your product or service. By giving these customers a space to voice their criticisms, you can either reach out and offer solutions or relay feedback for consideration.
7. “Which other options were you considering before [product or company name]?”
If you operate in a competitive industry, customers will have more than one choice when considering your brand. If you sell variations of your product or produce new models periodically, customers may prefer one version over another.
For this question, I suggest offering answers to choose from in a multiple-selection format. This will limit the types of responses you’ll receive and help you get the exact information you need.
8. “Did [product] help you accomplish your goal?”
Any product or service aims to help customers reach a goal. So, you should be direct and ask them if your company steered them toward success. After all, customer success is an excellent retention tool. If customers are succeeding with your product, they’re more likely to stay loyal to your brand.
9. “How would you feel if we did not offer this product, feature, or service?”
Thinking about discontinuing a product? This question can help you decide whether or not a specific product, service, or feature will be missed if you were to remove it.
Even if you know that a product or service isn’t worth offering, it’s important to ask this question anyway because there may be a certain aspect of the product that your customers like. They’ll be delighted if you can integrate that feature into a new product or service.
10. “If you couldn't use your favorite product from us, what would you miss the most about it?”
This question pairs well with the one above because it frames the customer’s favorite product from a different point of view. Instead of describing why they love a particular product, the customer can explain what they’d be missing if they didn’t have it at all. I like how this type of question uncovers “fear of loss,” which can be a very different motivating factor than “hope for gain.”
11. “What word best describes your experience using our product?”
Your marketing team will love this question. A single word or a short phrase can easily sum up your customers’ emotions when they experience your company, product, or brand. Those emotions can be translated into relatable marketing campaigns that use your customers’ exact language.
If the responses reveal negative emotions, your entire customer service team can likely relate to that pain point. Rather than calling it “a bug in the system,” I prefer to describe the problem as a “frustrating roadblock” to keep their experience at the forefront of the solution.
12. “What’s the primary reason for canceling your account?”
Determining why customers are unhappy with your product or service is key to decreasing your churn rate. If you don’t understand why people leave your brand, making effective changes to prevent future turnover is hard. Or worse, you might alter your product or service in a way that increases your churn rate, causing you to lose customers who were once loyal supporters.
13. “How satisfied are you with our customer support?”
In my opinion as a former service rep, it’s worth asking customers how happy they are with your support or service team. After all, an excellent product doesn’t always guarantee that customers will stay loyal to your brand. Research shows that one in three customers will leave a brand they love after just one poor service experience.
14. “Did we answer all of your questions and concerns?”
This is a good question to ask after a service experience. It shows how thorough your support team is and whether they’re prioritizing speed too much over quality. If customers still have questions and concerns after a service interaction, your support team is focusing too much on closing tickets and not enough on meeting customer needs.
15. “How can we be more helpful?”
Sometimes, it’s easier to be direct and ask customers what else you can do to help them. This shows a genuine interest in your buyers’ goals, which allows your brand to foster meaningful relationships with its customer base. The more you show that you sincerely care about your customers’ problems, the more they’ll open up to you and be honest about how you can help them.
16. What additional features would you like to see in this product?
With this question, your team can get inspiration for the company’s next product launch. I like to think of the responses as a wish list from your customers. You can discover what features are most valuable to them and whether they already exist within a competitor’s product.
Incorporating every feature suggestion is nearly impossible, but it’s a convenient way to build a backlog of ideas that can inspire future product releases.
17. “Are we meeting your expectations?”
This is a fundamental question because customers won’t always tell you when they’re unhappy with your service. Not every customer will ask to speak with a manager when they’re unhappy with your business. In fact, most will quietly move on to a competitor rather than broadcast their unhappiness to your company. To prevent this type of customer churn, you must be proactive and ask customers if your brand meets their expectations.
18. “How satisfied are you with your experience?”
This question asks the customer to summarize their experience with your business. It gives you a snapshot of how the customer feels at that moment and their perception of your brand. Asking this question at the right stage in the customer’s journey can tell you a lot about what your company is doing well and where you can stand to improve.
The Role of AI in Survey Creation
These days, it’s almost impossible to escape AI rhetoric. Is it killing our creativity? Is it encouraging people to slack off, pushing us towards a cloudy future of uninspired content devoid of nuance and opinion? It’s possible. But it’s also important to remember that AI is a tool that we can use to enhance our output, not replace it. Everything in moderation, especially generative AI. That’s what I always say.
Regarding survey creation, I believe we can lean on generative AI more heavily than when creating general content. As I mentioned, your surveys and questionnaires should serve a greater goal and seek to prove or disprove a hypothesis. I’ve found that AI tools like ChatGPT excel at delivering feedback and refining text to meet specific user-prompted guidelines.
How to Use AI in Survey Creation
For instance, you can start by briefing your AI with an upload of historical survey data and filling it in on the new insights you seek to uncover. Instead of simply asking it to create a questionnaire out of thin air, I recommend feeding it the survey questions you’ve already cooked up and asking questions like:
- “Do the survey questions I just uploaded appear to serve my previously stated research goal?”
- “Would any of the questions be more clear if rephrased in another question format (open-ended, Likert scale, multiple choice, etc.)?”
- “Based on the historical data from my previous survey, can you suggest any alternate wordings, question types, or changes to survey structure to increase response rates?”
- “Please help me brainstorm five additional multiple-choice options for question #3.”
- “Do any of the questions in my survey seem biased or contain language that could potentially be construed as leading respondents towards a certain response?”
There is no shame in using generative AI for question optimization. As long as you curate the survey yourself and refrain from the taboo ChatGPT copy-and-paste job, generative AI can be beneficial in optimizing your survey questions and helping you brainstorm additional questions to ask.
AI for Survey Analysis
In addition to helping with survey creation, AI tools can provide enhanced insights and analysis of survey data. They can crunch numbers quickly and analyze vast amounts of open-ended responses to determine customer sentiment and provide a succinct summary of the most pertinent themes. These capabilities allow businesses to uncover trends and actionable insights that may have previously gone unnoticed.
The Balance Between AI and Human Oversight
I think AI is a massively helpful tool in survey and questionnaire design. However, the key is to implement necessary human oversight. AI can boost your efficiency when creating a questionnaire. Still, it is essential to involve human experts to maintain a sense of empathy and ensure that the survey aligns with your organization’s goals.
Thoughtful integration of AI into your survey efforts can elevate your understanding of customer needs and drive impactful decisions. Still, I urge you not to lose sight of the actual customers and human respondents who drive your business forward. AI should enhance our abilities, not replace the human touch that makes our work unique.
How Questionnaires Can Benefit Your Customer Service Strategy
Whether you have one customer or 1,000, their opinions and perspectives are invaluable to your business’s success. I’ve seen firsthand how understanding your customers’ needs, pain points, and satisfaction can reveal the effectiveness of your strategies or illuminate a path forward.
A well-designed questionnaire is one of the most influential and cost-effective tools for uncovering how your customers feel and transmuting that information into actionable insights that drive meaningful change. With thoughtful analysis, you can turn raw customer data into product improvements, service enhancements, stronger customer relationships, and a strategy that keeps everything moving up and to the right.
Use this guide’s free questionnaire templates, examples, and best practices to conduct your next customer feedback survey. Now that you know the subtle differences between surveys and questionnaires, it’s time to put that knowledge into action.
From my experience, the best surveys and questionnaires start with a purpose and result in data that drives informed decision-making, fosters empathetic connections with customers, and creates products and services that exceed customer expectations.
Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.
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