Customer Surveys: One of the surest methods through which businesses can know what the customers think, feel, and experience is through customer surveys.
In the current competitive environment, firms cannot afford making assumptions. They require actual feedback in order to develop products, services and customer experience.
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The customer surveys assist a business to derive problems, gauge satisfaction, gauge loyalty and make requisite decisions using real data as opposed to guesswork.
Surveys may now be sent by email, websites, mobile applications, SMS, and even subsequent to live chats with the use of digital tools. Surveys are effective when properly applied to enhance retention, boost trust and long term growth.
Key Types of Customer Surveys
There are two major types of customer surveys:
Relationship Surveys
These surveys cover the relationship between the customer and the brand in totality. They are oriented towards long-term perception and loyalty and not a one-time interaction. Relationship surveys are normally dispatched every month, quarterly, or yearly.
Transactional Surveys
These surveys center on the feedback of a particular interaction or event including a purchase, delivery or a support call. They are dispatched right after the interaction to receive new and precise responses.
Explanations of Types of Customer Surveys
1. Net Promoter Survey (NPS)
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is used to determine customer loyalty and chances of a customer referring others to a business.
Common question:
What is the probability of you recommending our company to a friend or a colleague?
Customers give a response on a scale of 0 to 10.
- Promoters (9-10): Dedicated customers and passionate ones.
- Passives (7-8): Customers that are content with the services but not passionate.
- Critics (0-6): Dissatisfied clients who can scare away others.
The NPS score is the difference between the percentage of promoters and the percentage of the detractors. Periodic use of NPS surveys is ideal to monitor the brand loyalty in the long term.
2. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Questionnaire
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey is used to understand the level of customer satisfaction with a certain interaction or experience.
Common question:
What was your level of satisfaction?
A typical scale that is used in CSAT surveys is 1 to 5, 1 to 7 or 1 to 10. The outcomes are usually taken in form of a percentage of satisfied clients. The popularity of CSA surveys is due to the ease, fastness, and simplicity of the surveys to the customer.
3. Customer Effort Survey (CES)
Customer Effort Score (CES) survey is used to determine the level of ease or difficulty of a task or fixing a problem to the customer.
Common statement:
The company ensured that I could easily handle my problem.
The degree of agreement is rated by customers. CES surveys particularly come in handy when it comes to customer support, returns and complaints. Less effort experiences usually result in increased retention and customer loyalty.
4. Post-Purchase Survey
A post purchase survey is the reception of the feedback after purchasing a product or a service.
It focuses on:
- Product quality
- Delivery experience
- Pricing expectations
- Checkout process
The surveys are used to minimize returns, enhance logistics, and learn purchasing behavior by the business.
5. Product Feedback Survey
A product feedback Survey assists companies with respect to the customer responses to their products as to how they utilize these products and their desired improvements.
Common goals include:
- Eliminating the missing features.
- Learning about usability problems.
- Collecting suggestions to update things.
These types of surveys are normally employed after the launch of features, updates or beta testing.
6. Onboarding Survey
An onboarding survey is dedicated to the initial experience of the new customers. It assists companies in knowing whether the users feel value instantly and how they can utilize the product or service.
Key areas include:
- Ease of setup
- Clarity of instructions
- Initial expectations
Onboarding surveys can help to minimize the early drop-offs and enhance the rate of activation.
7. In-app or Website Micro-Surveys
Micro-surveys consist of brief surveys that have a question or two that are placed on a site or in an app.
They are used to:
- Identify friction points
- Understand user intent
- Measure instant satisfaction.
Since they appear in the course of use, they tend to get more responses in comparison to email surveys.
8. Exit or Churn Survey
When a customer might cancel subscription or cease using a service, an exit survey is displayed.
It assists in finding causes of churn which includes:
- Pricing issues
- Missing features
- Poor support
- Switching to a competitor
The exit surveys help in getting good information on how to enhance the retention strategies.
9. Win/Loss Survey
Sales teams use a win/loss survey to know why a deal was either won or lost.
It answers questions like:
- What was the buying decision factor?
- What competitors were taken into consideration?
- What was the reason behind hesitation?
These surveys are used to enhance the sales message, price, and positioning.
Introduction to Customer Surveys Types
In the survey type, purpose, and best time to use, all questions need to be relevant to the topic and timely, unlike the infrequent use of the word churn, which simply denotes the inactive state of a customer.
Best Methodologies of Effective Customer Surveys
To get meaningful results:
- Make surveys concise and to the point.
- Ask direct and straight forward questions.
- Dispatch the surveys when the time is right.
- Open ended questions should be used sparingly.
- Take action on feedback and report on improvement.
Useful surveys that do not take excessive time are more likely to be filled in.
Knowledge of the customer surveys contributes to the business gathering the appropriate feedback at the appropriate time. Since NPS can be used to track loyalty and CSAT and CES can be used in making specific interactions, each type of surveys has its purpose.
Timely, short, and action-oriented surveys are powerful instruments in enhancing customer experience, eliminating churn, and long-term success.
Customer Surveys Types
| Survey Type | Purpose | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Net Promoter Survey (NPS) | Measures customer loyalty and likelihood of referral | Periodically (monthly, quarterly) |
| Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) | Measures satisfaction with a specific interaction | After each interaction |
| Customer Effort Survey (CES) | Measures ease of interaction and problem-solving | Post-support interaction |
| Post-Purchase Survey | Gathers feedback on product and purchase experience | After product purchase |
| Product Feedback Survey | Gathers feedback on product usage and desired improvements | After product launch or update |
| Onboarding Survey | Gathers feedback on initial product experience | After first use of the product |
| Micro-Surveys | Measures satisfaction and intent with minimal questions | Throughout product usage |
| Exit or Churn Survey | Identifies reasons for customer churn | When subscription is canceled |
| Win/Loss Survey | Identifies reasons behind a win or loss in a sales deal | After the sales process |
Customer Surveys: Knowledge of customer surveys contributes to the business gathering the appropriate feedback at the appropriate time. Since NPS can be used to track loyalty and CSAT and CES can be used in making specific interactions, each type of surveys has its purpose.
Timely, short, and action-oriented surveys are powerful instruments in enhancing customer experience, eliminating churn, and long-term success.