Many companies conduct a Customer Satisfaction Survey only once a year or every quarter. But you shouldn’t wait 90 days before finding out how satisfied your customers are. Instead, you should monitor your customers’ satisfaction levels throughout the year and implement a reporting tool to track customer satisfaction. You can even turn every conversation into a feedback session by offering incentives to take your survey. Here are a few tips to help you create an effective Customer Satisfaction Survey:
Avoid asking the most important questions in a customer satisfaction survey
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in a customer satisfaction survey is asking questions that are not important to the company’s goal. Some questions, such as “How much do you love your company?” and “How many times have you purchased something from them?” are unnecessary or unhelpful. Such questions add unnecessary time to the survey and may cause customers to skip the survey altogether. Furthermore, they highlight a lack of customer data management.
To prevent double-barreled questions, start your survey with a clear objective. If you ask “Has your problem been solved?” and then ask “Was customer service helpful in resolving your problem?”, you are asking the same question twice, which could leave the customer confused. Instead, focus on one single objective and then break it down into multiple questions, which will give you a better response rate.
Avoid asking abbreviations, acronyms, and slang to confuse users
A common mistake in conducting customer satisfaction surveys is asking respondents to define phrases using abbreviations and acronyms. This can make respondents misunderstand the meaning of phrases. The following are examples of common acronyms:
A common example of an acronym is “CS,” which stands for “customer success.” Whether an organization uses the phonetic alphabet or not, customers should always understand the term. The more formal language is, the more people are likely to be confused. For instance, abbreviations are used by air traffic controllers to communicate more efficiently. However, jargon is a symptom of an insufficient customer satisfaction program.
Avoid leaving redirects or skips out of the survey design
After people complete your customer satisfaction survey, send them to a thank you page. This page can contain a link to your company’s website, acknowledge that the survey has been received, and provide contact information. It should also be as short as possible, so that people can answer all the questions without leaving the survey. The final step is to give them a sense of how the survey will help the company.
When designing your customer satisfaction survey, keep in mind the demographics of your target audience. You can start by asking demographic questions, which should be placed at the end of the survey. Then, use easy to answer questions to ease them into the survey. You’ll want your survey to capture a high response rate, so consider the demographics of your target audience to guide your design. When implementing demographic questions, use a sample size that represents the demographics of your target audience.
Avoid asking questions that are too long
There is nothing worse than having to read an entire survey to determine which questions to include and which to leave out. It makes your customer’s job more difficult and may result in inaccurate data. Instead, keep it to five questions and check that the answers correspond to the questions. Make sure the answers do not overlap. Otherwise, the survey could become tedious and the customer will give up. And you don’t want to waste their time.
Another mistake is asking questions that are too long. It’s common for business owners to ask questions that might be difficult to answer, such as “Was the sales team helpful to me?” If this is the case, you may want to try asking “Was the customer service representative helpful?” You might be able to get more accurate responses this way, but you’ll risk alienating your customers.
Avoid asking questions that are too short
The first thing to do when conducting a customer satisfaction survey is to make sure that the questions you ask accomplish the goal of the survey. Avoid using general questions and question formats such as double-barreled questions, which can lead to a plethora of responses. Whenever possible, keep the questions brief and specific. You can use rating scales to gather feedback and other types of qualitative information.
Another common mistake is using survey questions that are too long. People are often tired and uncomfortable when completing long questionnaires, so avoid this pitfall when conducting a customer satisfaction survey. Also, avoid using survey questions that include long lists and multiple choice options. These can cause respondents to skip a question or make them feel awkward. Ultimately, this will lead to inaccurate or incomplete data. By avoiding these common mistakes, you will ensure a higher completion rate and lower abandonment rates.
