Customer satisfaction questionnaires are target surveys that measure user sentiment on products, services, or brands.

Did you know that the satisfaction index in America for 2023 was a record 77%? According to ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index), it is because 212,512 survey questionnaires were filled in the same year.

That’s how important they are. But what exactly are these questionnaires, and how do you create an effective one?

Let’s find out!

First, we need to understand…

What are Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires?

CSAT questionnaires, or client satisfaction questionnaires, are tools that measure happiness! They are strategically structured and designed to collect feedback on experiences, services, interactions, and a brand’s overall outlook.

But again, it is so much more than just questions. They help you understand customer perception, improve products and services, enhance customer loyalty, and boost retention.

They can be categorized based on the specific areas you want to measure.
And, most importantly- Time it right!

Here’s a free customer satisfaction survey template made with SurveySparrow. This conversational questionnaire can fetch you 40% more responses.
Test it out and see for yourself!

Feel free to use it and customize it the way you want. If you need help with that, I have added a step-by-step guide to the end of the blog.

Market Research Survey Template

Preview Template

Use This Template

Question Types in a Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire

Several question types can be included in a CSAT Questionnaire. Here are a few common ones:

• Likert Scale: These questions allow the respondent to choose from one extreme to the other or stay neutral
• Rating Scale: This asks people to rate opinions or particular experiences numerically.
• Multiple Choice: Here, a list of options will be jotted down, and you can choose the one that fits the bill.
• Ranking: As the name suggests, the question will ask you to prioritize the options according to your preference.
• Open-Ended: This allows free flow! You can jot down your experiences and opinions within the word limit allotted.

Importance of Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires

Let’s get into the purpose of rolling out these surveys.

They help in:

1. Building Customer Relationship

When you show that you give customers the value they deserve or more, they see that their feedback matters. This builds a sense of trust and belonging.

Moreover, the feedback from these questionnaires will provide detailed insights into customer sentiments and emotions.

2. Product Optimization

The feedback you get will give you a comprehensive view of where your product/service/brand stands in the market. These insights will help you improve the product and provide better services that enhance CX.

3. Identifying Issues

Just as we get that inside view of areas for improvement, the information you gather will let you forecast potential issues. By identifying them, you can take fast measures to tackle and solve them! A bug-free experience is all that matters!

4. Measure Satisfaction

The most obvious is that these questionnaires are built solely to measure customer satisfaction. The reasons mentioned above are add-ons.

With a CSAT questionnaire, you can reach the core of customer experience and provide a structured framework.
Now, it’s time to look at a few questions.

Customer Satisfaction Questions to Ask

Customer satisfaction is a vast area. You can’t just grab a few questions and be done with it, right?

We can do one thing. How about we divide them into a few categories?

We’ll look into questions based on the following:

• CSAT Metrics
• Customer Touchpoints
• Types of CSAT Questionnaires

Off we go!

Let’s start with…

Questions Based on CSAT Metrics

A customer satisfaction questionnaire must have NPS, CES customer sentiment, loyalty, and CX questions. It’s a must!

These typically focus on a single touchpoint. It can be a recent purchase or an interaction a customer had with customer service.

The first in the lot is:

1. Customer Experience

Understanding your customers is key! For this, you must ask the right questions to measure their experiences with your brand/service/product.

Questions to Ask

1. On a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied), how satisfied are you with your overall experience with us today? (Likert Scale)
2. Did our representative answer all your questions clearly and completely? (Yes/No)
3. How happy are you with the ease of finding the information you need on our website? (Happy, Neutral, Sad) (Smiley Scale)
4. How likely will you recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague? (Very likely, Somewhat likely, Neutral, Somewhat unlikely, Very unlikely) (Multiple Choice)
5. What is one thing we could have done to improve your experience with our company today? (Open Ended)

2. Customer Effort Score

CES drills down to the effort required from a customer to achieve a particular score. This delves into the how of CX and identifies the areas that need immediate attention.

A Few CES questions to add

1. How easy was it to accomplish what you wanted to achieve with us today? (Very easy, Somewhat easy, Neutral, Somewhat difficult, Very difficult)
2. Did you have to say the same thing multiple times while getting our help?
3. On a scale of 1 (Very Time-Consuming) to 5 (Very Quick), how long did it take to find a solution to your issue?
4. Did you feel you had all the information you needed to complete your task independently?
5. What was the most challenging part of dealing with us today?

3. Net Promoter Score

NPS questions have the power to predict the future! Or at least the underlying issues that’ll allow you to tackle prospective problems!
These questions help you understand who is loyal and who is about churn.

Questions to Consider

1. On a scale of 0 (Not at all Likely) to 10 (Extremely Likely), how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? (This is the classic NPS question.)
2. On a scale of 0 (Not at all Likely) to 10 (Extremely Likely), how likely are you to recommend our [specific product/service] to a friend or colleague? After you receive the score, consider adding open-ended questions that’ll help you understand why they did so.
3. Why did you give us a [score] on the likelihood to recommend scale?
4. What made you recommend us?
5. Would you be comfortable recommending us on social media? (kind of like asking for an indirect NPS)

4. Customer Sentiment

It is a customer’s overall opinion about you as a brand, product, or service. This measures sentiments, overall experience, and general perceptions.

Here’s what you can ask

1. How frustrated were you with the wait time for customer service? (Use a scale with options like “Very Frustrated” to “Not Frustrated at All”)
   Frame questions in such a way that they encourage emotional responses.
2. What is your overall impression of your interaction with our company today?
3. How satisfied (or dissatisfied) are you with how your issue was resolved?

You can see that such emotions can easily be analyzed with the help of open-ended questions. But, again, there comes a problem of analyzing them. But is that a problem now?

With text analytics and sentiment analytics tools provided by platforms such as SurveySparrow, I don’t think that will cause any hassle!

There’s a specific area you should focus on….

Customer Service and Support

Customer satisfaction questionnaires measure customer satisfaction with your service teams. This is why it is important to include questions about each detail of their interaction with your team!

Ask these questions

1. Did our representative resolve your issue effectively?
2. On a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied), how satisfied were you with our customer service representative’s helpfulness?
3. How knowledgeable and courteous was the customer service representative you interacted with? (Very knowledgeable and courteous, Somewhat knowledgeable and polite, Neutral, Somewhat unknowledgeable or discourteous, Very unknowledgeable or discourteous)
4. What could we have done to improve how our customer service team assisted you today?
5. Is there anything specific our customer service representative did that exceeded your expectations?

Pro tip!
It would be better to keep monitoring your customer support and service team. To make it interesting, consider using mystery shopping surveys.

Why don’t we move on to the next category?

Let’s look at a few questions that must be asked at each touchpoint.

Questions to Ask at Each Customer Touchpoint

1. Pre-Purchase

1. If they choose to visit your website, ask…
   What are the basic touchpoints before purchase?
   A customer might visit your website, find a post on social media, or maybe see a blog or article written by your content marketers.
2. If it is social media -What are you hoping to find today? (Give Multiple choices of the different sections you offer on your website)
3. What questions do you have about our [product/service]? (Open-ended – identifies knowledge gaps)
4. What additional topics would you like us to cover in the future? Content Marketing
   (Adding links to your other posts would also be better)

Purchase

1. How easy was it to complete your purchase today? (Likert Scale – measures ease of purchase)
2. Did the sales representative clearly explain the benefits of our product/service for your specific needs? (Yes/No)

Post-Purchase

1. Did your order arrive on time and in good condition? (Yes/No – measures delivery performance)
2. How satisfied are you with the way your issue was handled? (Likert Scale)
3. Are there any features you find confusing or difficult to use? (Open-Ended)

Check out this Post Purchase Survey Template

That’s done and dusted.

Now comes the types of surveys and the questions that can be added to them! I have also added sample templates for each type. You can use and customize them the way you want.

Types of Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires

1. Restaurant Customer Satisfaction

This is crucial for the hospitality industry.

Let’s say you own a restaurant chain. What are the first things you would consider keeping a detailed check on? You can’t skip asking about food quality, service, ambiance, and cleanliness.

By considering how satisfied or dissatisfied the customers are, you can provide a better experience!

Questions

1. On a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied), how satisfied were you with the overall quality of your food?
2. Did your server explain the menu items clearly when you had questions?
3. Did the restaurant appear clean and well-maintained?
4. How likely will you recommend our restaurant to a friend or colleague? (Very Likely, Somewhat Likely, Neutral, Somewhat Unlikely, Very Unlikely)
5. Is there anything we could have done to improve your dining experience today?

Check out this Restaurant Customer Satisfaction Survey Template

2. Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey

This is like having direct access to your customers! Once you understand their thoughts and views, you can keep measuring and benchmarking your performance.

What to ask?

1. Did the front desk staff clearly explain all the hotel policies and amenities upon check-in?
2. On a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied), how satisfied were you with your room’s overall cleanliness and comfort?
3. Did your room have all the amenities listed on the website/booking confirmation (e.g., hairdryer, mini-fridge)?
   (Yes, All Amenities Present / No, Some Amenities Missing / Please Specify)
4. What is one thing we could have done to make your stay at our hotel even better?

Check out this Hotel guest satisfaction survey

3. Real Estate Client Satisfaction

This is a tool to understand your client’s satisfaction throughout their home-buying, selling, and renting experience.
It’s important to know if you were there at each step.

Questions to consider

1. How well did your agent understand your initial goals and expectations on a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied)?
2. What resources or information were most helpful during your initial search for a real estate agent?
3. On a scale of 1 (Very Dissatisfied) to 5 (Very Satisfied), how satisfied were you with the variety of properties your agent presented based on your needs?
4. What was the most valuable aspect of working with [Your Name] as your real estate agent?

Check out this Real Estate Client Satisfaction

Next up…

4. Reader Satisfaction Survey Template

Publishing companies and authors must measure their masterpieces’ impact on their audience. Reader satisfaction is a crucial metric for this!

What to add to the questionnaire

1. What type of content would you like to see more of on [Your Platform]? (e.g., Articles, Videos, Podcasts, Interviews)
2. How often do you share content from [Your Platform] on social media or with friends? (Very Often, Somewhat Often, Occasionally, Rarely, Never)
3. What age group do you belong to? (18-24, 25-34, 35-44, etc.) (Keep demographics optional to avoid discouraging participation)
4. Is there anything else you want to tell us about your experience with us?

Check out this Reader Satisfaction Survey Template

5. Passenger Satisfaction Survey

Transportation companies can’t go without this questionnaire if they want to improve their offerings.

Factors like punctuality, comfort, and customer service must be measured here.

Questions

1. How long did it take you to check in for your trip? (Less than 15 minutes, 15-30 minutes, More than 30 minutes)
2. How comfortable were the seats on your journey? (Very Comfortable, Somewhat Comfortable, Neutral, Somewhat Uncomfortable, Very Uncomfortable)
3. Did you receive all your checked baggage in good condition?
4. Did you utilize the in-flight entertainment system during your trip? (Yes, No)
5. Was a power outlet or USB charging station available at your seat?

Check out this Passenger satisfaction survey

Oh! Wait…

Pro Tip!
Tailor the questions to specific amenities. For instance, ask if they had enough legroom in the vehicle

PS: Check out these customer satisfaction survey templates:

• Company satisfaction survey template
• Library satisfaction survey template
• Insurance claim satisfaction survey template
• Client satisfaction survey template
• Event satisfaction survey template

Best Practices to Follow while creating a CSAT Questionnaire

• Keep the questionnaires concise and crisp. Aim for ten or fewer to avoid survey fatigue.
• Mix it up with the questions. Don’t just stick to the question type.
• Use simple conversational language. There are better times to craft poetry than now. A Chat-like format is the best.
• Send them at the right time. Maybe within a day of interaction.
  And most importantly…
• Use Text and Sentiment Analysis tools to decode open-ended questions.

How to Craft Engaging Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires with SurveySparrow

Crafting a questionnaire is pretty much an art that requires precision and patience. But with tools like SurveySparrow, the art and the artist merge with elegance.
Too poetic, huh? This is the language I suggested you avoid a second back!

Now, let me walk you through how we do it here at SurveySparrow! Working your way through a template is the best way to learn!

Step 1: Sign in

Log in to your SurveySparrow account.

If you don’t have one, don’t worry. Get started with a free 14-day trial.

Step 2: Create

What are you planning to work with? Do you wish to create something yourself or use a template?

• If you wish to work your way up from scratch, click the +New Survey and start.
• If it is a pre-designed template you wish to customize, Click on Browse Classic Templates and search for the one you want.

You can also choose to customize the free template I have attached above.

Step 3: Customize

Now is the time to create a conversational questionnaire! Have your way around the template.

Here’s how you do it:

• You can remove the questions that don’t fit the bill.
• Add new ones from the list we discussed.
• Edit the existing ones with the help of the “wing feature.” You can compress, expand, rephrase, reword, and edit it to your heart’s desire!

Next up, it’s time to…

Step 4: Integrate

Connect with your favorite apps and get a smooth workflow. The list includes popular platforms such as Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zapier, and Hubspot.

Step 5: Share

That’s it. You have your customer satisfaction questionnaire ready to be shared.
You can reach your audience via email, WhatsApp, SMS, social media, QR code, or by embedding the survey on your webpage.

Isn’t that easy?

Well, it doesn’t stop there. With SurveySparrow’s latest Text Analytics Tool- Cognivue, advanced decoding of customer sentiments is not a far-fetched dream.

You can conduct a root cause analysis, verify hidden insights, and segment customer sentiments based on mentions, count, and sentiment score. Oh, I forgot to tell you, all this is AI-powered, and you need to move a finger to get those numbers!

Why don’t you take the platform for a spin today?

Wrap Up

Each question you draft must be done with the end customer in mind. The entire idea is to find out how happy they are.

I can’t stress this enough—keep the customer satisfaction questionnaires short and to the point.
Well, admit it! We all have at least a few long, boring surveys abandoned in our spam folders, right? Let’s not end up there!

Now, what’s the wait for? Create your conversational questionnaire today!

Kate Williams

Content Marketer at SurveySparrow