How do I Choose the Best Customer Satisfaction Survey?

If you want the best customer satisfaction survey for your business, it should be developed specifically for your business. The customization will be obvious and this is likely to encourage your customers to take the survey more seriously. If you have a survey developed for your business, make sure it addresses unique aspects of your business. If you can afford to have it professionally developed, that would be best. If it is developed by someone in your company, make sure the questions are not too generic.

If you are going to use a pre-developed survey, choose one that pertains to your industry. For example, individuals with insurance companies should choose a survey that pertains to insurance companies. Do not try to use a standard customer satisfaction survey and expect that your customers will not notice. Also, try to choose a survey that can be modified. Changing a few words or inserting your company’s name can help customize the survey.

When you choose a survey, make sure your company’s name and logo can be affixed to it. You should strive to have your company’s contact details printed as well. These things also help the survey appear customized for your business. Furthermore, the contact details encourage individuals to contact you further regarding their satisfaction.

You want to leave your clients with the impression that you value their opinions. The customer satisfaction survey could actually be damaging if, on the contrary, it leaves the impression that you distributed it as part of an industry standard or it appears you are fishing for certain answers. This means you need to choose a survey that provides adequate options.

When a survey only has two options, you appear to be saying that if your answer is not this, then it must be that. Choosing a customer satisfaction survey that has multiple selections for each question communicates your understanding that there are many possible reactions. Even if the selections provided do not completely match what a customer would say if she had the opportunity, she is less likely to feel that you are fishing for particular responses.

Additionally, you should choose a customer satisfaction survey that has a “not applicable” or “don’t know” selection. When customers are willing to complete a survey, most will want to complete it. Many people are hesitant to submit a survey if they had to leave questions blank because there was no fitting answer. Also, choose a survey that provides a space for comments. There may be issues your customers would appreciate the opportunity to discuss but which your survey does not address.