Top 10 best practices for creating customer feedback surveys

Nothing hurts a business more than losing customers without knowing why. Are they unhappy with your product? Did they find better service elsewhere? Were they frustrated by a single bad experience?

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The best way to prevent this? Ask them.

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A customer feedback survey isn’t just a routine task. Instead, it is a tried-and-tested method that has helped businesses increase their revenue and customer retention. In fact, 85% of companies prioritizing customer feedback have witnessed a direct financial impact of listening to their customers. 

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That said, not every survey yields real, honest feedback. Businesses need to understand how to create customer feedback surveys that yield actionable insights. 

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In this blog, we’ll break down 10 best practices to help you create a survey that works and enables you to make data-backed improvements.
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1. Ask questions the right way

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‍It’s the era of reels and short attention spans, and no one has time to complete long, complex surveys. Moreover, if you use poor vocabulary or use leading words in questions, it might result in vague or unusable feedback.

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Here are do’s and don’ts you can consider: 
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‍Do’s:

• Ask one thing at a time. Avoid double-barreled questions like, "How satisfied are you with our pricing and customer support?" Customers may have different opinions on each.
• Use clear, simple language: Complex or technical terms can confuse respondents. Instead of "How would you rate the UX of our SaaS platform?" ask, "How easy or difficult was it to use our platform?"
• Mix up question formats: Combine multiple-choice, Likert scales, and short-text responses to keep engagement high.

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Don’ts:

• Don’t ask leading or biased questions: Instead of asking, "How much do you love our new feature?" ask, "How would you rate your experience with our new feature?"
• Don’t ask many open-ended questions. These questions require customers to write in-depth answers. While the first few might get good responses, if there are many, you may receive only incomplete or blank fields. 

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2. Use automation to streamline the process

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‍Start with an online form builder to save time and automate the process of creating faster and more efficient customer feedback surveys. These tools come with ready-made templates, custom branding options, and different survey formats, such as chat-style, card-based, or long-form surveys. You can even set up conditional logic to adjust the survey based on how someone responds, making the feedback more relevant.

Automated form builders also connect with CRM systems, email tools, and analytics platforms, allowing you to send surveys at the right time, track responses, and analyze results without manually completing the process.

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3. Focus on user experience

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‍No one likes to fill out boring customer feedback surveys. So make sure you don’t end up creating one. Spend significant time designing the whole layout, design, theme, and color adjustment.

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Nowadays, online form-builders come with pre-existing themes that you can customize for a more seamless experience. Moreover, they also offer creative additions like images, videos, gifs, and emojis to increase customer engagement.

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You can also experiment with the surveys in different formats. For instance, opt for the one-at-a-time question format if you want your survey to be more conversational. Online form builders also offer a chat-like format where the survey form's user interface seems as if you are talking to a person, increasing the chances of completion.

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While improving the customer experience, optimize it for mobile phones and tabs so users can quickly complete it from their devices. You can also add a progress bar or percentage indicator that shows how much is left. This helps users know how long it will take to complete the feedback form.

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4. Use conditional logic

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‍To make your customer feedback surveys more effective, it’s essential to go beyond basic questions and responses. You need to incorporate advanced features like conditional logic to enhance the personalization of the survey.

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As for what it does, conditional logic is when you customize the survey based on a customer’s answers. For example, if someone says they’re unhappy with a product, the survey can automatically ask them more specific questions about what went wrong. If they’re happy, they can skip those extra questions and thank them instead.

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5. Look for API integration and calls

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‍This takes automation to the next level by further syncing your form with CRM, email tools, or analytics software. Tools like Tiny Forms offer dynamic API integration, which means they connect to other third-party APIs while the user is filling it out.

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For example, if you’re conducting a survey for users who’ve recently made a purchase, dynamic API integration can instantly pull up their order details and personalize the questions based on what they bought. This creates a smoother, more relevant experience for the user, leading to higher engagement and more accurate feedback.

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‍6. Customize your feedback survey

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‍Taking a step ahead, you can also customize the customer feedback survey to show customers it’s a part of your brand. For this, you can do simple things like add your brand’s logo, colors, font, or any other elements that are specific to your brand. Form builders can also give you the flexibility to add these elements to your surveys while maintaining aesthetics.

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In case, you can’t fully customize your feedback form, at least ensure you sound like your brand by using the same tone of voice.

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7. Offer an incentive (wherever applicable)

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‍Sometimes, customers don’t fill out the feedback forms, no matter how thoughtful, creative, or short they are. In such cases, consider offering an incentive. While incentives often get a mixed review, they can be an effective tool to increase response rates without compromising the quality of feedback.

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In fact, compensating someone for their time and opinions shows that you value their input, and it can boost participation.

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8. Choose the right channel

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‍Where you send your survey also plays a crucial role in getting responses. You’ll want to pick the correct method depending on your survey type and the action you’re hoping to measure:
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• In-app popups: This is the best and quickest way to get feedback, especially for SaaS businesses. You can prompt users with a survey directly in your app. For example, after a user tries a new feature, a Customer Effort Score (CES) survey can pop up to get feedback.
• Email: This is one of the most common methods to distribute surveys. After a customer contacts your support team or completes a purchase, sending a follow-up survey via email is an effective way to gather insights.
• Live chat: After a live chat conversation, you can send a short survey to capture the customer’s experience while it's still fresh in their mind.
• Survey landing pages: You can create a separate survey landing page and share the link with customers, giving them a chance to fill it out at their convenience.

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9. Follow up to close the feedback loop

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‍It is seen that businesses that close the loop on customer feedback are 2.5 times more likely to retain their customers.‍

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Here’s what all you can do to close the feedback loop:
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• Acknowledge the responses: If the customers/users are taking their time to fill out your survey, make sure you send them a thank-you email to show appreciation and acknowledgment. You can automate this task with Tiny Command’s automated workflow if there are countless responses. 
• Collect the data: Carefully collect all the data you get from the surveys in a Google sheet. Some form builders can do this automatically. 
• Analyze it: Here comes the critical part – analyze qualitative and quantitative feedback to understand what the users want to convey. You can again use automated tools, or the online form builder will help you gauge the data quickly. 
• Act on the feedback: Once you know the main pain points, organize them based on the business priorities and start implementing the solutions. 
• The final follow-up: Finally, inform your customers that you have heard them and made the changes based on their feedback. This is where your feedback loop actually ends

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‍10. Test thoroughly before you send

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‍Mistakes happen - be it a spelling error, wrong logic, or an overall tedious customer experience. So, make sure you test the survey multiple times before sending it to your customers.

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Send it to your co-workers and friends to see how different people react to it. Make changes based on their feedback. Test once more to be 100% sure, and then share with your customers. If you are using Tiny Forms, you can also check the preview to see exactly how the survey will look and function before sending it out.

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The majority of these best practices are easy to follow when you are building the survey using an online form builder. So, be it making the form visually appealing, enhancing the user experience (UX), or conducting A/B testing, it’s all a matter of a few clicks. 

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