As customer-centricity has become an important part of nearly every successful business, it's reflected in product development, sales, marketing, and customer service. It's important to understand customer needs and opinions in order to focus on the things that make customers satisfied and loyal.

Customer surveys are a great way to learn about customer needs and opinions. We've received numerous questions about how to conduct customer surveys, so we decided to compile the most frequently asked questions and answer them in this blog post.

1. What should be included in a customer survey?

In a customer survey, it's important to ask about the customer's experience with the service, the quality of the product, and the expertise of the customer service. It's also important to ask how important the customer feels each assessed question is.

Note that it is usually easiest for the customer to answer simple statements. So, don't "ask" in the traditional sense, but rather make statements that the customer can answer quickly. Form the questions so that the order makes sense throughout the survey. For example, you could start with an assessment of the ease of purchase.

In a customer survey you can also ask about the customer's willingness to recommend and provide an opportunity for free-form feedback. Don't forget to include background questions such as which store was visited or which products or product categories were purchased.

2. Should customer surveys be anonymous?

The answer depends on the situation. Some companies make anonymous customer surveys but it is far more common that at least some background information is added. This way, you can get closer to the individual customer's situation and have a more detailed view on what sort of development should be done. In any case you should tell the respondent how the responses will be handled.

3. How long should a customer survey be?

We prefer customer surveys with 10 questions or fewer. If, however, the question relates to a large purchase or the customer base is very committed to the service, the survey can be a bit broader. Even so, try to keep the survey as concise as possible. The most important thing is that each question is necessary.

4. How can customer surveys be promoted?

A customer survey can be delivered to the customer via email or SMS or it can be embedded on the company website and social media. Customers can also be asked to respond to the survey at the store. Before delivering the survey, it's important to think about the target audience.

If you want to reach a specific customer group, it's easiest to target them individually via email or SMS. This allows you to narrow down to the customers whose opinion you want to get.

If, on the other hand, you want to collect data from a large number of customers without any restrictions, social media or the company's own website often provides a good channel.

5. Should there be a prize in customer surveys?

Prizes are a known motivator for people to take surveys and often increase the survey response rate. However, prizes can also be a risk because the prize can steer the respondent's motivation in the wrong direction. If you decide to offer a prize, think about what kind of prize would motivate the target group that you want to reach.

6. How often should customer surveys be conducted?

Customer feedback should be collected continuously. It's a good idea to ask frequently so that the respondent can easily remember their experiences before they forget what happened. In addition, we recommend conducting a customer survey once a year among current customers.

7. Do I need the customer's permission if the survey is sent by email or SMS?

In most countries A customer experience survey can be sent to contract customers without explicit permission, but mass emailing to unknown groups is not allowed.

8. What tool should be used to conduct a customer survey?

Customer surveys can be easily conducted using a modern survey tool. When choosing a survey tool, pay attention to factors such as the respondent's experience with the survey, the reporting, and the types of questions. If you are expecting a large quantity of free text data you should also consider a survey tool that has Natural Language Processing (NLP) features.

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