How to Write a Customer Satisfaction Survey
It's hard to know sometimes what people are really thinking unless you take the initiative of coming out and asking them. This is crucial if you're the owner of a shop or business that relies on customer loyalty, delivery of a high quality product or service, and a progressive vision to stay a step ahead of the competition. Here's how to find out what's really on your clients' minds, what they'd like to see more of, and what kinds of glitches are keeping them from being 100 percent happy.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
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1
Open a new document in Word. Center the title "Customer Satisfaction Survey" in caps at the top. Below this, identify the name and location of the business unless you're going to be printing your survey on company letterhead that already contains this information.
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Create a brief introduction to your survey as well as an explanation of how each of the items contained in it should be scored. Example: "At XYZ, Inc., we're always looking for new ways to keep our valued customers happy. Could you please take a moment to complete the following questionnaire and give each item a rank of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest grade and 10 being the highest."
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Include a disclaimer regarding confidentiality of their replies. This usually takes the form of stating that it's not necessary to include their name in order to participate but that if they are interested in having their comments included in testimonial advertising or would like to discuss their concerns privately with the management they'll need to identify themselves.
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Explain how the survey should be submitted. Example: "Completed surveys can be dropped in the bright red box at the front entrance." If you don't mind investing in prepaid envelopes, you might want to request that customers mail their surveys back to you after leisurely filling them out at home. Much of this depends on the nature of your business, the amount of time your customers have following an appointment or purchase, and your own assessment of their reliability to participate.
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Decide how many categories you want your customers to rate. If, for example, you've opened a new tea room and want to evaluate how you're doing after the first 3-6 months, you'd want to include items such as location, ambiance, presentation, service, prices, and parking as well as a fill-in survey regarding which sandwiches, teas and desserts they like best. Organize these entries in related clusters such as "The Food," "The Service," "The Setting." If your survey relates to a specific service your company is offering (for example, seminar development), you'd focus on items such as timeframes, staff knowledge, technical support, media liaison, etc.
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List each of your survey items down the left side of the page followed by a line for participants to write in a number between 1 and 10 that best fits their opinion about the product or service. Example:
Ambiance____________.
For entries that are longer than a single number (i.e., a favorite flavor of scone), leave a longer line. Double-space between each entry so that customers won't have to write in tiny letters. Make your survey as attractive and user-friendly as possible. -
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Leave enough space at the end of the survey for extra comments the customers might like to make.
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Include a thank you at the end of the form for their participation in helping you better serve their needs.
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Print out copies of the survey and distribute them to your customers.
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Tips & Warnings
Another strategy for customer satisfaction surveys is to use a ranking of "Poor," "Fair," "Average," "Good" and "Outstanding" and ask customers to place a check mark inside the box that corresponds to their opinion. Request that they provide a brief example of any ratings that are "Poor" or "Outstanding." If you're using Microsoft Office and Word 2007, you can create boxes by clicking on the "Developer" tab on the far right at the top of your screen and then clicking on "Legacy Tools" in the "Controls" box. This will bring up a menu of icons that allow you to create fill-in forms that you can also use in online customer survey documents. To make boxes, place the cursor where you want the box to be and click on the "ab" icon. If you're using a different version of Word, you'll need to click on the question mark and do a search for "create a form." The links provided in Resources provide more advice on creating useful forms for feedback.
Never ask for more information than you actually need, especially if it's of a personal nature and could be construed as an invasion of privacy.
