In today’s digital age, customer power is at an all-time high. It’s time for businesses to leverage customer reviews to improve client satisfaction and increase profitability. And what better way to gather actionable data at key interaction points than through customer experience survey campaigns?
Different companies and organizations invest in client satisfaction survey campaigns to predict business growth and revenue. However, only a few are able to execute them well and gather the insights they need.
But first, what is a client satisfaction survey, and what is its role in building client trust?
A client satisfaction survey (also referred to as customer satisfaction score or CSAT) is a type of customer experience survey that measures customers’ contentment with a specific interaction, feature or transaction.
Unlike other types of customer feedback surveys, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer satisfaction survey questions target a “here and now” reaction to a specific brand experience. However, it is limited when it comes to measuring brand loyalty.
What Are the Benefits of Measuring Client Satisfaction?
Client satisfaction survey results can help you identify your strengths and determine the best ways to update your brand offering and improve client satisfaction. Additionally, customer experience (CX) metrics like CSAT allow you to:
- Gauge clients’ purchase intentions.
- Identify customers’ engagement and retention levels.
- Support your market research.
- Reveal your brand’s weak points.
- Improve your audience targeting strategy.
- Reduce customer churn.
Despite its simplicity, the CSAT score can be used to measure customer success and develop data-driven strategies for building client trust.
How Does Client Satisfaction Survey Work?
Customer feedback survey campaigns are launched through various methods, including SMS and email surveys. In the case of CSAT, you can use this type of customer experience survey at any point to gauge customer satisfaction, such as at the moment of purchase, during onboarding or after a brand interaction.
CSAT is measured by one or more variations of this question:
“How would you rate your experience with [product/service] on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best score.”
Unsatisfied | or Unsatisfied | Satisfied |
Typically, a 1 to 5 scale or 0-10 rating scale is used to determine the respondents’ level of satisfaction. But you can also use other indicators like international symbols (smiley faces or stars). Whether you use numbers, symbols or words, the customer feedback survey scoring process is the same.
Only the two highest values on the customer satisfaction survey are used to predict customer retention accurately. Here’s the CSAT formula:
(Number of Satisfied Customers (4 and 5) / Number of Survey Responses) x 100 = Percentage of Satisfied Customers
CSAT score expectations vary across industries. On average, a good score falls between 75 percent and 85 percent, indicating that 4 in 5 customers are satisfied with their brand experience.
Besides building client trust, email and SMS marketing agencies specializing in customer feedback management also advise that you follow the best practices in developing and launching your customer satisfaction survey questions to get a good score.
Top 10 Customer Satisfaction Survey Best Practices
Getting useful and actionable responses requires asking the right customer satisfaction survey questions. To guide your survey campaign management, our online reputation management company has identified the best practices you should follow:
- Be Honest About the Purpose of the Survey
Honesty increases the chances of your respondents giving genuine feedback. Does your business want to improve certain product features? Or maybe correct a mistake in your processes? Be direct and honest about your goal and what you need from your customers.
- Ask Smart, Clear Questions
Avoid email and SMS survey questions that confuse the respondents. Instead, construct smart questions that align with your goals and the purpose of your client satisfaction survey.
Here are some things to keep in mind when crafting customer satisfaction survey questions according to email and SMS marketing agencies:
- Be clear and concise. Delete unnecessary phrasing from your questions to avoid confusion.
- Refrain from asking intrusive demographic questions, such as income, age or gender. If necessary, make them optional.
- Avoid leading questions or those that push respondents to answer in a specific manner.
- Don’t use internal jargon. Speak the language of your target respondents to increase your response rate.
- Use closed-ended (yes/no) questions when applicable.
Some customer satisfaction survey examples to help you get started:
- How likely are you to recommend [brand/product/service] to a friend or colleague on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best score?
- How would you rate your experience at [brand name] on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best score?
- Please rate your installation experience on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best score.
- Use the Right Type of Questions
Depending on your purpose, there are five types of customer satisfaction survey questions you can use to effectively measure client satisfaction:
| Type | Explanation | Customer Satisfaction Survey Examples: | ||
| Likert scale questions assess how respondents feel towards a product, service or interaction. They provide options from one extreme to another (i.e., delighted or frustrated), with or without a neutral response. | How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our [product/service]?
| ||
| Open-ended questions allow customers to share their opinions about your brand offering in their own words. Using this type of question provides you with valuable insights into ways to improve client satisfaction moving forward. | What could we have improved on the event today? | ||
| Nominal or multiple choice questions are naming scales, which cannot be assigned a numerical value. These are used to learn more about your customers’ preferences and experiences. | Which of our review monitoring software features was most useful for you today? ☐ Feature 1 | ||
| Binary questions rely on a limit of two answers per question. Customer satisfaction survey examples using this type of question include yes/no questions or those that can be answered with graphics, such as happy/sad face or thumbs up/down. | Did you find what you were looking for on our website? | ||
| Usage frequency questions are used to determine the frequency of your respondents doing a particular activity (e.g., using a product, visiting a store, etc.). | How often do you typically use our online reputation management software? ☐ Daily |
- Limit Your Survey to a Reasonable Length and Number of Questions
Short and straightforward customer satisfaction survey questions are accessible by email and SMS. This makes it easier for you to launch CSAT email surveys or SMS survey campaigns across any platform and increase your chances of getting a response.
Tim Clarke, Rize Reviews’ senior reputation manager, recommends asking one question per email or SMS survey. If you get a good response, you can direct the user to Google or other review platforms to write a 5-star review. “Anything over 3-5 questions will have a low response rate without a nice incentive,” Clarke added.
- Meet Your Target Respondents Where They Are
What platforms do your customers use to interact with your brand? Leverage your customer database and previous marketing campaigns to determine the best channels on which to send your client satisfaction surveys.
An experienced email marketing specialist or survey management consultant would recommend using SMS or email if you’ve already sent campaigns through these channels. You can also try QR codes from a reputable online reputation management company or ask customers face to face to get more responses if you have that kind of business.
Besides SMS and email surveys, here are more suggestions on generating customer feedback:
- Post a link to your survey on social media.
- Use Instagram or Facebook stories to collect feedback.
- Offer incentives in return for reviews.
- Request feedback when a cart is abandoned.
- Automate Survey Requests
Streamline your survey requests and customer feedback management process using advanced customer satisfaction survey software that can easily integrate your customer database. Customer survey tools are typically set-and-forget solutions that require minimal to no work on your end.
Be sure to consult with an SMS/email marketing specialist that specializes in survey campaign management to determine which software is worth the investment.
- Follow Up Within 24 Hours of Interaction
Customer satisfaction surveys are ideal for brands looking to understand consumer sentiment at a single point in time. If you deploy your survey too late or at the wrong moment, you’re less likely to get successful results.
The best times to deploy CSAT surveys include:
- Right after a customer service encounter
- After a visit to your retail store
- Following a product demonstration
- After receiving a product
- Though in-app mobile feedback
- Optimize for Mobile
The majority of consumers complete email surveys on mobile devices or within mobile apps. As such, it is critical that you optimize your customer feedback survey design for mobile. If the interface is too complicated or lacks the simplicity your customers expect, your customer experience survey participation will decrease.
- Have a Customer Feedback Management System in Place
Customer satisfaction surveys provide an opportunity for review generation. For instance, if a respondent gives you 8-10 stars on the survey, you can direct them to Google and other review sites to leave a review potentially. With this strategy, you don’t only acquire high survey ratings but also 5-star reviews.
According to Clarke, 1-7 stars are generally considered negative, so you have to be careful and ensure you don’t send customers to leave a bad review on purpose. If your CSAT score is extremely low, it may be high time to re-assess your processes and consider review monitoring to get in-depth insights into your customer opinion about your brand.
An SMS or email marketing specialist with expertise in survey campaign management can also help you develop appropriate review responses to negative reviews to mitigate the situation.
- Get Customer Feedback Regularly
The best way to continuously improve client satisfaction is to collect feedback regularly. Doing so allows you to constantly evaluate your areas for improvement and determine where you stand among the competition.
Launching regular customer satisfaction surveys also demonstrates your long-term commitment to building client trust and strengthening your brand relationships.
Get More Customer Feedback and 5-Star Reviews
Customer feedback is an important metric in understanding consumer sentiments towards your brand. If you match client feedback with what you see in your analytics, you get a clear picture of your brand performance and the key aspects you need to improve on.
Looking for an online reputation management company to help you get the job done?
Rize Reviews uses state-of-the-art online reputation management software that supports unlimited SMS and email campaigns. You can send as many surveys and review requests as you want without any additional costs. We also blend review management and survey responses to help you get more reviews AND survey responses in one process.
Need help with review monitoring and feedback management? Our online reputation management company offers fully managed reputation solutions so you can focus on your core business. Contact us now and let us help you turn your customer feedback into review opportunities.
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