• 21 Business Survey Questions + [Template Examples]

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As you work on growing your business and making the best entrepreneurial decisions, you would need to carry out a lot of research, which is where you need a business surveys.  Business surveys make research easy and equip you with relevant information for better decision-making.

Knowing what a business survey is, how to create one, and seamlessly administer it should be a priority for any organization. When properly implemented, a business survey can aid the exponential growth of any organization 

What is a Business Survey? 

A business survey is a research tool that is used for collecting relevant data about a business from a predetermined audience. It is made up of a set of structured questions that help you to gather information about industry dynamics, market preferences, competition, and other important business variables. 

For instance, a restaurant may need to find out how the customers rate its overall service delivery. To achieve this, it can administer a customer satisfaction survey that allows the customers to provide feedback on different aspects of the business. 

To get the right information through a business survey, you must ask the right questions. With a business survey, you will gather first-hand information and gain interesting insights that are crucial to the overall growth of your organization. 

Importance of Business Surveys 

  • A business survey helps you to gather important insights for different aspects of your business. Gathering first-hand information from customers allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business and to improve on organizational processes. 
  • With a business survey, you would be able to gather feedback from your customers. Asking customers to provide feedback on your business helps you to know where you stand and also identify any areas of the business that need improvement. 
  • Data gathered via a business survey would help you improve your customer experience and build lasting client relationships. When you provide excellent service delivery for clients, you would record repeated patronage and expand your client base.
  • A business survey plays a major role in the optimization of overall business operations. Data gathered from such surveys highlights areas needing improvement in your business which you can concentrate your resources on. 
  • It is an essential step towards making objective and unbiased business decisions.  

Types of Business Survey 

Customer surveys.

A customer survey is a type of business survey that is used to collect first-hand information on the perceptions of your customers. Typically, it consists of questions that bother on the opinions and expectations of your customers as they interact with your business and make use of your product or service. 

Since customers lie at the heart of every business, it is important to always be abreast of their needs and to also understand how they view your organization. Working with this data would help you to improve your business processes for better service delivery. 

Top Customer Survey Questions for Businesses  

  • How would you rate our service delivery? 
  • What was your experience like? 
  • Did our customer service representative resolve the issue on time?
  • Are you satisfied with the resolution of this issue?
  • Are you satisfied with the available payment methods? 
  • How can we improve our service delivery for you?
  • Do you have any suggestions/comments to help us serve you better?
  • How likely are you to recommend us to your network?
  • How easy is the purchasing process with our company?
  • Did you find our website useful? 

Customer Survey Templates For Businesses

  • Customer Complaint Form  

Use this customer complaint form template to gather information on the challenges faced by customers for easy resolution. With this form, you can collect important information that will be useful in swiftly addressing any issues faced by customers as they interact with your products or services. 

  • Customer Satisfaction Survey

Conducting a customer satisfaction survey helps you to find out if your customers are satisfied with your products or services. With this survey, you would be able to know what your customers think about your product or service and the extent to which your product meets their needs. 

  • Restaurant Satisfaction Survey

Allow customers to rate your service delivery after a hearty meal, by carrying out a restaurant satisfaction survey . Data gathered via this survey helps you to improve your overall service delivery and provide a great customer experience for your clients. 

  • Website Evaluation Survey

Use this website evaluation survey template to gather feedback from users about your website. This survey allows users to share their experience using your website. 

  • Event Satisfaction Survey

An event satisfaction survey is an important tool that is used to gather feedback from event attendees. This survey provides meaningful insights into attendees’ perceptions of different aspects of your event and also helps you to improve on future events.

  • Post-event Survey

This survey allows attendees to assess your event . Here, attendees can rate their overall experience and provide specific feedback on different aspects of your event also make specific suggestions for improving future events. 

  • Online Feedback Form

An online feedback form is used to seamlessly collect feedback on business processes from customers. With this form, you can easily collect, organize, and process useful information from customers on products, services, and other aspects of your business. 

https://www.formpl.us/templates/online-feedback-form

Product Surveys

A product survey is a tool that is used to gather information on what users think about a product. It helps you to understand users’ experiences with your product and to also gather information for improving the overall product experience. 

You can administer a product survey as part of market research before the launch of a new product. This will help you get first-hand information about what the market really wants and create a product that meets these needs. 

Every contact a consumer (or customer) has with your product goes a long way in determining his or her perception of your business. Collecting feedback on users’ experiences gives you an opportunity to understand the concerns of your customers and make sure your product is meeting their needs. 

Top Product Survey Questions for Businesses

  • How often do you use our product?
  • What product features do you find useful?
  • How likely are you to recommend this product? 
  • What value does this product provide for you?
  • Did the product meet your expectations?
  • How would you describe our product?
  • How satisfied are you with the product?
  • How long have you been using our product?
  • What are the top 3 benefits you get from our product?
  • How can we make this product better for you? 

Product Survey Template For Businesses

  • Customer Complaint Form

A customer complaint form is useful in improving your product and customer experience. With this form, you would be able to collect information on any issues faced by your customers and swiftly resolve them for a better user experience. 

  • Product Pricing Survey

Use this product pricing survey template to sample opinions on product pricing. If you are launching a new product and want to avoid pricing your product above or below the market standard, you need to get customer feedback on your product’s price. 

  • Internet Usage Survey

An internet usage survey is used to gather information on the daily “internet behaviors” of respondents. With this survey, you would understand how the internet fits into the everyday lives of your customers. It can be used as part of market research for a product. 

  • Product Evaluation Form

Administering a product evaluation survey is one of the most important steps you can take after launching a new product. This survey allows you to gather feedback from users on different aspects of your product in order to improve the product as needed. 

Market Surveys 

A market survey is an important method of gathering information about the preferences of the target market. It is made up of a set of structured questions that bother on the inclinations of consumers, their behaviors, expectations, and purchasing power. 

A market survey is an important aspect of market research because it helps organizations to collect insightful feedback from users. With this information, you can develop effective marketing strategies for upcoming products and services, and also improve on the features of existing products. 

A market survey helps you to make business decisions from an informed point of view. Rather than basing business decisions on sentiments or guesses, you would be able to depend on actual data from your target market to drive objective decision-making. 

With the data from a market survey, you would better understand consumer demographics and record higher customer acquisition rates. Not only that, but the information retrieved from the target market via market surveys and segmentation is also a source of creating definite and long-term marketing plans for a product. 

Top Market Survey Questions for Businesses

  • Would you choose this product?
  • What do you like about this product or service?
  • How can we improve this product for you?
  • What do you like most about the competing products in the market?
  • Would you choose this product over its competitors?
  • What is your monthly shopping budget?
  • Is our payment plan convenient for you? 
  • Would you recommend this product to others?
  • What do you dislike about this product?
  • Do you think our product is the best in the market?

Market Survey Templates For Businesses

  • Market Survey Form Template

This is important for market research and is used to collect information about market preferences and consumer behaviors. With this form template, you’d gain insights into the needs of your target market. 

  • Demographic Survey

A demographic survey is made up of a set of questions that help you to gather information about your target market. With a demographic survey, you would be able to collect relevant consumer data such as age, occupation, educational status, income level, etc. 

It is also very useful in creating an accurate buyer persona. 

https://www.formpl.us/templates/demographic-survey

How to Create a Business Survey with Formplus

  • Sign in to your Formplus account to access the form builder. Click on the “create new form” button on your dashboard. 
  • Enter the title of your form (e.g. Business Survey Form).
  • You can click or drag and drop preferred fields to your business survey. 

business-survey-template

  • Save your business survey to access the form customization section. Here, you can modify your form’s appearance by adding background images, including your organization’s logo, and changing the form layout. 

business-survey-formplus

  • Use the multiple sharing options to share your business survey form with respondents. You can send out email notifications to respondents or share the form with your online community via the social media direct sharing buttons. 

Understanding what a business survey is and how to go about it would help you make better decisions for your organization. A business survey provides useful insights into market preferences and behaviors which are extremely important for the formulation of growth strategies for your business.  

In this article, we’ve discussed different types of business surveys with question samples and we’ve also shared meaningful tips for creating a good business survey. You can use Formplus to create and administer different business surveys for your organization with little or no hassles. 

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Business Plan Questionnaire

Business Plan Questionnaire

Successful business plans clearly explain a company’s business model, objectives, strategies, and competitive advantages. Use our business plan questionnaire below for a list of the questions you should answer in each section of your business plan to ensure clarity and understanding of your business’s hopes and mission. 

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here

What Questions Should Be Asked in a Business Plan?

The business plan questionnaire can help you with how to write your business plan . It will give you a concrete set of directions for the future and allow you to further examine and learn about the market you are entering. Be sure to provide answers to the following questions in each key section of your business plan.

Executive Summary Questions

executive summary

You may ask yourself:

  • What is the issue your business is addressing?
  • How are you solving it?
  • What are your business’s strengths?
  • Why should an investor be interested in your business?

Company Analysis Questions

written company analysis

Ask yourself the following:

  • What is your business’ mission?
  • What is your history?
  • What are some of your past achievements?
  • What is your business’ legal structure?
  • Where is your business located?
  • Why did you start the business?
  • How do you measure your business success?

Industry Analysis Questions

discuss industry growth and concerns

Include the answers to the following questions:

  • What is the size of the market?
  • What are the characteristics of the market: growth trends, units sold, employment? 
  • What factors are influencing growth or decline in the market?
  • Are there any barriers to entering the market? 
  • Are there any government regulations that affect the market? 

    Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Customer analysis questions.

target high-quality customers

Be sure to include the following in your analysis:

  • What is the size of the target customer market?
  • Where are these prospective customers located?
  • What are their desires and needs, and how will your business meet those needs?
  • In descriptive terms, who is your target market? (what motivates them to purchase, what influences their purchasing decisions) 
  • Why will your target customers seek out your business?
  • What trends/purchasing shifts could occur in the market?
  • How will you monitor customer satisfaction? (e.g., surveys, reviews, etc.)

Competitive Analysis Questions

understand their weaknesses to help your company succeed

First, simply focus on your competition and what they are up to.

Address the following:

  • Who are your direct competitors? (e.g., other businesses in your genre) What percentage of market share do they occupy?
  • Who are your indirect competitors? (e.g., other companies that may not be specified in your business’s genre, but provide similar results to that of your business) 
  • What are your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses?
  • What are their products and pricing like?

Then, look into your business’ competitive advantage to describe how your business will be better.

  • Will you offer more or better features?
  • Will you ensure better results for your users?
  • Will you offer better pricing?
  • Will your customer service be more efficient?
  • Will you offer a better overall customer experience?

Marketing Plan Questions

advertising strategy for your organization

A complete plan will include the following marketing plan sections:

  • How will you communicate to your target customers about your product or service?
  • Why are you choosing these specific avenues (e.g., website, Social Media, etc.)?
  • What materials do you have or need, and what will be the cost of this?
  • What do you plan to spend on marketing per prospect and per client?
  • How will you retain existing customers?
  • How will your business attract publicity?
  • What media will you target?
  • How will your product or service be delivered to the market?
  • How might future changes impact your marketing?
  • How will you price your product relative to others in the market to be competitive yet profitable?
  • What type of payment will you accept?
  • Overall, how will your marketing strategy be effective to your target customers?

Operations Plan Questions

operations process for your organization

Consider the following:

  • What equipment is needed, and what is the cost?
  • What are your hours of operation and number of shifts?
  • How many employees will you have?
  • What are the skill sets required when looking to hire new employees?
  • What are your practices for scheduling, managing, and hiring personnel?
  • What are the processes you will use to produce and sell your product or service?
  • What is your purchasing process?
  • How will finished goods be distributed?
  • How will quality be measured and improved over time?
  • What will your procedures to keep track of inventory look like?

Management Team Questions

keep things simple until you have more clients

In this section, answer the following:

  • Who are your founding members and what is their background?
  • Who are your support team members and what are their responsibilities? (include position title, person’s name, and role)
  • Do you offer any ownership options to attract key management?
  • Do you have any Board of Directors?
  • Do you have any outside consultants that will work with your business as it grows?
  • What is your business’ organizational structure? 

Financial Plan Questions

finance projections for the future

Your financial plan should include:

  • Profit & Loss statement 
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
  • Sales volume forecast
  • Personnel plan
  • Break-even analysis

Here, you must gather data and convey just how much money your business will need and how much income you will earn, as well as when your business will be profitable. 

Be sure to consider the following:

  • How were your numbers calculated?
  • Why are the salaries and office expenses you have calculated reasonable to your business?
  • Why are your expense estimates realistic?
  • How have you budgeted for unexpected costs?
  • Is there any debt the business currently has?
  • What is the amount of equity the owners and stockholders have? 
  • What is your annual interest expense?
  • What is the percentage of sales issued for returns? 
  • What is your average daily inventory value?
  • Are you using a fixed or variable inventory method?
  • What is the limit on your line of credit and the average interest rate?
  • What is your minimum checking account balance to have at all times?

Your financial plan should prove that you are informed and knowledgeable on the numbers around your business. It should prove that you are aware of all potential unexpected costs or other out-of-the-blue setbacks. 

Appendix Questions

provide the data to support your plan

Appendices may be anywhere from just a few pages to a hundred or more.

Your appendix can include:

  • Resumes of key management, blurbs on other management members
  • Job descriptions/titles
  • Copies of any agreements having bearing on the business plan
  • Copies of licenses
  • Personal and business tax returns (if applying for a loan)
  • Marketing materials 
  • Photos or sketches of the building, property, equipment, products 
  • Industry studies or other information supporting industry trends
  • Summaries of secondary market studies

Business Plan Questionnaire Conclusion

The above sample survey questionnaire for a business plan should be a guide for you to use as an outline and checklist of items that will need to be addressed in your company’s business plan. Growthink’s fill in the blank business plan includes each of these key elements and more to help your business succeed.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

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Business Plan Template & Guide for Small Businesses

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  • 50 Great business survey questions for your next questionnaire

50 Great business survey questions for your next questionnaire

Eren Eltemur

Trying to expand your business requires a lot of knowledge. Making business decisions, future plans, and strategies is key to achieving success. But the real question is, where should I start? How to obtain this knowledge? We invite you to join this journey with a business survey to achieve this success. Understanding and conducting a business survey is the first step to this success.

For this reason, you will learn what a business survey is in this article. What are the different types of business surveys, and how to evaluate your business through collecting customer opinions, experiences, and suggestions? To get answers to these questions, you must ask the right questions and forms.app gathered 50 survey questions that business owners can use in their business surveys.

  • What is a business survey?

A business survey is a way to gather information from clients and employees through survey questions such as market research questions , demographic questions , customer satisfaction questions , and customer feedback . By employing the right survey, you can get a better understanding of target customers and potential customers and improve your product or service. 

  • 5 Types of business surveys

There are different types of business forms & surveys with specific purposes, and each aims to gather different types of information.  Here we listed some common business survey types for different data-gathering purposes. You can use online surveys and forms to grow your businesses . 

1 - Customer surveys

Customer surveys are types of surveys that focus on gathering various data from customers. Customer retention surveys and customer satisfaction surveys are valuable ways to measure customer satisfaction and how to hold them in a particular brand. This information gathered from customers can be used to improve the products and services. Also, it can be helpful for identifying areas where companies focus their efforts and funds to achieve customer happiness.

Customer Service Satisfaction Survey Template

Customer Service Satisfaction Survey Template

Net Promoter Score Survey

Net Promoter Score Survey

E-commerce Survey

E-commerce Survey

2 - employee surveys.

These types of surveys focus on gathering data from employees to improve the effectiveness and workflow while giving importance to employee happiness. You can use employee satisfaction surveys , employee engagement surveys, exit surveys , or other evaluation surveys to improve your workflow. 

Employee Satisfaction Survey Template

Employee Satisfaction Survey Template

360 Degree Feedback Survey Template

360 Degree Feedback Survey Template

New Hire Orientation Survey

New Hire Orientation Survey

3 - brand recognition.

These types of surveys aim to measure brand awareness . Using brand recognition surveys can be helpful in improvements on brands' marketing and advertising efforts and also measure the effectiveness of former decisions and strategies.

Market Research Survey Template

Market Research Survey Template

Brand Personality Questionnaire Template

Brand Personality Questionnaire Template

Brand Ambassador Application Form Template

Brand Ambassador Application Form Template

4 - product surveys.

Product research surveys focus on product improvement by gathering data from customers and developers. Learning suggestions and opinions on the product beforehand allow businesses to make improvements by identifying errors in product design and functionality. 

Product Research Survey Template

Product Research Survey Template

Product Quality Survey

Product Quality Survey

Pricing Survey

Pricing Survey

5 - market surveys.

Market research surveys are focused on analyzing information on the market, competitors, consumers, and target audience. It gives valuable insights into consumer preferences and market strategies that directly influence overall business planning .

Marketing Strategy Questionnaire

Marketing Strategy Questionnaire

Mobile Banking Survey

Mobile Banking Survey

Concept Testing Survey

Concept Testing Survey

  • 50 business survey questions for your company surveys

In this article, we have gathered 50 great business survey questions for company surveys. You can use these pre-made survey questions to finalize your survey quickly. These questions are focused on different aspects of a company. You can find questions that focus on customers, employees, products, and market research.  

Business survey questions for customer service evaluation

1  - On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the level of customer service in your latest interaction?

2  - Was the customer service representative polite and professional?

3  - How likely are you to use our customer service in the future?

4  - Was the customer service representative able to resolve your issue?

5  - On a scale of 1-10, do you consider contacting the customer service team easy?

6  - What could we change to improve your experience with our customer service?

#1 Business survey question example

#1 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for customer satisfaction

7  - What feature do you appreciate most about our brand?

8  - What do you think are our 3 aspects that need improvement?

9  - How easy was it for you to reach our customer support teams?

10  - Could you easily reach the purchasing platforms of our product?

11  - What is the most important feature that distinguishes us from our competitors?

12  - How satisfied are you with [product/service]?

13  - How likely are you to recommend us to others?

#2 Business survey question example

#2 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for market research

14  - Where did you see and buy our product/service?

15  - Where did you hear about [Product/Service]?

16  - What other brands do you prefer besides us? Why?

17  - Would you recommend us to your friends or family?

18  - What was the biggest reason for you to shop from us?

19  - To what extent do advertisements about the brand affect your purchase?

20  - Are our rates competitive with those of other companies operating in the same industry?

#3 Business survey question example

#3 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for product development

21  - How satisfied are you with the product performance?

22  - What are the features you most like about the product?

23  - Have you encountered any problems or difficulties with the product?

24  - How do our products solve your problems? 

25  - Which feature do you think is necessary to add to improve our product?

26  - How easy or difficult is our product to use?

27  - What influences your purchase more—the item's quality or price?

28  - What should the optimal pricing be?

#4 Business survey question example

#4 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for brand recognition

29  - What is the major motivation for trying this brand for the first time?

30  - Do you have any suggestions about our brand and how we present ourselves to the public?

31  - How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?

32  - Have you heard of our brand before?

33  - How do you think our brand compares to competitors?

34  - What image comes to mind when you hear our company name?

35  - What could we change to enhance your opinion of our brand?

36  - Do you believe that other individuals would quickly recognize and remember our company name?

#5 Business survey question example

#5 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for employee satisfaction

37  - Is your salary satisfying you enough?

38  - Do events at the company motivate you to work harder?

39  - What other activities would you prefer to do?

40  - Do you think your communication with your manager and colleagues is good enough?

41  - Do you think your ideas are valued at work?

42  - Is your job as you dreamed? And do you love doing it?

43  - Do you think your achievements are appreciated enough?

#6 Business survey question example

#6 Business survey question example

Business survey questions for employee evaluation

44  - What motivates you most in your job?

45  - What are your strengths and weaknesses? And how do they affect your profession?

46  - What steps could you take, in your opinion, to enhance your overall job performance?

47  - How pleased are you with the company's prospects for learning and growth?

48  - What was the biggest challenge for you this year? how did you overcome it?

49  - What is the job position you want to work in in the future?

50  - What is your happiest job-related moment?

#7 Business survey question example

#7 Business survey question example

  • Question types to use in your business surveys

The fundamental elements of any online form are form fields. They enable businesses to learn more about the target audience. There are a few different alternatives to use in a survey to create complex and detailed questions. Here is a list of form fields that can be used in business surveys.

Some of the most used form fields include choice questions, such as single selection, multiple selections, picture selection, and selection matrix. Also, you have a variety of text field options, such as short text and long text. And for a more straightforward method, you can also include yes/no questions in your surveys to get definite answers. 

  • Single selection: Enables responders to choose only one option.
  • Multiple selections: Enables responders to choose multiple options. 
  • Picture selections: You can present multiple or single-choice questions with visual options. 
  • Selection matrix: Offers a more straightforward method for responders.
  • Short text: You can use short text if you ask a question that requires manual typing with short answers.
  • Long text: The long text is used for more detailed questions that require manual typing.
  • Yes/No: It is a closed-type question and helps collect definite answers to questions with only two options: yes and no.
  • How to create a business survey

You can create a business survey with forms.app for free. Easily customize your pre-made business survey template. Make use of different features to add multiple layers to your questions. Creating professional and eye-pleasing surveys with forms.app requires no coding knowledge, which is good news. Create your surveys, edit your form fields, and customize your design . Adjust your general settings afterward, and then you can share your business survey right away. To create a business survey, follow these 5 simple steps:

  • Choose a template:  With more than 1000 ready-made templates, you can find the suitable template that matches your needs.
  • Edit your form fields: Edit and personalize your form field and add multiple layered and detailed questions to your surveys with the alternative form fields.
  • Customize the design: Creating eye-pleasing designs with forms.app is an easy task. Choose from themes and change your colors to create a survey that suits your brand colors. 
  • Adjust your general settings: Don't forget to check the general settings. You can find a useful welcome and thank you page there. Also, you can enable CAPTCHA and disable multiple submissions.
  • Publish and Share: You can share your survey with a simple link or use social media sharing options and embed it on your website. 

In conclusion, you can easily create and customize your business survey with these 50 great questions focusing on different types . Use different types of form fields to improve your survey and create professional business surveys with forms.app for free. Here are some pre-made example business surveys for your use. You can either use them directly or customize them to match your taste. 

Company Satisfaction Survey Template

Company Satisfaction Survey Template

Product Satisfaction Questionnaire

Product Satisfaction Questionnaire

Website Feedback Survey Template

Website Feedback Survey Template

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30+ Business Plan Questions & Step-By-Step Business Plan Guide

25 April 2024

Table Of Contents

  • 30+ Business Plan Question s

8 Steps to Creating a Full-Proof Business Plan

  • SurveySparrow: The Best Business Plan Tool

Whether in business, marketing, or sales, you know how crucial a solid business plan is to your success. It’s not just about getting started—it’s about setting a clear direction for growth and innovation. This blog is your first step toward clarity and strategy.

Creating a comprehensive business plan is critical for entrepreneurs and business owners. It serves as a roadmap for your business and helps secure funding from investors and banks.

A well-crafted business plan should address key areas of your business, providing a detailed overview of its objectives, strategies, and financial projections.

Here’s a guide structured around crucial categories, each followed by pertinent business plan questions that will help in developing a robust business plan

30 Critical Business Plan Questions to Ask

Whether you’re steering a startup toward uncharted territories, aiming to elevate an established brand, or driving relentless sales growth, your business plan is the compass that guides your strategy, operations, and financial foresight.

Understanding this, we’ve compiled 30 questions designed to ignite your planning process and refine your business strategy.

Here we go.

Executive Summary

  • What is your business’s mission statement?
  • What products or services does your business offer?
  • Who are the founders, and what is their background?
  • What is the current stage of the business (concept, start-up, expansion)?
  • What are the key financial highlights?

Market Analysis

6. Who is your target market, and how large is it? 7. What are the current trends and growth in your industry? 8. Who are your competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses? 9. How does your business fit into the market? 10. What is your unique value proposition?

Wait, wouldn’t you need a survey to run these questions and gather feedback? What if I told you that you can do that easily with Surveysparrow .

If you’re ready to chart your business path, grab our Free Business Plan Questionnaire Template . Begin your journey to success now.

Sign up for free with your email and start using it right away.

 Marketing and Sales Strategy

11. How will you reach your target market (marketing channels)? 12. What is your pricing strategy? 13. How do you plan to sell your product or service? 14. What is your sales forecast for the first year? 15. How will you measure the success of your marketing efforts?

Operations Plan

16. What is the location of your business, and why? 17. What facilities and equipment do you need? 18. Who are your suppliers, and what are your supply chain logistics? 19. What is the production process? 20. How will you ensure quality control and customer service?

Management and Organization

21. Who makes up the management team, and what are their roles? 22. How does your organizational structure look? 23. What are the backgrounds of your team members? 24. What gaps in expertise or knowledge exist in your team? 25. How will you fill these gaps (hiring, advisors, etc.)?

Financial Plan

26. What are your startup costs? 27. What is your break-even analysis? 28. What are your projected profit and loss statements for the first 1-3 years? 29. What are your cash flow projections? 30. What are the assumptions underlying your financial projections?

By carefully answering these questions, you can construct a thorough business plan that addresses all the critical components needed for your business’s success. Remember, a business plan is not a static document; it should evolve as your business grows and adapts to market changes.

  • A Journey Begins: Identifying the Problem
  • The Voyage of Discovery: Defining Your Customers
  • The Battle Plan: Reaching Your Customers
  • Understanding the Landscape: Identifying Your Competitors
  • The Strategy Map: Outlining Your Operational Plan
  • Charting the Course: Defining Your Business Structure
  • The Guardian of Your Venture: Creating a Risk Management Plan
  • Calculating the Costs: Budgeting and Financial Projections

1. Identify the Problem

Just as any memorable journey starts with a step, every successful business starts with identifying a problem.

The burning question to answer here is: what problem is your business attempting to solve? Remember, the more specific the issue, the better your chances of designing a unique solution that customers will flock to.

2. Define Your Customers

Identifying your target customer is crucial in the business planning process. This involves understanding and defining your potential customers’ specific demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and needs.

By doing this, you can tailor your products, services, and marketing strategies to meet their specific needs. The more precisely you can define your target audience , the more effectively you can serve them and set your business up for success.

3. Reach Your Customers

Now that You’ve discovered your target customers. Now comes the next challenge: How do you reach them?

Consider all possible marketing channels. Will it be social media? Email newsletters? Influencer partnerships? The choice is yours, but ensure it aligns with where your customers spend their time. After all, there’s no point in sending smoke signals if your customers are tuned into the radio.

 4. Identify Your Competitors

Now you have your bearings; it’s time to study the lay of the land. This means understanding your competition. The question is: Who are they, and how do they solve the same problem?

Understanding your competitors will help you differentiate your business and position it uniquely in the market. After all, in the quest for customer loyalty, your unique selling proposition (USP) is your Excalibur.

 5. Outline Your Operational Plan

So, you’ve identified the problem, defined your customers, planned your marketing, and sized up the competition. You’re almost ready to set sail. But first, there’s another significant piece of the business puzzle to put in place: your operational plan.

Your operational plan should include a detailed plan for sourcing deals. Using the Grata data deal sourcing platform can further help streamline this process and ensure you have access to the most relevant and up-to-date information.

How will your business function day-to-day? What resources will you need? Answering these business plan questions will help you create a clear blueprint of your business operations, ensuring your venture runs as smoothly as a well-oiled machine.

6. Define Your Business Structure

One question that’s often overlooked in the excitement of crafting business plans is this: What is your business structure? Sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or LLC ?

Your business structure will significantly affect taxation, liability, and other legalities. It’s like choosing the right ship for your journey – you need one that will safely weather the storms of your entrepreneurial voyage.

7. Create a Risk Management Plan

In the entrepreneurship journey, bumps and detours are part of the course. Having a risk management plan is essential. The business plan question is: What potential obstacles might you face, and how will you mitigate them?

A well-thought-out risk management plan ensures you’re prepared for the challenges ahead.

8. Create Budget and Financial Projections

Now, onto the numbers. What will be the cost of starting and running your business? How soon before you break even? Financial forecasts might seem as daunting as navigating uncharted waters, but they’re vital in answering the essential business-related question : Will your venture be financially viable?

How Can SurveySparrow Help You in Critical Business Planning

With SurveySparrow by your side, you’re never alone in your business planning journey. Its extensive suite of customer and employee experience tools offers invaluable insights to help answer all these key questions in your business plan.

Use SurveySparrow to conduct comprehensive market research, understand customer behavior, and even keep tabs on employee satisfaction. With this trusty tool, you’re well-equipped to answer all your business plan questions, ensuring your entrepreneurial journey is successful.

Here’s how you can do it.

Market Research : SurveySparrow allows you to design and distribute surveys to gather insights about your market. You can explore potential customer needs, preferences, and pain points and evaluate market trends and size, all of which are critical inputs for your business plan.

Customer Segmentation and Profiling : Using SurveySparrow, you can categorize your potential customers based on their preferences, behavior, demographics, and more. This can help you define your target market, tailor your offerings, and devise effective marketing strategies.

Competitor Analysis : By surveying consumers, you can gain insights about your competitors – their strengths, weaknesses, and what customers think of them. This data can be vital in positioning your business uniquely in the market.

Pricing Strategy : You can use surveys to understand what customers are willing to pay for your product or service, helping you devise a suitable pricing strategy.

Risk Assessment : Use surveys to gather feedback about potential risks or barriers to your business. Understanding these risks in advance can help you form strategies to mitigate them.

Employee Engagement : If you plan to have employees, understanding their needs and expectations is crucial for crafting your operations plan and culture. SurveySparrow can assist with gathering employee feedback and gauging engagement .

Product Testing : Before launching, you can use SurveySparrow to get feedback on your product or service. This can help you fine-tune it according to your target market’s needs and preferences.

Financial Projections : The data you gather from customer and market surveys can help inform your sales forecasts and financial projections, key business plan components .

In short, SurveySparrow can offer a wealth of information, helping you answer the critical questions in your business plan. You’re better equipped to create a robust, data-driven business plan by leveraging these tools.

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That’s All of It.

Remember, every successful business starts with a comprehensive business plan. And every comprehensive business plan starts with answering the right questions. So, go ahead and take the plunge. Your entrepreneurial journey awaits, and with SurveySparrow as your co-pilot, you’re set for an exciting voyage.

After all, the sky’s the limit regarding what you can achieve in the business world. Onwards and upwards, future tycoons!

Passionate, eidetic, and a writer at large.

Growth Marketer at SurveySparrow

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20 business survey questions to ask your customers

How to Create a Survey

20 business survey questions to ask your customers

Examples of business survey questions, market research questions, product feedback questions, customer service feedback questions, brand recognition questions.

How can you know if your customers are happy with your products and services and plan to continue purchasing? All you have to do is ask!

Customer surveys are a great way to gather insights that will help you make decisions about the future of your company. The questions you ask will depend on the survey’s purpose. Do you want to research a potential new market or solicit customer feedback? Or maybe you want to measure brand awareness or understand the competitor landscape.

Whatever your goal, keep reading to learn which business survey questions to ask in order to get more meaningful insights.

Goals for business survey questions

“Surveys are an easy and non-intrusive way to get business data that would otherwise be impossible to get,” says Harrison Tanner Baron, CEO and founder of Growth Generators , a digital marketing agency.

When drafting your questions, it’s important to have a clear objective in mind: What does your organization want to achieve by asking these questions? This will help you determine what types of questions to ask, the order in which to ask them, and whom to ask.

Here are some of the most common business survey goals:

  • Learn more about the target audience. Market research surveys that ask questions related to demographics and customer needs help businesses learn more about their customer base and what they want in terms of products and services.

Find out  marketing research survey tips  in our guide.

  • Get insight on a specific product or service. A company that’s releasing a new product or service may launch it for a small audience first and survey their responses to see what can be improved before releasing it into the wider market.
  • Improve customer service. How an organization treats its customers determines whether they choose to come back or not. Business survey questions that seek to understand a customer’s experience can help organizations improve their service processes.
  • Understand their competitive position. Questions around brand recognition help the company see how customers perceive it in the wider market. This can impact branding strategies and marketing approaches.

“Feedback from customers is worth its weight in gold,” says Baron. “Big box stores have surveys on the bottom of their receipts, and online companies automate surveys. The data can help drive more sales, but, more importantly, it can be used to improve the overall customer experience.”

Baron notes that some companies may think customer surveys are a bit invasive. “However, most people are happy to participate for a chance to win a gift card or store credit,” he notes.

“The main drawback of customer surveys is that sometimes customers can give feedback that may be hard for businesses to stomach,” says Baron. It’s important to be open to all kinds of responses — both positive and negative — when conducting customer surveys.

Check it out…

Learn the right questions to ask your customers about products, services, and target audiences, and more.

These types of questions help organizations make decisions about the future direction of their company, such as markets to target or products to develop.

  • What is your most pressing daily challenge?
  • If you had an ideal solution to this problem, what would it look like?
  • Are you more likely to fix the problem yourself or hire someone to do it for you?
  • How likely are you to purchase this product?
  • What do you value most in a product: affordability, quality, or the time it saves?

Questions like these produce valuable insight into how consumers view a product and where it could use some improvements. They can also help businesses project future sales.

  • What surprised you about this product?
  • Does this product live up to your expectations?
  • How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?
  • What do you like least about using this product?
  • If you could change anything about this product, what would it be?

These questions are important because they aid in customer retention efforts and enable businesses to fine-tune their customer service processes.

  • How would you rate your experience at our store today?
  • How likely are you to return to our e-commerce store?
  • Will you recommend our business to a friend?
  • Did the customer service representative resolve your issue effectively?
  • If you could change anything about your experience today, what would it be?

Organizations ask these questions to see where they stand in the industry, how they can improve their image, and how they can become more memorable.

  • Which company is the leader in this industry?
  • What is the most memorable marketing campaign you’ve seen in this industry?
  • Why would you choose a certain business over another in this industry?
  • Do you view our organization as an expert in this industry?
  • What is more valuable to you when choosing a business: name recognition or price point?

Business survey questions with Jotform

Ready to create your own business survey ? Baron notes that good business survey questions can help your organization make more money by uncovering what your target audience wants.

Jotform has you covered with thousands of form and survey templates for a wide array of business needs , including tax forms, demographic surveys, job applications, and many more. Each survey template is fully customizable, so you can edit the content, colors, and logos to create an attractive-looking survey that will help you meet your business goals.

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What Is a Business Survey Question? Definition, Importance & Examples

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Many entrepreneurs aim to scale their businesses, often turning to expensive consultants and time-consuming PR efforts.

But what if I told you there’s a simpler, more cost-effective way?

Enter business surveys! These powerful tools allow you to gather feedback from those who matter most to your business, helping you make informed decisions and save valuable time and resources.

In this post, discover the benefits of business survey questions and how they can fast-track your business growth.

But first, here’s a quick video tutorial to get you started:

Watch: How to Create a Survey Using ProProfs Survey Maker

What Are Business Survey Questions?

Business survey questions are simply questions designed to gather feedback, opinions, or data from various stakeholders involved in a business’s operations, products, services, and/or market.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

These questionnaires help you form growth strategies by analyzing meaningful insights about market trends, employees, and customer behaviors. They can cover a wide range of topics, including customer satisfaction , employee feedback , product feedback , market research , and more.

Business survey questions are pivotal in ensuring that you don’t invest time and resources in developing products or services that don’t meet your audience’s needs.

By prioritizing customer needs from the outset, your efforts are focused on creating valuable solutions tailored to their requirements.

Examples of Business Survey Questions for Your Questionnaire

Now that we have discovered what business survey questions are, let’s explore some examples of questions categorized by types that you can use in your business survey questionnaire.

Business Survey Questions for Product/Service Feedback

A product survey is the best way for businesses to learn what customers think about their products. Conducting such surveys before launching a product lets you analyze the market demands and customers’ needs. 

Similarly, asking these questions from your existing customer base will help you understand how customers are enjoying their experience and how the product can be improved further.

Sample questions to ask customers about your products and services:

  • How often do you use [product name]?
  • Which features of the [product name] are most valuable to you?
  • How would you compare [product name] to our competitors?
  • Are there any features missing on [product name]?
  • What are you trying to solve by using [product name]?
  • What other types of people do you think could find [product name] useful?
  • How easy is it to use [product name]?
  • Would you rate the product/service as “value for money”?
  • How likely are you to recommend [product name]to others?
  • How could we improve [product name] to better meet your needs?

Business Survey Questions for Market Research

Learning about the market and competitors is crucial for business success. The best way to do this is by asking the right market research questions . This way, you can identify opportunities to improve your business strategies, operations, and product planning.

Sample questions to ask about the target market and competitors:

  • What is the first brand you think of when purchasing an XYZ product? 
  • How favorable is our brand to you? 
  • What aspects can we improve on our existing product? 
  • Are there any other brands that offer similar services you’re currently using or planning to use?
  • Which features do you like the most on [COMPETITOR’S PRODUCT]?
  • What features would drive you to switch to a similar product?
  • Can you think of any other brand offering what you want? 
  • Could you share your views on your dream product?
  • Did we solve all your support problems?
  • Can we help you get started using XYZ’s product or service?
  • Were you satisfied with our promptness and support?
  • Would you be willing to recommend us to your friends, family, or colleagues?
  • On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate your experience with us?
  • Are you willing to buy from us again?

Business Survey Questions to Evaluate Customer Service

Exceptional customer service plays a vital role in maintaining and strengthening business-customer relationships. Based on the type of your business, you can get a pulse on your customer service by asking the following business questions:

  • When interacting with our company recently, were you pleased with the level of support you received?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how courteous or uncourteous would you say our service/support team member was?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how knowledgeable or unknowledgeable would you say our service/support team member was?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how effective or ineffective was the service/support team member’s communication?
  • How friendly was our service member while assisting you?
  • How satisfied are you with the responsiveness of our customer service team?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the professionalism of our customer service representatives?
  • Did our customer service team adequately address your concerns or inquiries?
  • Did our customer service team meet your expectations in resolving your issue or query?

Business Survey Questions to Measure Customer Satisfaction

These questions are all about getting to the heart of how satisfied your customers are with your products or services. They’ll give you a clear picture of what’s working well and where you might need to make some improvements to keep those smiles coming!

Sample questions to include in a customer satisfaction survey :

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your product experience?
  • How likely are you to recommend [product name] to others?
  • Rate your satisfaction with our [team name] in resolving this issue for you.
  • Do you feel that our support team has answered your inquiry immediately?
  • Is your issue completely resolved?
  • How likely are you to purchase again from us in the future?
  • How likely are you to return to our website?
  • In your own words, describe how you feel about [product name].
  • Do you think our employees can do better?
  • How can we improve your experience with [product name]?
  • What made you choose [product name] over a competitor’s?
  • Please share any additional comments or feedback for us.

Business Survey Questions to Calculate Customer Effort

A customer effort score survey aims at capturing the information about whether customers find it easy/useful to interact with your brand/product or not. You can leverage an online survey tool to access a wide range of ready-made survey templates and question types to effectively create a survey .

Sample business questions to include in a CES survey are:

  • How easy did you find our product to navigate?
  • How easy was it to find the information or service you were looking for on our website?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how much effort did you have to exert to resolve your issue with our product/service?
  • To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “Our business app is really easy to use”?
  • If we could do anything – what do you think we could do to make this app easier to use?
  • Did you encounter any obstacles or difficulties while navigating our website or using our product/service?
  • How likely are you to recommend our company to others based on your recent interaction?
  • Overall, how satisfied are you with the level of effort required to complete your recent transaction with us?

Business Survey Questions to Retain Customers

Retaining customers is crucial for every business as acquiring new customers could cost up to 5 times more than retaining the existing ones. 

The longer customers stay with you, the more loyal they tend to become to your brand. Customer loyalty is the basis of repeat business. Thus, businesses can leverage customer retention surveys that help them measure how loyal their customers are towards their brand. 

Example questions to ask customers about brand loyalty:

  • Does the product help you achieve your business goals? 
  • If you could change one thing about [this product], what would it be? 
  • How would you rate your experience with [this product]? 
  • How well does [this product] meet your needs? 
  • How likely are you to recommend [this product/brand] to your family and friends?
  • How satisfied are you with the overall value you receive from using our product/service?
  • Have you encountered any challenges or limitations when using our product/service? If so, please specify.
  • How likely are you to continue using our product/service in the future?
  • How responsive and helpful do you find our customer support team when addressing your concerns or issues?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to renew your subscription or purchase from us again?

Business Survey Questions to Uncover Customer Issues

The questions in this survey help pinpoint any concerns or challenges your customers might be facing. By asking the right questions, you can uncover issues and address them promptly, ensuring a positive customer experience.

Sample questions you can ask to discover any challenges your customers may be facing:

  • Have you encountered any difficulties or frustrations while using our product/service?
  • What improvements would you like to see in our product/service?
  • How likely are you to recommend our company to others based on your recent experience?
  • Did our product/service meet your expectations? Why or why not?
  • Have you experienced any technical issues or glitches while using our product/service?
  • How satisfied are you with the level of customer support you received?
  • Are there any features or functionalities missing from our product/service that you would find beneficial?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to continue using our product/service in the future?
  • Can you share any specific instances where our product/service did not meet your needs?
  • What can we do to improve your experience with our product/service?

Business Survey Questions to Collect Employee Feedback

Employees are an invaluable part of a business’s journey, and it’s incredibly important to find out their satisfaction levels with their workplace. Employee feedback questions can provide valuable information about workplace satisfaction, communication, and areas for improvement.

By listening to your employees and addressing their feedback, you can create a positive work environment, boost morale, and increase productivity.

Example questions to ask employees about their overall feedback:

  • How satisfied are you with your current role within the company?
  • Do you feel that your ideas and opinions are valued by your team and management?
  • How would you rate the communication channels within the company?
  • Are you satisfied with the training and development opportunities provided by the company?
  • Do you feel motivated and engaged in your work?
  • How supported do you feel by your immediate supervisor or manager?
  • Are there any obstacles or challenges hindering your productivity at work?
  • How satisfied are you with the work-life balance offered by the company?
  • What changes or improvements would you like to see in the workplace environment?
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?

Business Survey Questions to Create a Customer Success Story

The questions in this survey are tailored to capture success stories from your customers. These stories can be powerful tools for marketing and building brand credibility.

By showcasing real-life examples of how your product or service has benefited customers, you can attract new customers, build trust, and strengthen your brand reputation.

Questions you can ask to create a customer success story:

  • Can you share a specific experience where our product/service helped you achieve a significant goal or overcome a challenge?
  • How has our product/service positively impacted your business or life?
  • What specific features or aspects of our product/service do you find most valuable?
  • Can you provide an example of how our product/service has saved you time or money?
  • How likely are you to recommend our product/service to others based on your experience?
  • Can you share any measurable results or improvements you’ve seen since using our product/service?
  • What initially attracted you to our product/service, and how has it met your expectations?
  • Would you be willing to share your success story with others through a case study or testimonial?
  • Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experience with our product/service?

 Business Survey Examples to Capture Lead Data

Lead data survey questions aim to capture valuable lead data from potential customers through queries on their needs, preferences, and purchase intent. This data can help you tailor your marketing efforts, nurture leads effectively, and ultimately increase conversions and sales.

Example questions to include in a lead data capture survey:

  • What prompted you to visit our website or engage with our brand?
  • Which products or services are you most interested in learning more about?
  • How soon do you plan to make a purchase or decision regarding [specific product or service]?
  • What factors are most important to you when choosing a [product/service] provider?
  • Have you previously used similar products/services from another provider? If so, please specify.
  • What challenges or pain points are you currently experiencing that [specific product or service] could address?
  • Are you the decision-maker for purchasing [specific product or service] within your organization?
  • How did you hear about our company or discover our products/services?
  • Would you be interested in receiving more information or updates about our products/services via email?
  • Can you provide any additional comments or feedback about your needs or preferences?

 Business Survey Questions for Brand Awareness

For businesses to be successful, it is important to keep an eye on how their target audience perceives their brand. A good brand awareness survey includes questions that help to gauge the audiences’ overall brand perception and sentiments. 

Sample business questions you can use are:

  • When you think of [brand name], what comes to your mind?
  • How likely are you to recommend [brand name] to your friends?
  • Do you enjoy using products offered by [brand name]?
  • How would you describe your latest experience with [brand name]?
  • Why do you buy from [brand name]?
  • What unique value does our product offer?
  • What kind of brand appeals to you the most?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate our brand in terms of customer experience?
  • How well are you familiar with the products from [brand name]?
  • When was the first time you heard about [brand name]?
  • How often do you come in contact with [brand name]?
  • When was the last time you used a product from [brand name]?

 Business Survey Questions for Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis questions gather insights about your competitors and the broader market landscape. By asking questions about competitor awareness, strengths, weaknesses, and market trends, you can gain valuable intelligence to inform your strategic decision-making. 

Understanding your competitors can help you identify areas for differentiation, anticipate market changes, and stay ahead of the competition.

Example questions to include in this survey:

  • How aware are you of our competitors in the market?
  • Which competitors do you consider to be our main rivals?
  • How would you rate our brand compared to our competitors in terms of quality?
  • What do you perceive as our main strengths compared to our competitors?
  • In what areas do you believe our competitors outperform us?
  • Have you ever considered switching to a competitor’s product/service? If so, why?
  • What factors influence your decision when choosing between our brand and our competitors?
  • How do you typically research or compare different options before making a purchase decision?
  • What do you think our competitors do better than us in terms of marketing or customer service?
  • Are there any emerging competitors in the market that you think we should be aware of?

 Business Survey Questions to Measure Customer Loyalty

Gauging customer loyalty is a big part of expanding as a business, and Net Promoter Score surveys have been made just for that! These surveys basically consist of two parts: a rating question and a follow-up open-ended question to know the reason behind the given rating. 

Based on the scores, NPS calculation is done and the respondents are categorized into Promoters (scores 9-10), Passives (scores 7-8), and Detractors scores (0- 6).

Net Promoter Score (NPS) Questions

Rating question: 

“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our [business/ product/service] to a friend or colleague?”

Depending upon the context, you can include the name of a brand, product, or service in the classic NPS question to collect relevant responses. 

Open-ended questions : 

“What is the primary reason for your score?”

After asking your customers to rate you, you can personalize the standard follow-up question based on their response (positive, neutral, or negative), such as:

  • What was missing or disappointing in your experience with our [business/ product/service]?
  • How can we improve your experience?
  • Which features are the most valuable for your business?
  • What do you like the most/least about [business/ product/service]?
  • How does our product meet your business needs?
  • What business problems are you trying to solve with our product?
  • Why did you opt for our [business/ product/service] over our competition?

How to Create a Business Survey with ProProfs Survey Maker?

It’s incredibly easy to create a business survey with ProProfs Survey Maker. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the steps:

Step 1 : After creating an account/logging in, go to your ProProfs Survey Maker Dashboard , click + Create a Survey .

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Step 2: Click on the + Create from Scratch button to get started. You can also choose to click on the Create button, as shown.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Step 3: You’ll arrive in the editor where you can add several elements to your survey like questions, themes, branding, logo , and so on. Click More >> Popular Settings where you can choose the number of questions per page in a survey. You can also select the order of questions and answers that you want to display to each respondent.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Step 4: Add questions by selecting the question type from the dropdown menu. Click Preview to see how the survey will appear to the viewer.

Once you’ve created the survey and are happy about the way it looks, click Done . 

Congratulations, your survey is ready to use!

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Or, if you want a quick survey without any effort on your part at all, simply click Generate with ProProfs AI.

You can define the survey topic (100 characters max), provide a supporting description (200 characters max), and choose the question type and quantity from dropdown menus.

Scale Your Business with the Right Business Survey Questions 

By all appearances, collecting feedback is the most vital aspect of making intelligent and informed decisions about your company’s products and services. Knowing your customers’ concerns will help you resolve them at the earliest. 

This way, you can ensure that your audience has an engaging experience each time they interact with your business. After all, no matter how big you are, you still need to improve.

Therefore, creating business surveys with the right set of business survey questions lays the foundation to steer your business toward success.  Regardless of business size, online survey tools such as ProProfs Survey Maker can help you create and share business surveys with the right audience.

Take a quick free tour of the product, or schedule a free personalized demo today!

Emma David

About the author

Emma David is a seasoned market research professional with 8+ years of experience. Having kick-started her journey in research, she has developed rich expertise in employee engagement, survey creation and administration, and data management. Emma believes in the power of data to shape business performance positively. She continues to help brands and businesses make strategic decisions and improve their market standing through her understanding of research methodologies.

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Survey animation

90 Survey Question Examples + Best Practices Checklist

What makes a good survey question, what is the importance of asking the right questions, 9 types of survey questions + examples, how to conduct surveys effectively, make surveys easier with fullsession, fullsession pricing plans, install your first website survey today, faqs about survey questions.

An effective survey is the best way to collect customer feedback. It will serve as your basis for multiple functions, such as improving your product, supplementing market research, creating new marketing strategies, and much more. But what makes an effective survey?

The answer is simple–you have to ask the right questions. Good survey questions gather concrete information from your audience and give you a solid idea of what you need to do next. However, the process of creating a survey is not that easy–you want to make every question count.

In this article we’ll cover everything you need to know about survey questions, with 90 examples and use cases.

Understanding the anatomy of a good survey question can transform your approach to data collection, ensuring you gather information that’s both actionable and insightful. Let’s dive deeper into the elements that make a survey question effective:

  • Clarity is Key:  Questions should be straightforward and leave no room for interpretation, ensuring uniform understanding across all respondents.
  • Conciseness Matters:  Keep questions short and to the point. Avoid unnecessary wording that could confuse or disengage your audience.
  • Bias-Free Questions:  Ensure questions are neutral and do not lead respondents toward a particular answer. This maintains the integrity of your data.
  • Avoiding Ambiguity:  Specify the context clearly and ask questions in a way that allows for direct and clear answers, eliminating confusion.
  • Ensuring Relevance:  Each question should have a clear purpose and be directly related to your survey’s objectives, avoiding any irrelevant inquiries.
  • Easy to Answer:  Design questions in a format that is straightforward for respondents to understand and respond to, whether open-ended, multiple-choice, or using a rating scale.

Keep these points in mind as you prepare to write your survey questions. It also helps to refer back to these goals after drafting your survey so you can see if you hit each mark.

The primary goal of a survey is to collect information that would help meet a specific goal, whether that be gauging customer satisfaction or getting to know your target audience more. Asking the right survey questions is the best way to achieve that goal. More specifically, a good survey can help you with:

Informed Decision-Making

A solid foundation of data is essential for any business decision, and the right survey questions point you in the direction of the most valuable information.

Survey responses serve as a basis for the strategic decisions that can propel a business forward or redirect its course to avoid potential pitfalls. By understanding what your audience truly wants or needs, you can tailor your products or services to meet those demands more effectively.

Uncovering Customer Preferences

Today’s consumers have more options than ever before, and their preferences can shift with the wind. Asking the right survey questions helps you tap into the current desires of their target market, uncovering trends and preferences that may not be immediately obvious.

This insight allows you to adapt your products, services, and marketing messages to resonate more deeply with the target audience, fostering loyalty and encouraging engagement.

Identifying Areas for Improvement

No product, service, or customer experience is perfect, but the path to improvement lies in understanding where the gaps are. The right survey questions can shine a light on these areas, offering a clear view of what’s working and what’s not.

This feedback is invaluable for continuous improvement, helping you refine your products and enhance the customer experience. In turn, this can lead to increased satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth.

Reducing Churn Rate

Churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop using your service or product over a given period. High churn rates can be a symptom of deeper issues, such as dissatisfaction with the product or service, poor customer experience, or unmet needs. Including good survey questions can help you identify the reasons behind customer departure and take proactive steps to address them.

For example, survey questions that explore customer satisfaction levels, reasons for discontinuation, or the likelihood of recommending the service to others can pinpoint specific factors contributing to churn.

Minimizing Website Bounce Rate

Bounce rate  is the percentage of visitors leaving a website after viewing just one page. High bounce rates may signal issues with a site’s content, layout, or user experience not meeting visitor expectations.

Utilizing surveys to ask about visitors’ web experiences can provide valuable insights into website usability, content relevance, and navigation ease. Effectively, well-crafted survey questions aimed at understanding the user experience can lead to strategic adjustments, improving overall website performance, and fostering a more engaged audience.

three people filling out a feedback form animated picture

A good survey consists of two or more types of survey questions. However, all questions must serve a purpose. In this section, we divide survey questions into nine categories and include the best survey question examples for each type:

1. Open Ended Questions

Open-ended questions  allow respondents to answer in their own words instead of selecting from pre-selected answers.

“What features would you like to see added to our product?”

“How did you hear about our service?”

“What was your reason for choosing our product over competitors?”

“Can you describe your experience with our customer service?”

“What improvements can we make to enhance your user experience?”

“Why did you cancel your subscription?”

“What challenges are you facing with our software?”

“How can we better support your goals?”

“What do you like most about our website?”

“Can you provide feedback on our new product launch?”

When to use open-ended questions: Using these survey questions is a good idea when you don’t have a solid grasp of customer satisfaction yet. Customers will have the freedom to express all their thoughts and opinions, which, in turn, will let you have an accurate feel of how customers perceive your brand.

2. Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple-choice questions offer a set of predefined answers, usually three to four. Businesses usually use multiple-choice survey questions to gather information on participants’ attitudes, behaviors, and preferences.

“Which of the following age groups do you fall into? (Under 18, 19-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, 56+)”

“What is your primary use of our product? (Personal, Business, Educational)”

“How often do you use our service? (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely)”

“Which of our products do you use? (Product A, Product B, Product C, All of the above)”

“What type of content do you prefer? (Blogs, Videos, Podcasts, eBooks)”

“Where do you usually shop for our products? (Online, In-store, Both)”

“What is your preferred payment method? (Credit Card, PayPal, Bank Transfer, Cash)”

“Which social media platforms do you use regularly? (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn)”

“What is your employment status? (Employed, Self-Employed, Unemployed, Student)”

“Which of the following best describes your fitness level? (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert)”

When to use multiple-choice questions: Asking multiple-choice questions can help with market research and segmentation. You can easily divide respondents depending on what pre-determined answer they choose. However, if this is the purpose of your survey, each question must be based on behavioral types or customer personas.

3. Yes or No Questions

Yes or no questions are straightforward, offering a binary choice.

“Have you used our product before?”

“Would you recommend our service to a friend?”

“Are you satisfied with your purchase?”

“Do you understand the terms and conditions?”

“Was our website easy to navigate?”

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Are you interested in receiving our newsletter?”

“Have you attended one of our events?”

“Do you agree with our privacy policy?”

“Have you experienced any issues with our service?”

When to use yes/no questions: These survey questions are very helpful in market screening and filtering out certain people for targeted surveys. For example, asking “Have you used our product before?” helps you separate the people who have tried out your product, a.k.a. the people who qualify for your survey.

4. Rating Scale Questions

Rating scale questions ask respondents to rate their experience or satisfaction on a numerical scale.

“On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate our customer service?”

“How satisfied are you with the product quality? (1-5)”

“Rate your overall experience with our website. (1-5)”

“How likely are you to purchase again? (1-10)”

“On a scale of 1-10, how easy was it to find what you needed?”

“Rate the value for money of your purchase. (1-5)”

“How would you rate the speed of our service? (1-10)”

“Rate your satisfaction with our return policy. (1-5)”

“How comfortable was the product? (1-10)”

“Rate the accuracy of our product description. (1-5)”

When to use rating scale questions: As you can see from the survey question examples above, rating scale questions give you excellent  quantitative data  on customer satisfaction.

5. Checkbox Questions

Checkbox questions allow respondents to select multiple answers from a list. You can also include an “Others” option, where the respondent can answer in their own words.

“Which of the following features do you value the most? (Select all that apply)”

“What topics are you interested in? (Select all that apply)”

“Which days are you available? (Select all that apply)”

“Select the services you have used. (Select all that apply)”

“What types of notifications would you like to receive? (Select all that apply)”

“Which of the following devices do you own? (Select all that apply)”

“Select any dietary restrictions you have. (Select all that apply)”

“Which of the following brands have you heard of? (Select all that apply)”

“What languages do you speak? (Select all that apply)”

“Select the social media platforms you use regularly. (Select all that apply)”

When to use checkbox questions: Checkbox questions are an excellent tool for collecting  psychographic data , including information about customers’ lifestyles, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, etc. Moreover, survey responses will help you correlate certain characteristics to specific market segments.

6. Rank Order Questions

Rank order questions ask respondents to prioritize options according to their preference or importance.

“Rank the following features in order of importance to you. (Highest to Lowest)”

“Please rank these product options based on your preference. (1 being the most preferred)”

“Rank these factors by how much they influence your purchase decision. (Most to Least)”

“Order these services by how frequently you use them. (Most frequent to Least frequent)”

“Rank these issues by how urgently you think they need to be addressed. (Most urgent to Least urgent)”

“Please prioritize these company values according to what matters most to you. (Top to Bottom)”

“Rank these potential improvements by how beneficial they would be for you. (Most beneficial to Least beneficial)”

“Order these content types by your interest level. (Most interested to Least interested)”

“Rank these brands by your preference. (Favorite to Least favorite)”

“Prioritize these activities by how enjoyable you find them. (Most enjoyable to Least enjoyable)”

When to use rank order questions: Respondents must already be familiar with your brand or products to answer these questions, which is why we recommend using these for customers in the middle or bottom of your  conversion funnel .

Checklist of items animated

7. Likert Scale Questions

Likert scale questions measure the intensity of feelings towards a statement on a scale of agreement or satisfaction. Usually, these survey questions use a 5 to 7-point scale, ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” or something similar.

  • “I am satisfied with the quality of customer service. (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree)”
  • “The product meets my needs. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “I find the website easy to navigate. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “I feel that the pricing is fair for the value I receive. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “I would recommend this product/service to others. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “I am likely to purchase from this company again. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “The company values customer feedback. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “I am confident in the security of my personal information. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “The product features meet my expectations. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”
  • “Customer service resolved my issue promptly. (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)”

When to use Likert scale questions: You can use these survey question examples in different types of surveys, such as customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys. Likert scale questions give you precise measurements of how satisfied respondents are with a specific aspect of your product or service.

8. Matrix Survey Questions

Matrix survey questions allow respondents to evaluate multiple items using the same set of response options. Many companies combine matrix survey questions with Likert scales to make the survey easier to do.

  • “Please rate the following aspects of our service. (Customer support, Product quality, Delivery speed)”
  • “Evaluate your level of satisfaction with these website features. (Search functionality, Content relevance, User interface)”
  • “Rate the importance of the following factors in your purchasing decision. (Price, Brand, Reviews)”
  • “Assess your agreement with these statements about our company. (Innovative, Ethical, Customer-focused)”
  • “Rate your satisfaction with these aspects of our product. (Ease of use, Durability, Design)”
  • “Evaluate these aspects of our mobile app. (Performance, Security, Features)”
  • “Rate how well each of the following describes our brand. (Trustworthy, Innovative, Responsive)”
  • “Assess your satisfaction with these elements of our service. (Responsiveness, Accuracy, Friendliness)”
  • “Rate the effectiveness of these marketing channels for you. (Email, Social Media, Print Ads)”
  • “Evaluate your agreement with these workplace policies. (Flexibility, Diversity, Wellness initiatives)”

When to use matrix survey questions: Ask matrix survey questions when you want to make your survey more convenient to answer, as they allow multiple questions on various topics without repeating options. This is particularly helpful when you want to cover many points of interest in one survey.

9. Demographic Questions

Lastly, demographic questions collect basic information about respondents, aiding in data segmentation and analysis.

  • “What is your age?”
  • “What is your gender? (Male, Female, Prefer not to say, Other)”
  • “What is your highest level of education completed?”
  • “What is your employment status? (Employed, Self-employed, Unemployed, Student)”
  • “What is your household income range?”
  • “What is your marital status? (Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed)”
  • “How many people live in your household?”
  • “What is your ethnicity?”
  • “In which city and country do you currently reside?”
  • “What is your occupation?”

When to use demographic questions: From the survey question examples, you can easily tell that these questions aim to collect information on your respondents’ backgrounds, which will be helpful in creating buyer personas and improving market segmentation.

Checklist pointer arrow on tablet held in hands animation

Surveys can help you accomplish many things for your business, but only if you do it right. Creating the perfect survey isn’t just about crafting the best survey questions, you also have to:

1. Define Your Objectives

Before crafting your survey, be clear about what you want to achieve. Whether it’s understanding customer satisfaction, gauging interest in a new product, or collecting feedback on services, having specific objectives will guide your survey design and ensure you ask the right questions.

2. Know Your Audience

Understanding who your respondents are will help tailor the survey to their interests and needs, increasing the likelihood of participation. Consider demographics, behaviors, and preferences to make your survey relevant and engaging to your target audience.

3. Choose the Right Type of Survey Questions

Utilize a mix of the nine types of survey questions to gather a wide range of data. Balance open-ended questions for qualitative insights with closed-ended questions for easy-to-analyze quantitative data. Ensure each question aligns with your objectives and is clear and concise.

4. Keep It Short and Simple (KISS)

Respondents are more likely to complete shorter surveys. Aim for a survey that takes 5-10 minutes to complete, focusing on essential questions only. A straightforward and intuitive survey design encourages higher response rates.

5. Use Simple Language

Avoid technical jargon, complex words, or ambiguous terms. The language should be accessible to all respondents, ensuring that questions are understood as intended.

6. Ensure Anonymity and Confidentiality

Assure respondents that their answers are anonymous and their data will be kept confidential. This assurance can increase the honesty and accuracy of the responses you receive.

7. Test Your Survey

Pilot your survey with a small group before full deployment. This testing phase can help identify confusing questions, technical issues, or any other aspects of the survey that might hinder response quality or quantity.

8. Choose the Right Distribution Channels

Select the most effective channels to reach your target audience. This could be via email, social media, your website, or in-app notifications, depending on where your audience is most active and engaged.

9. Offer Incentives

Consider offering incentives to increase participation rates. Incentives can range from discounts, entry into a prize draw, or access to exclusive content. Ensure the incentive is relevant and appealing to your target audience.

10. Analyze and Act on the Data

After collecting the responses, analyze the data to extract meaningful insights. Use these insights to make informed decisions, implement changes, or develop strategies that align with your objectives. Sharing key findings and subsequent actions with respondents can also demonstrate the value of their feedback and encourage future participation.

11. Follow Up

Consider following up with respondents after the survey, especially if you promised to share results or if you’re conducting longitudinal studies. A follow-up can reinforce their importance to your research and maintain engagement over time.

12. Iterate and Improve

Surveys are not a one-time activity. Regularly conducting surveys and iterating based on previous feedback and results can help you stay aligned with your audience’s changing needs and preferences.

Checklist of items animated

These survey question examples are a great place to start in creating efficient and effective surveys. Why not take it a step further by integrating a  customer feedback tool  on your website?

FullSession  lets you collect instant visual feedback with an intuitive in-app survey. With this tool, you can:

  • Build unique surveys
  • Target feedback based on users’ devices or specific pages
  • Measure survey responses

Aside from FullSession’s customer feedback tool, you also gain access to:

  • Interactive heat maps: A  website heat map  shows you which items are gaining the most attention and which ones are not, helping you optimize UI and UX.
  • Session recordings: Watch  replays  or live sessions to see how users are navigating your website and pinpoint areas for improvement.
  • Funnels and conversions: Analyze funnel data to figure out what’s causing  funnel drops  and what contributes to successful conversions.

fullsession pricing image

The FullSession platform offers a  14-day free trial.  It provides two paid plans—Basic and Business. Here are more details on each plan.

  • The Basic plan costs $39/month and allows you to monitor up to 5,000 monthly sessions.
  • The Business plan costs $149/month and helps you to track and analyze up to 25,000 monthly sessions.
  • The Enterprise plan starts from 100,000 monthly sessions and has custom pricing.

If you need more information, you can  get a demo.

It takes less than 5 minutes to set up your first website or app survey form, with  FullSession , and it’s completely free!

How many questions should I include in my survey?

Aim for 10-15 questions to keep surveys short and engaging, ideally taking 5-10 minutes to complete. Focus on questions that directly support your objectives.

How can I ensure my survey questions are not biased?

Use neutral language, avoid assumptions, balance answer choices, and pre-test your survey with a diverse group to identify and correct biases.

How do I increase my survey response rate?

To boost response rates, ensure your survey is concise and relevant to the audience. Use engaging questions, offer incentives where appropriate, and communicate the value of respondents’ feedback. Choose the right distribution channels to reach your target audience effectively.

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Survey questions 101: 70+ survey question examples, types of surveys, and FAQs

How well do you understand your prospects and customers—who they are, what keeps them awake at night, and what brought them to your business in search of a solution? Asking the right survey questions at the right point in their customer journey is the most effective way to put yourself in your customers’ shoes.

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survey questionnaire for business plan example

This comprehensive intro to survey questions contains over 70 examples of effective questions, an overview of different types of survey questions, and advice on how to word them for maximum effect. Plus, we’ll toss in our pre-built survey templates, expert survey insights, and tips to make the most of AI for Surveys in Hotjar. ✨

Surveying your users is the simplest way to understand their pain points, needs, and motivations. But first, you need to know how to set up surveys that give you the answers you—and your business—truly need. Impactful surveys start here:

❓ The main types of survey questions : most survey questions are classified as open-ended, closed-ended, nominal, Likert scale, rating scale, and yes/no. The best surveys often use a combination of questions.

💡 70+ good survey question examples : our top 70+ survey questions, categorized across ecommerce, SaaS, and publishing, will help you find answers to your business’s most burning questions

✅ What makes a survey question ‘good’ : a good survey question is anything that helps you get clear insights and business-critical information about your customers 

❌ The dos and don’ts of writing good survey questions : remember to be concise and polite, use the foot-in-door principle, alternate questions, and test your surveys. But don’t ask leading or loaded questions, overwhelm respondents with too many questions, or neglect other tools that can get you the answers you need.

👍 How to run your surveys the right way : use a versatile survey tool like Hotjar Surveys that allows you to create on-site surveys at specific points in the customer journey or send surveys via a link

🛠️ 10 use cases for good survey questions : use your survey insights to create user personas, understand pain points, measure product-market fit, get valuable testimonials, measure customer satisfaction, and more

Use Hotjar to build your survey and get the customer insight you need to grow your business.

6 main types of survey questions

Let’s dive into our list of survey question examples, starting with a breakdown of the six main categories your questions will fall into:

Open-ended questions

Closed-ended questions

Nominal questions

Likert scale questions

Rating scale questions

'Yes' or 'no' questions

1. Open-ended survey questions

Open-ended questions  give your respondents the freedom to  answer in their own words , instead of limiting their response to a set of pre-selected choices (such as multiple-choice answers, yes/no answers, 0–10 ratings, etc.). 

Examples of open-ended questions:

What other products would you like to see us offer?

If you could change just one thing about our product, what would it be?

When to use open-ended questions in a survey

The majority of example questions included in this post are open-ended, and there are some good reasons for that:

Open-ended questions help you learn about customer needs you didn’t know existed , and they shine a light on areas for improvement that you may not have considered before. If you limit your respondents’ answers, you risk cutting yourself off from key insights.

Open-ended questions are very useful when you first begin surveying your customers and collecting their feedback. If you don't yet have a good amount of insight, answers to open-ended questions will go a long way toward educating you about who your customers are and what they're looking for.

There are, however, a few downsides to open-ended questions:

First, people tend to be less likely to respond to open-ended questions in general because they take comparatively more effort to answer than, say, a yes/no one

Second, but connected: if you ask consecutive open-ended questions during your survey, people will get tired of answering them, and their answers might become less helpful the more you ask

Finally, the data you receive from open-ended questions will take longer to analyze compared to easy 1-5 or yes/no answers—but don’t let that stop you. There are plenty of shortcuts that make it easier than it looks (we explain it all in our post about how to analyze open-ended questions , which includes a free analysis template.)

💡 Pro tip: if you’re using Hotjar Surveys, let our AI for Surveys feature analyze your open-ended survey responses for you. Hotjar AI reviews all your survey responses and provides an automated summary report of key findings, including supporting quotes and actionable recommendations for next steps.

2. Closed-ended survey questions

Closed-end questions limit a user’s response options to a set of pre-selected choices. This broad category of questions includes

‘Yes’ or ‘no’ questions

When to use closed-ended questions

Closed-ended questions work brilliantly in two scenarios:

To open a survey, because they require little time and effort and are therefore easy for people to answer. This is called the foot-in-the-door principle: once someone commits to answering the first question, they may be more likely to answer the open-ended questions that follow.

When you need to create graphs and trends based on people’s answers. Responses to closed-ended questions are easy to measure and use as benchmarks. Rating scale questions, in particular (e.g. where people rate customer service or on a scale of 1-10), allow you to gather customer sentiment and compare your progress over time.

3. Nominal questions

A nominal question is a type of survey question that presents people with multiple answer choices; the answers are  non-numerical in nature and don't overlap  (unless you include an ‘all of the above’ option).

Example of nominal question:

What are you using [product name] for?

Personal use

Both business and personal use

When to use nominal questions

Nominal questions work well when there is a limited number of categories for a given question (see the example above). They’re easy to create graphs and trends from, but the downside is that you may not be offering enough categories for people to reply.

For example, if you ask people what type of browser they’re using and only give them three options to choose from, you may inadvertently alienate everybody who uses a fourth type and now can’t tell you about it.

That said, you can add an open-ended component to a nominal question with an expandable ’other’ category, where respondents can write in an answer that isn’t on the list. This way, you essentially ask an open-ended question that doesn’t limit them to the options you’ve picked.

4. Likert scale questions

The Likert scale is typically a 5- or 7-point scale that evaluates a respondent’s level of agreement with a statement or the intensity of their reaction toward something.

The scale develops symmetrically: the median number (e.g. a 3 on a 5-point scale) indicates a point of neutrality, the lowest number (always 1) indicates an extreme view, and the highest number (e.g. a 5 on a 5-point scale) indicates the opposite extreme view.

Example of a Likert scale question:

#The British Museum uses a Likert scale Hotjar survey to gauge visitors’ reactions to their website optimizations

When to use Likert scale questions

Likert-type questions are also known as ordinal questions because the answers are presented in a specific order. Like other multiple-choice questions, Likert scale questions come in handy when you already have some sense of what your customers are thinking. For example, if your open-ended questions uncover a complaint about a recent change to your ordering process, you could use a Likert scale question to determine how the average user felt about the change.

A series of Likert scale questions can also be turned into a matrix question. Since they have identical response options, they are easily combined into a single matrix and break down the pattern of single questions for users.

5. Rating scale questions

Rating scale questions are questions where the answers map onto a numeric scale (such as rating customer support on a scale of 1-5, or likelihood to recommend a product from 0-10).

Examples of rating questions:

How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague on a scale of 0-10?

How would you rate our customer service on a scale of 1-5?

When to use rating questions

Whenever you want to assign a numerical value to your survey or visualize and compare trends , a rating question is the way to go.

A typical rating question is used to determine Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) : the question asks customers to rate their likelihood of recommending products or services to their friends or colleagues, and allows you to look at the results historically and see if you're improving or getting worse. Rating questions are also used for customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys and product reviews.

When you use a rating question in a survey, be sure to explain what the scale means (e.g. 1 for ‘Poor’, 5 for ‘Amazing’). And consider adding a follow-up open-ended question to understand why the user left that score.

Example of a rating question (NPS):

#Hotjar's Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) survey template lets you add open-ended follow-up questions so you can understand the reasons behind users' ratings

6. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’ questions

These dichotomous questions are super straightforward, requiring a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ reply.

Examples of yes/no questions:

Was this article useful? (Yes/No)

Did you find what you were looking for today? (Yes/No)

When to use ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions

‘Yes’ and ‘no’ questions are a good way to quickly segment your respondents . For example, say you’re trying to understand what obstacles or objections prevent people from trying your product. You can place a survey on your pricing page asking people if something is stopping them, and follow up with the segment who replied ‘yes’ by asking them to elaborate further.

These questions are also effective for getting your foot in the door: a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question requires very little effort to answer. Once a user commits to answering the first question, they tend to become more willing to answer the questions that follow, or even leave you their contact information.

#Web design agency NerdCow used Hotjar Surveys to add a yes/no survey on The Transport Library’s website, and followed it up with an open-ended question for more insights

70+ more survey question examples

Below is a list of good survey questions, categorized across ecommerce, software as a service (SaaS), and publishing. You don't have to use them word-for-word, but hopefully, this list will spark some extra-good ideas for the surveys you’ll run immediately after reading this article. (Plus, you can create all of them with Hotjar Surveys—stick with us a little longer to find out how. 😉)

📊 9 basic demographic survey questions

Ask these questions when you want context about your respondents and target audience, so you can segment them later. Consider including demographic information questions in your survey when conducting user or market research as well. 

But don’t ask demographic questions just for the sake of it—if you're not going to use some of the data points from these sometimes sensitive questions (e.g. if gender is irrelevant to the result of your survey), move on to the ones that are truly useful for you, business-wise. 

Take a look at the selection of examples below, and keep in mind that you can convert most of them to multiple choice questions:

What is your name?

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What company do you work for?

What vertical/industry best describes your company?

What best describes your role?

In which department do you work?

What is the total number of employees in your company (including all locations where your employer operates)?

What is your company's annual revenue?

🚀 Get started: gather more info about your users with our product-market fit survey template .

👥 20+ effective customer questions

These questions are particularly recommended for ecommerce companies:

Before purchase

What information is missing or would make your decision to buy easier?

What is your biggest fear or concern about purchasing this item?

Were you able to complete the purpose of your visit today?

If you did not make a purchase today, what stopped you?

After purchase

Was there anything about this checkout process we could improve?

What was your biggest fear or concern about purchasing from us?

What persuaded you to complete the purchase of the item(s) in your cart today?

If you could no longer use [product name], what’s the one thing you would miss the most?

What’s the one thing that nearly stopped you from buying from us?

👉 Check out our 7-step guide to setting up an ecommerce post-purchase survey .

Other useful customer questions

Do you have any questions before you complete your purchase?

What other information would you like to see on this page?

What were the three main things that persuaded you to create an account today?

What nearly stopped you from creating an account today?

Which other options did you consider before choosing [product name]?

What would persuade you to use us more often?

What was your biggest challenge, frustration, or problem in finding the right [product type] online?

Please list the top three things that persuaded you to use us rather than a competitor.

Were you able to find the information you were looking for?

How satisfied are you with our support?

How would you rate our service/support on a scale of 0-10? (0 = terrible, 10 = stellar)

How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? ( NPS question )

Is there anything preventing you from purchasing at this point?

🚀 Get started: learn how satisfied customers are with our expert-built customer satisfaction and NPS survey templates .

Set up a survey in seconds

Use Hotjar's free survey templates to build virtually any type of survey, and start gathering valuable insights in moments.

🛍 30+ product survey questions

These questions are particularly recommended for SaaS companies:

Questions for new or trial users

What nearly stopped you from signing up today?

How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague on a scale of 0-10? (NPS question)

Is our pricing clear? If not, what would you change?

Questions for paying customers

What convinced you to pay for this service?

What’s the one thing we are missing in [product type]?

What's one feature we can add that would make our product indispensable for you?

If you could no longer use [name of product], what’s the one thing you would miss the most?

🚀 Get started: find out what your buyers really think with our pricing plan feedback survey template .

Questions for former/churned customers

What is the main reason you're canceling your account? Please be blunt and direct.

If you could have changed one thing in [product name], what would it have been?

If you had a magic wand and could change anything in [product name], what would it be?

🚀 Get started: find out why customers churn with our free-to-use churn analysis survey template .

Other useful product questions

What were the three main things that persuaded you to sign up today?

Do you have any questions before starting a free trial?

What persuaded you to start a trial?

Was this help section useful?

Was this article useful?

How would you rate our service/support on a scale of 1-10? (0 = terrible, 10 = stellar)

Is there anything preventing you from upgrading at this point?

Is there anything on this page that doesn't work the way you expected it to?

What could we change to make you want to continue using us?

If you did not upgrade today, what stopped you?

What's the next thing you think we should build?

How would you feel if we discontinued this feature?

What's the next feature or functionality we should build?

🚀 Get started: gather feedback on your product with our free-to-use product feedback survey template .

🖋 20+ effective questions for publishers and bloggers

Questions to help improve content.

If you could change just one thing in [publication name], what would it be?

What other content would you like to see us offer?

How would you rate this article on a scale of 1–10?

If you could change anything on this page, what would you have us do?

If you did not subscribe to [publication name] today, what was it that stopped you?

🚀 Get started: find ways to improve your website copy and messaging with our content feedback survey template .

New subscriptions

What convinced you to subscribe to [publication] today?

What almost stopped you from subscribing?

What were the three main things that persuaded you to join our list today?

Cancellations

What is the main reason you're unsubscribing? Please be specific.

Other useful content-related questions

What’s the one thing we are missing in [publication name]?

What would persuade you to visit us more often?

How likely are you to recommend us to someone with similar interests? (NPS question)

What’s missing on this page?

What topics would you like to see us write about next?

How useful was this article?

What could we do to make this page more useful?

Is there anything on this site that doesn't work the way you expected it to?

What's one thing we can add that would make [publication name] indispensable for you?

If you could no longer read [publication name], what’s the one thing you would miss the most?

💡 Pro tip: do you have a general survey goal in mind, but are struggling to pin down the right questions to ask? Give Hotjar’s AI for Surveys a go and watch as it generates a survey for you in seconds with questions tailored to the exact purpose of the survey you want to run.

What makes a good survey question?

We’ve run through more than 70 of our favorite survey questions—but what is it that makes a good survey question, well, good ? An effective question is anything that helps you get clear insights and business-critical information about your customers , including

Who your target market is

How you should price your products

What’s stopping people from buying from you

Why visitors leave your website

With this information, you can tailor your website, products, landing pages, and messaging to improve the user experience and, ultimately, maximize conversions .

How to write good survey questions: the DOs and DON’Ts

To help you understand the basics and avoid some rookie mistakes, we asked a few experts to give us their thoughts on what makes a good and effective survey question.

Survey question DOs

✅ do focus your questions on the customer.

It may be tempting to focus on your company or products, but it’s usually more effective to put the focus back on the customer. Get to know their needs, drivers, pain points, and barriers to purchase by asking about their experience. That’s what you’re after: you want to know what it’s like inside their heads and how they feel when they use your website and products.

Rather than asking, “Why did you buy our product?” ask, “What was happening in your life that led you to search for this solution?” Instead of asking, “What's the one feature you love about [product],” ask, “If our company were to close tomorrow, what would be the one thing you’d miss the most?” These types of surveys have helped me double and triple my clients.

✅ DO be polite and concise (without skimping on micro-copy)

Put time into your micro-copy—those tiny bits of written content that go into surveys. Explain why you’re asking the questions, and when people reach the end of the survey, remember to thank them for their time. After all, they’re giving you free labor!

✅ DO consider the foot-in-the-door principle

One way to increase your response rate is to ask an easy question upfront, such as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, because once people commit to taking a survey—even just the first question—they’re more likely to finish it.

✅ DO consider asking your questions from the first-person perspective

Disclaimer: we don’t do this here at Hotjar. You’ll notice all our sample questions are listed in second-person (i.e. ‘you’ format), but it’s worth testing to determine which approach gives you better answers. Some experts prefer the first-person approach (i.e. ‘I’ format) because they believe it encourages users to talk about themselves—but only you can decide which approach works best for your business.

I strongly recommend that the questions be worded in the first person. This helps create a more visceral reaction from people and encourages them to tell stories from their actual experiences, rather than making up hypothetical scenarios. For example, here’s a similar question, asked two ways: “What do you think is the hardest thing about creating a UX portfolio?” versus “My biggest problem with creating my UX portfolio is…” 

The second version helps get people thinking about their experiences. The best survey responses come from respondents who provide personal accounts of past events that give us specific and real insight into their lives.

✅ DO alternate your questions often

Shake up the questions you ask on a regular basis. Asking a wide variety of questions will help you and your team get a complete view of what your customers are thinking.

✅ DO test your surveys before sending them out

A few years ago, Hotjar created a survey we sent to 2,000 CX professionals via email. Before officially sending it out, we wanted to make sure the questions really worked. 

We decided to test them out on internal staff and external people by sending out three rounds of test surveys to 100 respondents each time. Their feedback helped us perfect the questions and clear up any confusing language.

Survey question DON’Ts

❌ don’t ask closed-ended questions if you’ve never done research before.

If you’ve just begun asking questions, make them open-ended questions since you have no idea what your customers think about you at this stage. When you limit their answers, you just reinforce your own assumptions.

There are two exceptions to this rule:

Using a closed-ended question to get your foot in the door at the beginning of a survey

Using rating scale questions to gather customer sentiment (like an NPS survey)

❌ DON’T ask a lot of questions if you’re just getting started

Having to answer too many questions can overwhelm your users. Stick with the most important points and discard the rest.

Try starting off with a single question to see how your audience responds, then move on to two questions once you feel like you know what you’re doing.

How many questions should you ask? There’s really no perfect answer, but we recommend asking as few as you need to ask to get the information you want. In the beginning, focus on the big things:

Who are your users?

What do potential customers want?

How are they using your product?

What would win their loyalty?

❌ DON’T just ask a question when you can combine it with other tools

Don’t just use surveys to answer questions that other tools (such as analytics) can also answer. If you want to learn about whether people find a new website feature helpful, you can also observe how they’re using it through traditional analytics, session recordings , and other user testing tools for a more complete picture.

Don’t use surveys to ask people questions that other tools are better equipped to answer. I’m thinking of questions like “What do you think of the search feature?” with pre-set answer options like ‘Very easy to use,’ ‘Easy to use,’ etc. That’s not a good question to ask. 

Why should you care about what people ‘think’ about the search feature? You should find out whether it helps people find what they need and whether it helps drive conversions for you. Analytics, user session recordings, and user testing can tell you whether it does that or not.

❌ DON’T ask leading questions

A leading question is one that prompts a specific answer. Avoid asking leading questions because they’ll give you bad data. For example, asking, “What makes our product better than our competitors’ products?” might boost your self-esteem, but it won’t get you good information. Why? You’re effectively planting the idea that your own product is the best on the market.

❌ DON’T ask loaded questions

A loaded question is similar to a leading question, but it does more than just push a bias—it phrases the question such that it’s impossible to answer without confirming an underlying assumption.

A common (and subtle) form of loaded survey question would be, “What do you find useful about this article?” If we haven’t first asked you whether you found the article useful at all, then we’re asking a loaded question.

❌ DON’T ask about more than one topic at once

For example, “Do you believe our product can help you increase sales and improve cross-collaboration?”

This complex question, also known as a ‘double-barreled question’, requires a very complex answer as it begs the respondent to address two separate questions at once:

Do you believe our product can help you increase sales?

Do you believe our product can help you improve cross-collaboration?

Respondents may very well answer 'yes', but actually mean it for the first part of the question, and not the other. The result? Your survey data is inaccurate, and you’ve missed out on actionable insights.

Instead, ask two specific questions to gather customer feedback on each concept.

How to run your surveys

The format you pick for your survey depends on what you want to achieve and also on how much budget or resources you have. You can

Use an on-site survey tool , like Hotjar Surveys , to set up a website survey that pops up whenever people visit a specific page: this is useful when you want to investigate website- and product-specific topics quickly. This format is relatively inexpensive—with Hotjar’s free forever plan, you can even run up to 3 surveys with unlimited questions for free.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Use Hotjar Surveys to embed a survey as an element directly on a page: this is useful when you want to grab your audience’s attention and connect with customers at relevant moments, without interrupting their browsing. (Scroll to the bottom of this page to see an embedded survey in action!) This format is included on Hotjar’s Business and Scale plans—try it out for 15 days with a free Ask Business trial .

Use a survey builder and create a survey people can access in their own time: this is useful when you want to reach out to your mailing list or a wider audience with an email survey (you just need to share the URL the survey lives at). Sending in-depth questionnaires this way allows for more space for people to elaborate on their answers. This format is also relatively inexpensive, depending on the tool you use.

Place survey kiosks in a physical location where people can give their feedback by pressing a button: this is useful for quick feedback on specific aspects of a customer's experience (there’s usually plenty of these in airports and waiting rooms). This format is relatively expensive to maintain due to the material upkeep.

Run in-person surveys with your existing or prospective customers: in-person questionnaires help you dig deep into your interviewees’ answers. This format is relatively cheap if you do it online with a user interview tool or over the phone, but it’s more expensive and time-consuming if done in a physical location.

💡 Pro tip: looking for an easy, cost-efficient way to connect with your users? Run effortless, automated user interviews with Engage , Hotjar’s user interview tool. Get instant access to a pool of 200,000+ participants (or invite your own), and take notes while Engage records and transcribes your interview.

10 survey use cases: what you can do with good survey questions

Effective survey questions can help improve your business in many different ways. We’ve written in detail about most of these ideas in other blog posts, so we’ve rounded them up for you below.

1. Create user personas

A user persona is a character based on the people who currently use your website or product. A persona combines psychographics and demographics and reflects who they are, what they need, and what may stop them from getting it.

Examples of questions to ask:

Describe yourself in one sentence, e.g. “I am a 30-year-old marketer based in Dublin who enjoys writing articles about user personas.”

What is your main goal for using this website/product?

What, if anything, is preventing you from doing it?

👉 Our post about creating simple and effective user personas in four steps highlights some great survey questions to ask when creating a user persona.

🚀 Get started: use our user persona survey template or AI for Surveys to inform your user persona.

2. Understand why your product is not selling

Few things are more frightening than stagnant sales. When the pressure is mounting, you’ve got to get to the bottom of it, and good survey questions can help you do just that.

What made you buy the product? What challenges are you trying to solve?

What did you like most about the product? What did you dislike the most?

What nearly stopped you from buying?

👉 Here’s a detailed piece about the best survey questions to ask your customers when your product isn’t selling , and why they work so well.

🚀 Get started: our product feedback survey template helps you find out whether your product satisfies your users. Or build your surveys in the blink of an eye with Hotjar AI.

3. Understand why people leave your website

If you want to figure out why people are leaving your website , you’ll have to ask questions.

A good format for that is an exit-intent pop-up survey, which appears when a user clicks to leave the page, giving them the chance to leave website feedback before they go.

Another way is to focus on the people who did convert, but just barely—something Hotjar founder David Darmanin considers essential for taking conversions to the next level. By focusing on customers who bought your product (but almost didn’t), you can learn how to win over another set of users who are similar to them: those who almost bought your products, but backed out in the end.

Example of questions to ask:

Not for you? Tell us why. ( Exit-intent pop-up —ask this when a user leaves without buying.)

What almost stopped you from buying? (Ask this post-conversion .)

👉 Find out how HubSpot Academy increased its conversion rate by adding an exit-intent survey that asked one simple question when users left their website: “Not for you? Tell us why.”

🚀 Get started: place an exit-intent survey on your site. Let Hotjar AI draft the survey questions by telling it what you want to learn.

I spent the better half of my career focusing on the 95% who don’t convert, but it’s better to focus on the 5% who do. Get to know them really well, deliver value to them, and really wow them. That’s how you’re going to take that 5% to 10%.

4. Understand your customers’ fears and concerns

Buying a new product can be scary: nobody wants to make a bad purchase. Your job is to address your prospective customers’ concerns, counter their objections, and calm their fears, which should lead to more conversions.

👉 Take a look at our no-nonsense guide to increasing conversions for a comprehensive write-up about discovering the drivers, barriers, and hooks that lead people to converting on your website.

🚀 Get started: understand why your users are tempted to leave and discover potential barriers with a customer retention survey .

5. Drive your pricing strategy

Are your products overpriced and scaring away potential buyers? Or are you underpricing and leaving money on the table?

Asking the right questions will help you develop a pricing structure that maximizes profit, but you have to be delicate about how you ask. Don’t ask directly about price, or you’ll seem unsure of the value you offer. Instead, ask questions that uncover how your products serve your customers and what would inspire them to buy more.

How do you use our product/service?

What would persuade you to use our product more often?

What’s the one thing our product is missing?

👉 We wrote a series of blog posts about managing the early stage of a SaaS startup, which included a post about developing the right pricing strategy —something businesses in all sectors could benefit from.

🚀 Get started: find the sweet spot in how to price your product or service with a Van Westendorp price sensitivity survey or get feedback on your pricing plan .

6. Measure and understand product-market fit

Product-market fit (PMF) is about understanding demand and creating a product that your customers want, need, and will actually pay money for. A combination of online survey questions and one-on-one interviews can help you figure this out.

What's one thing we can add that would make [product name] indispensable for you?

If you could change just one thing in [product name], what would it be?

👉 In our series of blog posts about managing the early stage of a SaaS startup, we covered a section on product-market fit , which has relevant information for all industries.

🚀 Get started: discover if you’re delivering the best products to your market with our product-market fit survey .

7. Choose effective testimonials

Human beings are social creatures—we’re influenced by people who are similar to us. Testimonials that explain how your product solved a problem for someone are the ultimate form of social proof. The following survey questions can help you get some great testimonials.

What changed for you after you got our product?

How does our product help you get your job done?

How would you feel if you couldn’t use our product anymore?

👉 In our post about positioning and branding your products , we cover the type of questions that help you get effective testimonials.

🚀 Get started: add a question asking respondents whether you can use their answers as testimonials in your surveys, or conduct user interviews to gather quotes from your users.

8. Measure customer satisfaction

It’s important to continually track your overall customer satisfaction so you can address any issues before they start to impact your brand’s reputation. You can do this with rating scale questions.

For example, at Hotjar, we ask for feedback after each customer support interaction (which is one important measure of customer satisfaction). We begin with a simple, foot-in-the-door question to encourage a response, and use the information to improve our customer support, which is strongly tied to overall customer satisfaction.

How would you rate the support you received? (1-5 scale)

If 1-3: How could we improve?

If 4-5: What did you love about the experience?

👉 Our beginner’s guide to website feedback goes into great detail about how to measure customer service, NPS , and other important success metrics.

🚀 Get started: gauge short-term satisfaction level with a CSAT survey .

9. Measure word-of-mouth recommendations

Net Promoter Score is a measure of how likely your customers are to recommend your products or services to their friends or colleagues. NPS is a higher bar than customer satisfaction because customers have to be really impressed with your product to recommend you.

Example of NPS questions (to be asked in the same survey):

How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend or colleague? (0-10 scale)

What’s the main reason for your score?

What should we do to WOW you?

👉 We created an NPS guide with ecommerce companies in mind, but it has plenty of information that will help companies in other industries as well.

🚀 Get started: measure whether your users would refer you to a friend or colleague with an NPS survey . Then, use our free NPS calculator to crunch the numbers.

10. Redefine your messaging

How effective is your messaging? Does it speak to your clients' needs, drives, and fears? Does it speak to your strongest selling points?

Asking the right survey questions can help you figure out what marketing messages work best, so you can double down on them.

What attracted you to [brand or product name]?

Did you have any concerns before buying [product name]?

Since you purchased [product name], what has been the biggest benefit to you?

If you could describe [brand or product name] in one sentence, what would you say?

What is your favorite thing about [brand or product name]?

How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend or colleague? (NPS question)

👉 We talk about positioning and branding your products in a post that’s part of a series written for SaaS startups, but even if you’re not in SaaS (or you’re not a startup), you’ll still find it helpful.

Have a question for your customers? Ask!

Feedback is at the heart of deeper empathy for your customers and a more holistic understanding of their behaviors and motivations. And luckily, people are more than ready to share their thoughts about your business— they're just waiting for you to ask them. Deeper customer insights start right here, with a simple tool like Hotjar Surveys.

Build surveys faster with AI🔥

Use AI in Hotjar Surveys to build your survey, place it on your website or send it via email, and get the customer insight you need to grow your business.

FAQs about survey questions

How many people should i survey/what should my sample size be.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for at least 100 replies that you can work with.

You can use our  sample size calculator  to get a more precise answer, but understand that collecting feedback is research, not experimentation. Unlike experimentation (such as A/B testing ), all is not lost if you can’t get a statistically significant sample size. In fact, as little as ten replies can give you actionable information about what your users want.

How many questions should my survey have?

There’s no perfect answer to this question, but we recommend asking as few as you need to ask in order to get the information you want. Remember, you’re essentially asking someone to work for free, so be respectful of their time.

Why is it important to ask good survey questions?

A good survey question is asked in a precise way at the right stage in the customer journey to give you insight into your customers’ needs and drives. The qualitative data you get from survey responses can supplement the insight you can capture through other traditional analytics tools (think Google Analytics) and behavior analytics tools (think heatmaps and session recordings , which visualize user behavior on specific pages or across an entire website).

The format you choose for your survey—in-person, email, on-page, etc.—is important, but if the questions themselves are poorly worded you could waste hours trying to fix minimal problems while ignoring major ones a different question could have uncovered. 

How do I analyze open-ended survey questions?

A big pile of  qualitative data  can seem intimidating, but there are some shortcuts that make it much easier to analyze. We put together a guide for  analyzing open-ended questions in 5 simple steps , which should answer all your questions.

But the fastest way to analyze open questions is to use the automated summary report with Hotjar AI in Surveys . AI turns the complex survey data into:

Key findings

Actionable insights

Will sending a survey annoy my customers?

Honestly, the real danger is  not  collecting feedback. Without knowing what users think about your page and  why  they do what they do, you’ll never create a user experience that maximizes conversions. The truth is, you’re probably already doing something that bugs them more than any survey or feedback button would.

If you’re worried that adding an on-page survey might hurt your conversion rate, start small and survey just 10% of your visitors. You can stop surveying once you have enough replies.

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User research

5 tips to recruit user research participants that represent the real world

Whether you’re running focus groups for your pricing strategy or conducting usability testing for a new product, user interviews are one of the most effective research methods to get the needle-moving insights you need. But to discover meaningful data that helps you reach your goals, you need to connect with high-quality participants. This article shares five tips to help you optimize your recruiting efforts and find the right people for any type of research study.

Hotjar team

survey questionnaire for business plan example

How to instantly transcribe user interviews—and swiftly unlock actionable insights

After the thrill of a successful user interview, the chore of transcribing dialogue can feel like the ultimate anticlimax. Putting spoken words in writing takes several precious hours—time better invested in sharing your findings with your team or boss.

But the fact remains: you need a clear and accurate user interview transcript to analyze and report data effectively. Enter automatic transcription. This process instantly transcribes recorded dialogue in real time without human help. It ensures data integrity (and preserves your sanity), enabling you to unlock valuable insights in your research.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

Shadz Loresco

survey questionnaire for business plan example

An 8-step guide to conducting empathetic (and insightful) customer interviews

Customer interviews uncover your ideal users’ challenges and needs in their own words, providing in-depth customer experience insights that inform product development, new features, and decision-making. But to get the most out of your interviews, you need to approach them with empathy. This article explains how to conduct accessible, inclusive, and—above all—insightful interviews to create a smooth (and enjoyable!) process for you and your participants.

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100+ Best Business Survey Questions for Creating Questionnaires

100+ Best Business Survey Questions for Creating Questionnaires

If you are running a business, you need regular updates about the status of both internal and external operations. And that’s where business survey questions come in handy.

These questions provide insights about both customers and employees to boost engagement, revenue, satisfaction, and productivity.

For example, if you don’t collect regular feedback on employee performance, it becomes difficult to recognize the best talent in your organization. In the same way, tracking different customer experience metrics is essential to optimize their journey .

And it all begins with the right questions.

That’s what we have for you in the store in this post. We have categorized and listed different professional business survey questions that you can use at your end. Each category focuses on a different aspect of your business on which you want to collect information and feedback data .

So, let’s buckle up and start the ride.

What Are Business Survey Questions?

Business survey questions let you collect data from customers and employees to channel the insights into achieving your business goals.

Whether it’s about improving your products and services, customer experience , internal team collaboration, hiring process, or any other process in your company, business surveys can make it happen with targeted insights.

These insights from big to small business survey questions offer several benefits, such as:

  • Help to assess employees’ performance, growth, and work-life balance.
  • Give you an idea of why an employee has quit so you can improve the work environment for other employees.
  • Provide insights into customers’ issues and problems with your products and services.
  • Let you collect feedback from users at every stage of the product life cycle to design optimal solutions.
  • Help to understand the target market to design targeted marketing campaigns.

Types of Questions to Ask on a Business Survey

You can add different question types to your business survey depending on the type of data you want to collect, i.e., quantitative or qualitative data . We have listed some of these below:

1. Single-Choice Questions

Single-choice business survey questions let the respondents choose only one answer from the given options. These questions are helpful to assess the consensus of your customer base and segment the audience into different groups based on the answers.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

2. Multiple-Choice Questions

With multiple-choice questions, the respondents get a little more freedom to choose more than one answer from the given options. 

survey questionnaire for business plan example

3. Dichotomous or Yes/No Questions

Dichotomous survey questions for businesses carry only two answer choices – Yes and No. You can add these at the start of your business surveys to disqualify irrelevant respondents or segment the audience.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

4. Free-Text Questions

If you’re trying to capture the actual thoughts of your customers or employees, free-text questions are the way to go. They give an open space for the respondents to write their answers freely. These questions are good to collect in-depth data from the target audience without restricting them to predefined choices. But they are also harder to analyze.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

5. Rating Questions

Rating questions can make your company questionnaires more interactive. You can add emojis, stars, or numbered scales to collect ratings from both internal teams and customers. Some of the business surveys questions examples that use rating scales are Net Promoter Score (NPS), Employee Net Promoter Score(eNPS), and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT).

survey questionnaire for business plan example

6. NPS & eNPS Questions

The difference between NPS and eNPS business plan questionnaires is the target audience. While the NPS survey collects data from customers, eNPS is designed to survey your employees. They gauge the respondent’s long-term experience, which translates directly into your business KPIs like loyalty and company advocacy.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

7. Date & Time Questions

As the name suggests, these questions ask respondents to choose a date and time. These business survey questions are suited for scheduling meetings, events, and other appointments with your internal teams and customers.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

8. Lead Capture Questions

Lead generation business survey questions carry fields that collect customers’ contact information like name, age, email address, and phone number.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

With the basics out of the way, here are targeted business questions you can directly use in your surveys and questionnaires:

1. Business Survey Questions for Customer Service Evaluation

Customer service is an integral part of your customer experience strategy. These business survey question examples let you test the quality and effectiveness of your support staff:

  • Overall, how satisfied are you with our customer service?
  • Based on your recent experience with our support staff, how satisfied are you with our customer service?
  • How likely are you to continue using our services?
  • How polite or impolite would you say our service staff was?
  • How knowledgeable or unknowledgeable would you say our service agent was?
  • Based on your service experience today, how likely are you to recommend our services to your friends and family?
  • How can we improve our support services?
  • How satisfied are you with the following aspects of our customer service: quality, professionalism, responsiveness, resolution speed

2. Business Survey Questions to Uncover Customer Issues

If your customers face issues, it means they are not happy. It makes your business vulnerable to attribution, lowering your revenue sources. It will also affect your customer acquisition efforts if the leaving customers post negative reviews on the internet.

So, here are some survey questions examples for businesses to uncover and curb those issues in time:

  • Is there anything preventing you from signing up for the free trial?
  • Does this web page meet your expectations?
  • What would you like to improve in the checkout process?
  • Is there anything preventing you from doing what you came to do on the website/app?
  • What’s preventing you from filling out the signup form?
  • Did this page meet your expectations?
  • Did you find what you were looking for on the page?
  • Is our pricing information clear?
  • How can we make this site more useful for our visitors?
  • Is there anything on this site that doesn’t work the way you expected it to?
  • Is there anything preventing you from making a purchase?
  • What’s the one thing that nearly stopped you from registering for a free product demo?

3. Business Survey Questions to Collect Employee Feedback

Use these questions to optimize employee onboarding, build a positive workplace environment, assess employee work satisfaction, promote personal and professional growth through regular feedback, track employee performance and collect important data from exiting employees.

  • Overall, how satisfied are you with the company?
  • Please rate your satisfaction with company policies and employee benefits.
  • How often does your manager share feedback with you about your work?
  • How helpful has been the manager’s feedback in improving your work?
  • Do you have any feedback or suggestions to improve company/employee relations?
  • How would you rate your following skills: communication, technical, leadership, organizational, and people?
  • Do you feel valued at work?
  • Do you have the resources you need to perform your job well?
  • Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the work environment?
  • Are you facing issues in your current job position? If yes, then please explain:
  • How would you like to be recognized or rewarded for a job well done?
  • Looking back at the quarter, what are the things you wish you could have done better?
  • How would you rate the leadership skills of your manager?
  • Is your manager able to delegate responsibilities or tasks properly?
  • What made you decide to leave the company?
  • What did you like most about working here?
  • How would you describe your current workload?
  • How frequently did you get performance feedback?
  • Please rate the following aspects of your onboarding process on a scale of 1-10 (1-lowest and 10-highest)
  • Are you satisfied with the information you received during the onboarding?
  • Did you receive help from our onboarding expert when needed?
  • Did the onboarding trainer answer all your questions?
  • What did you like the most about the onboarding process?
  • Which part of the onboarding did you not like?
  • Overall, how satisfied are you with our onboarding?
Which comes first, customer centricity or employee centricity? I believe you first choose to be customer-centric but must first execute on the inside of your company & be employee-centric. — Shep Hyken (@Hyken) March 22, 2022

4. Business Survey Questions to Create a Customer Success Story

Success stories and testimonials are credibility markers for any business. They prove that real people are using your products to solve their problems. That’s why you need a dedicated testimonial page on your website.

Here is a small business questionnaire sample to collect data from happy customers and publish their success stories:

  • What’s your name?
  • Please specify the name of your company?
  • Please let us know about your role at [company name]?
  • What does your company do?
  • Before choosing [product name], what problems were you facing?
  • What are the ways that our [product name] has helped you? 
  • What do you like the most about our product?
  • Which product features and integrations do you use the most and why?

5. Business Survey Examples to Capture Lead Data

Lead generation forms turn simple visitors into potential prospects by capturing their contact details. Use the following questions to design an effective lead capture form:

  • Please specify your name
  • Phone number (optional)
  • What would you want to use the product for?

With tools like Qualaroo , you can use advanced targeting options to target visitors based on their behavior and actions to show the lead generation form to the right prospects.

6. Business Survey Questions Examples for Product Feedback

Your products are the shining knights of your business, so it is logical to make them better for the customers. Product-based business survey questions play a huge role in making this possible.

These can help you deliver the optimal solution from the get-go. You can use these surveys at any life-cycle stage of a product like concept stage, development stage, post-release, and onboarding.

  • Which feature do you want to see in the product next?
  • Have you tried our new feature: [feature name]? How would you rate it?
  • How likely are you to recommend our product to your friends and colleagues?
  • What issues did you face while using our product?
  • Overall, how satisfied were you with the product?
  • Which feature do you think we should add to improve our product?
  • Based on your experience, how would you rate the following aspects of the product:
  • Please rate your overall experience with the product?
  • What goals are we helping you achieve? (Free-text)
  • How can we further improve [feature name]?
  • How easy or difficult is our product to use?

7. Business Survey Questions for Market Research

Use these questions for various purposes like market segmentation, understanding your target market, and mapping their preferences to channel the insights into various business strategies.

  • Please specify your age.
  • Select your highest level of education.
  • What is your current job title?
  • How do you do your holiday shopping?
  • Please specify your gender.
  • Name of your company?
  • Have you ever boycotted a brand? If so, which brand and why?
  • Which channels do you use for grocery shopping – online or through outlets?
  • How do you search for the products you want to buy?
  • Which of the following factors affect your buying decision for the [product name]?
  • Between price and quality of the item, what affects your buying decision more?
  • How much time do you spend on social media daily?
  • What should be the ideal price of the [product]?

8. Business Survey Questions for Brand Awareness

How well do people know about your brand? What do they think when your brand name comes up? Are they able to recognize the brand easily?

These are some of the crucial questions you need to ask customers to find where you stand in the market and what needs to be done to improve your brand image.

  • Have you heard of the [brand name] before?
  • Based on your experience with [brand name], would you recommend it to others?
  • How likely are you to purchase from this brand again?
  • How do you feel about this brand?
  • Describe your experience with [brand name].
  • Have you purchased a product from [brand name] before?
  • Are you currently using a product of [brand]?
  • Of all the brands listed below, which do you feel is the best brand to purchase [product name]?
  • Which of the following products of [brand] have you tried? (Select all that apply)

9. Business Survey Questions for Competitive Analysis

Whether it’s product placement, improving your products, or acquiring new customers, competitive analysis lets you compare your products with your top rivals so you can outpace them in the market. Use these questions to gauge why your target audience loves your competition to do better and earn those customers:

  • Which product/service would you consider as an alternative to ours?
  • Why did you choose our [product name] over other available options in the market?
  • What are the three biggest things that persuaded you to choose use rather than a competitor?
  • Which brand do you think best fits the following traits?
  • How would you rate our product quality compared to our competitors – Better, worse, or about the same?
  • Have you seen any website/product/app with a similar feature?
  • Which other product options did you consider before choosing our [product name]?
  • Rate our competitor based on the following:

Ask the Right Questions With Qualaroo to Grow Your Business

There is a need for constant vigilance to maintain the smooth working of your customer-facing and backend operations. And with the right business survey questions, you can gather targeted information and insights to make well-informed decisions. You just need the right tool to make it happen.

Qualaroo has all the features to make business surveys more relevant and interactive, like skip-logic, 12+ question types, and pre-built business survey questions templates. Plus, with its advanced targeting options , you can ask the right questions to the right audience at the right time.

But it doesn’t end here. It also features AI-based analysis techniques like the sentiment analysis engine to help you extract valuable insights faster even from free-form responses that are otherwise hard to analyze. 

So choose the questions from our list to build your business survey from scratch or use the readymade templates in Qualaroo and start collecting feedback from your customers and employees today.

Shivani Dubey

About the author

Shivani dubey.

Shivani has more than 3 years of experience in the modern creative content paradigm and technical writing verticals. She has been published in The Boss Magazine, Reseller Club, and HR Technologist. She is passionate about Artificial Intelligence and has a deep understanding of how organizations can leverage customer support technologies for maximum success. In her free time, she enjoys Nail art, playing with her guinea pigs, and chilling with a bowl of cheese fries.

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How to create an effective survey in 15 simple tips

Updated August 15, 2023

You don’t have to be an expert to create a survey, but by following a few survey best practices you can make sure you’re collecting the best data possible.

Access 50+ expert-designed survey templates with a free Qualtrics Surveys account

From working out what you want to achieve to providing incentives for respondents, survey design can take time.

But when you don’t have hours to devote to becoming a survey-creation guru, a quick guide to the essentials is a great way to get started.

In this article, we’re going to reveal how to create a survey that’s easy to complete, encourages collecting feedback, hits the research questions you’re interested in, and produces data that’s easy to work with at the analysis stage .

15 Tips when creating surveys

1. define the purpose of the survey.

Before you even think about your survey questions , you need to define their purpose.

The survey’s purpose should be a clear, attainable, and relevant goal. For example, you might want to understand why customer engagement is dropping off during the middle of the sales process.

Your goal could then be something like: “I want to understand the key factors that cause engagement to dip at the middle of the sales process, including both internal and external elements.”

Or maybe you want to understand customer satisfaction post-sale. If so, the goal of your survey could be: “I want to understand how customer satisfaction is influenced by customer service and support post-sale, including through online and offline channels.”

The idea is to come up with a specific, measurable, and relevant goal for your survey. This way you ensure that your questions are tailored to what you want to achieve and that the data captured can be compared against your goal.

2. Make every question count

You’re building your survey questionnaire to obtain important insights, so every question should play a direct role in hitting that target.

Make sure each question adds value and drives survey responses that relate directly to your research goals. For example, if your participant’s precise age or home state is relevant to your results, go ahead and ask. If not, save yourself and your respondents some time and skip it.

It’s best to plan your survey by first identifying the data you need to collect and then writing your questions.

You can also incorporate multiple-choice questions to get a range of responses that provide more detail than a solid yes or no. It’s not always black and white.

For a deeper dive into the art and science of question-writing and survey best practices, check out Survey questions 101 .

3. Keep it short and simple

Although you may be deeply committed to your survey, the chances are that your respondents... aren’t.

As a survey designer, a big part of your job is keeping their attention and making sure they stay focused until the end of the survey.

Respondents are less likely to complete long surveys or surveys that bounce around haphazardly from topic to topic. Make sure your survey follows a logical order and takes a reasonable amount of time to complete.

Although they don’t need to know everything about your research project, it can help to let respondents know why you’re asking about a certain topic. Knowing the basics about who you are and what you’re researching means they’re more likely to keep their responses focused and in scope.

Access 50+ expert-designed survey templates now

4. Ask direct questions

Vaguely worded survey questions confuse respondents and make your resulting data less useful. Be as specific as possible, and strive for clear and precise language that will make your survey questions easy to answer.

It can be helpful to mention a specific situation or behavior rather than a general tendency. That way you focus the respondent on the facts of their life rather than asking them to consider abstract beliefs or ideas .

See an example:

Good survey design isn’t just about getting the information you need, but also encouraging respondents to think in different ways.

Get access to the top downloaded survey templates here

5. Ask one question at a time

Although it’s important to keep your survey as short and sweet as possible, that doesn’t mean doubling up on questions. Trying to pack too much into a single question can lead to confusion and inaccuracies in the responses.

Take a closer look at questions in your survey that contain the word “and” – it can be a red flag that your question has two parts. For example: “Which of these cell phone service providers has the best customer support and reliability?” This is problematic because a respondent may feel that one service is more reliable, but another has better customer support.

Also, if you want to go beyond surveys and develop a multi-faceted listening approach to drive meaningful change and glean actionable insights, make sure to download our guide .

6. Avoid leading and biased questions

Although you don’t intend them to, certain words and phrases can introduce bias into your questions or point the respondent in the direction of a particular answer.

As a rule of thumb, when you conduct a survey it’s best to provide only as much wording as a respondent needs to give an informed answer. Keep your question wording focused on the respondent and their opinions, rather than introducing anything that could be construed as a point of view of your own.

In particular, scrutinize adjectives and adverbs in your questions. If they’re not needed, take them out.

7. Speak your respondent's language

This tip goes hand in hand with many others in this guide – it’s about making language only as complex or as detailed as it needs to be when conducting great surveys.

Create surveys that use language and terminology that your respondents will understand. Keep the language as plain as possible, avoid technical jargon and keep sentences short. However, beware of oversimplifying a question to the point that its meaning changes.

8. Use response scales whenever possible

Response scales capture the direction and intensity of attitudes, providing rich data. In contrast, categorical or binary response options, such as true/false or yes/no response options, generally produce less informative data.

If you’re in the position of choosing between the two, the response scale is likely to be the better option.

Avoid using scales that ask your target audience to agree or disagree with statements, however. Some people are biased toward agreeing with statements , and this can result in invalid and unreliable data.

9. Avoid using grids or matrices for responses

Grids or matrices of answers demand a lot more thinking from your respondent than a scale or multiple choice question. They need to understand and weigh up multiple items at once, and oftentimes they don’t fill in grids accurately or according to their true feelings .

Another pitfall to be aware of is that grid question types aren’t mobile-friendly. It’s better to separate questions with grid responses into multiple questions in your survey with a different structure such as a response scale.

See an example using our survey tool:

10. Rephrase yes/no questions if possible in online survyes

As we’ve described, yes/no questions provide less detailed data than a response scale or multiple-choice, since they only yield one of two possible answers.

Many yes/no questions can be reworked by including phrases such as “How much,” “How often,” or “How likely.” Make this change whenever possible and include a response scale for richer data.

By rephrasing your questions in this way, your survey results will be far more comprehensive and representative of how your respondents feel.

Next? Find out how to write great questions .

11. Start with the straightforward stuff

Ease your respondent into the survey by asking easy questions at the start of your questionnaire, then moving on to more complex or thought-provoking elements once they’re engaged in the process.

This is especially valuable if you need to cover any potentially sensitive topics in your survey. Never put sensitive questions at the start of the questionnaire where they’re more likely to feel off-putting.

Your respondent will probably become more prone to fatigue and distraction towards the end of the survey, so keep your most complex or contentious questions in the middle of the survey flow rather than saving them until last.

12. Use unbalanced scales with care

Unbalanced response scales and poorly worded questions can mislead respondents.

For example, if you’ve asked them to rate a product or service and you provide a scale that includes “poor”, “satisfactory”, “good” and “excellent”, they could be swayed towards the “excellent” end of the scale because there are more positive options available.

Make sure your response scales have a definitive, neutral midpoint (aim for odd numbers of possible responses) and that they cover the whole range of possible reactions to the question .

13. Consider adding incentives

To increase the number of responses, incentives — discounts, offers, gift cards, or sweepstakes — can prove helpful.

Of course, while the benefits of offering incentives sound appealing (more respondents), there’s the possibility of attracting the opinions of the wrong audiences, such as those who are only in it for the incentive.

With this in mind, make sure you limit your surveys to your target population and carefully assess which incentives would be most valuable to them.

14. Take your survey for a test drive

Want to know how to make a survey a potential disaster? Send it out before you pre-test .

However short or straightforward your questionnaire is, it’s always a good idea to pre-test your survey before you roll it out fully so that you can catch any possible errors before they have a chance to mess up your survey results.

Share your survey with at least five people, so that they can test your survey to help you catch and correct problems before you distribute it.

15. Let us help you

Survey design doesn’t have to be difficult — even less so with the right expertise, digital solutions, and survey templates.

At Qualtrics, we provide survey software that’s used by more than 11,000 of the top brands and 99 of the top business schools worldwide.

Furthermore, we have a library of high-quality, ready-to-use, and easy-to-configure survey templates that can improve your surveys significantly.

You can check out our template marketplace here . As a free or existing customer, you have access to the complete collection and can filter by the core experiences you want to drive.

As for our survey software , it’s completely free to use and powers more than 1 billion surveys a year. Using it, you can get answers to your most important brand, market, customer, and product questions, build your own surveys, get insights from your audience wherever they are, and much, much more.

If you want to learn more about how to use our survey tool to create a survey, as well as what else it can do — check out our blog on how to create a free online survey using Qualtrics .

See instant results with our online free survey maker

Sarah Fisher

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survey questionnaire for business plan example

Home QuestionPro Business

How to Do Market Research for a Business Plan

Business plan research.

For a successful market research and analysis business plan, you will need answers to many critical  market research questions . What demographic is your product or service most likely to appeal to? What is the forecast for the industry you are in? How have other products or services similar to your own done over time? What are your competitors doing right or wrong and how can you capitalize on any market openings?

All these questions have to be addressed to have a strong Market Analysis section within the business plan. If not, when it comes time to deliver your business plan to a potential investor, they will quickly spot the lack of factual data to back up your business promises and they will most likely walk away. To get a strong Market Analysis section, make sure to do your homework and include relevant data, graphs, and charts to make your case.

How to Get Started with Market Research

First, you need to gather your resources and collect data to get the numbers right. Let’s go over how you can do market research for a variety of topics included in your Market Analysis section. They are:

  • Demographics – If you have been managing a website, you already know a bit about the demographics your niche attracts. Using Google Analytics or Quantcast.com you can find out not only your own demographics, but those of your top competitors. This can help you find ways to create different sales channels and campaigns to target different demographics from income level and age to other important factors.

Do Your Research

  • Product or Service Review – The product or service lifecycle will need to be reviewed to make sure you are not trying to promote a product or service in an over-saturated market. You can look at product sales on different websites that specialize in specific industries. For instance, if you’re thinking of promoting a new electronic device, you can obtain market research on product sales information from the Consumer Electronics organization at CE.org.
  • Competitors Analysis – You will have to visit your competitor’s websites and do analytical research for traffic, sales, and niche to make sure you can compete successfully. You can also get valuable insights on how well their business is doing by simply adding your name to a marketing list so that they will send you their news more often.
  • Risks and Opportunities – This will take a bit of thinking to determine how you can best exploit your competitors weaknesses and emphasize your strengths in the marketplace. You will want to differentiate your offering enough from your competitors so that your target audience has a clear choice. Never compete solely on price as that is a failing strategy that ends up with the lowest price driving everyone out of business. Instead, look at the features and services your competitor offers and improve upon them and/or find a way to widen your market share geographically in ways that they cannot, for whatever reason.

Select your respondents

A business plan is not a document written once and then forgotten. Economic and market forces in your day-to-day operations will cause you to review the document every year to see where you have met your objectives, where you haven’t, and how to revise the business plan when you find out more about the market conditions. New market conditions will also impact how you proceed and will need to be included in a newer version of your business plan so that your business stays nimble and is flexible enough to meet new challenges with clearer insights than before. This will ensure the survival of your business in the short-term and provide a good basis for long-term prosperity.

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  • 9+ Business Plan Questionnaire Templates in PDF | MS Word

1. Business Plan Questionnaire in PDF

2. supporting business plan questionnaire, 3. simple business plan questionnaire, 4. aquaculture business plan questionnaire, 5. printable business plan questionnaire, 6. marketing and business plan questionnaire, 7. basic business plan questionnaire, 8. business plan and project questionnaire, 9. formal business plan questionnaire, 10. new practice business questionnaire in doc, what is a business plan, what questions does a business plan answer, what are the objectives of a business plan, how do you write business objectives, what are the company aims and purposes, what are some good business questions to ask, what is the basic structure of a business plan, what are the elements of a business plan, what is required for a business to succeed, what is the most significant resource for a business, what are the financial resources, school templates.

A business plan is a precise, genuine evaluation of a business venture’s possibilities for achievement in the market. It is basically a process to manage the central risks of facing a venture. Have a look at the business plan questionnaire plan templates provided down below and choose the one that best fits your purpose.

survey questionnaire for business plan example

  • What type of business are you in?
  • How will the business earn money?
  • What does your business require to get off the ground?
  • What is the working budget ?
  • Who are your clients?
  • How will you communicate with your clients?
  • What sets you separated from the competition?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses?
  • Becoming and staying successful
  • The productivity of people and supplies
  • Exceptional customer service
  • Employee appeal and retention
  • Mission-driven core values
  • Sustainable growth
  • Make sure each action is steady with your worth and your purposes.
  • Create a schedule .
  • Map out as many steps as feasible.
  • The purpose of setting more solid business goals needs to be tied tightly to your organization’s compliance to act.
  • What obstacle does your business determine?
  • How does your business make an income?
  • Which parts of your business are not successful?
  • Is your cash flow accurate each month?
  • What is your pricing approach and why?
  • Executive Summary
  • Organization Description
  • Market Study
  • Organization and Management
  • Service or Product Line
  • Marketing and Sales
  • Funding Request
  • Financial Projections

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Business continuity plan template, business development plan template, small business plan template, one page business plan template, business plan outline template, coffee shop business plan template, business plan in entrepreneurship template, business project plan template, one-page fashion business plan template, business plan for students template.

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How to conduct your own market research survey (with example)

Hero image with an icon of a survey

After watching a few of those sketches, you can imagine why real-life focus groups tend to be pretty small. Even without any over-the-top personalities involved, it's easy for these groups to go off the rails.

So what happens when you want to collect market research at a larger scale? That's where the market research survey comes in. Market surveys allow you to get just as much valuable information as an in-person interview, without the burden of herding hundreds of rowdy Eagles fans through a product test.

Table of contents:

What is a market research survey?

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

A market research survey can collect information on your target customers':

Experiences

Preferences, desires, and needs

Values and motivations

The types of information that can usually be found in a secondary source, and therefore aren't good candidates for a market survey, include your target customers':

Demographic data

Consumer spending data

Household size

Why conduct market research?

Here are some examples of how market research surveys can be used to fill a wide range of knowledge gaps for companies:

A B2B software company asks real users in its industry about Kanban board usage to help prioritize their project view change rollout.

A B2C software company asks its target demographic about their mobile browsing habits to help them find features to incorporate into their forthcoming mobile app.

A printing company asks its target demographic about fabric preferences to gauge interest in a premium material option for their apparel lines.

A wholesale food vendor surveys regional restaurant owners to find ideas for seasonal products to offer.

Primary vs. secondary market research

Market surveys are what's known as "primary research"—that is, information that the researching company gathers firsthand. Secondary research consists of data that another organization gathered and published, which other researchers can then use for their own reports. 

Primary research is more expensive and time-intensive than secondary research, which is why you should only use market research surveys to obtain information that you can't get anywhere else. 

If you've exhausted your secondary research options and still have unanswered questions, it's time to start thinking about conducting a market research survey.

6 types of market research survey

Depending on your goal, you'll need different types of market research. Here are six types of market research surveys.

1. Buyer persona research

A buyer persona research survey will help you learn more about things like demographics, household makeup, income and education levels, and lifestyle markers. The more you learn about your existing customers, the more specific you can get in targeting potential customers. You may find that there are more buyer personas within your user base than the ones that you've been targeting.

2. Sales funnel research

With a sales funnel research survey, you can learn about potential customers' main drivers at different stages of the sales funnel. You can also get feedback on how effective different sales strategies are. Use this survey to find out:

How close potential buyers are to making a purchase

What tools and experiences have been most effective in moving prospective customers closer to conversion

3. Customer loyalty research

The demographics of your most loyal customers

What tools are most effective in turning customers into advocates

What you can do to encourage more brand loyalty

4. Branding and marketing research

The Charmin focus group featured in that SNL sketch is an example of branding and marketing research, in which a company looks for feedback on a particular advertising angle to get a sense of whether it will be effective before the company spends money on running the ad at scale. Use this type of survey to find out:

Whether a new advertising angle will do well with existing customers

Whether a campaign will do well with a new customer segment you haven't targeted yet

What types of campaign angles do well with a particular demographic

5. New products or features research

What features they wish your product currently had

What they think of a particular product or feature idea

6. Competitor research

Whether your competitors have found success with a buyer persona you're not targeting

Information about buyers for a product that's similar to one you're thinking about launching

Feedback on what features your competitors' customers wish their version of a product had

How to write and conduct a market research survey

Once you've narrowed down your survey's objectives, you can move forward with designing and running your survey.

Step 1: Write your survey questions

A poorly worded survey, or a survey that uses the wrong question format, can render all of your data moot. If you write a question that results in most respondents answering "none of the above," you haven't learned much. 

Categorical questions

Also known as a nominal question, this question type provides numbers and percentages for easy visualization, like "35% said ABC." It works great for bar graphs and pie charts, but you can't take averages or test correlations with nominal-level data.

Multiple choice: Use this type of question if you need more nuance than a Yes/No answer gives. You can add as many answers as you want, and your respondents can pick only one answer to the question. 

Checkbox: Checkbox questions add the flexibility to select all the answers that apply. Add as many answers as you want, and respondents aren't limited to just one. 

A screenshot of a multiple choice question asking about how you travel to work with various answers and an option to type in your own answer in an "other" field

Ordinal questions

This type of question requires survey-takers to pick from options presented in a specific order, like "income of $0-$25K, $26K-$40K, $41K+." Like nominal questions, ordinal questions elicit responses that allow you to analyze counts and percentages, though you can't calculate averages or assess correlations with ordinal-level data.

Dropdown: Responses to ordinal questions can be presented as a dropdown, from which survey-takers can only make one selection. You could use this question type to gather demographic data, like the respondent's country or state of residence. 

Ranking: This is a unique question type that allows respondents to arrange a list of answers in their preferred order, providing feedback on each option in the process. 

Interval/ratio questions

For precise data and advanced analysis, use interval or ratio questions. These can help you calculate more advanced analytics, like averages, test correlations, and run regression models. Interval questions commonly use scales of 1-5 or 1-7, like "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree." Ratio questions have a true zero and often ask for numerical inputs (like "How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? ____").

Ranking scale: A ranking scale presents answer choices along an ordered value-based sequence, either using numbers, a like/love scale, a never/always scale, or some other ratio interval. It gives more insight into people's thoughts than a Yes/No question. 

Matrix: Have a lot of interval questions to ask? You can put a number of questions in a list and use the same scale for all of them. It simplifies gathering data about a lot of similar items at once. 

Example : How much do you like the following: oranges, apples, grapes? Hate/Dislike/Ok/Like/Love

Textbox: A textbox question is needed for collecting direct feedback or personal data like names. There will be a blank space where the respondent can enter their answer to your question on their own. 

Screenshot example of an interval question about how much you enjoy commuting to work with options to indicate how much a person agrees and disagrees with a statement

Step 2: Choose a survey platform

Most survey apps today look great on mobile, but be sure to preview your survey on your phone and computer, at least, to make sure it'll look good for all of your users.

A screenshot image of two survey questions on a mobile device rather than a desktop view to illustrate the importance of checking to see how a survey will show up on multiple platforms

If you have the budget, you can also purchase survey services from a larger research agency. 

Step 3: Run a test survey

Before you run your full survey, conduct a smaller test on 5%-10% of your target respondent pool size. This will allow you to work out any confusing wording or questions that result in unhelpful responses without spending the full cost of the survey. Look out for:

Survey rejection from the platform for prohibited topics

Joke or nonsense textbox answers that indicate the respondent didn't answer the survey in earnest

Multiple choice questions with an outsized percentage of "none of the above" or "N/A" responses

Step 4: Launch your survey

If your test survey comes back looking good, you're ready to launch the full thing! Make sure that you leave ample time for the survey to run—you'd be surprised at how long it takes to get a few thousand respondents. 

Even if you've run similar surveys in the past, leave more time than you need. Some surveys take longer than others for no clear reason, and you also want to build in time to conduct a comprehensive data analysis.

Step 5: Organize and interpret the data

Tips for running a market research survey.

You know the basics of how to conduct a market research survey, but here are some tips to enhance the quality of your data and the reliability of your findings.

Find the right audience: You could have meticulously crafted survey questions, but if you don't target the appropriate demographic or customer segment, it doesn't really matter. You need to collect responses from the people you're trying to understand. Targeted audiences you can send surveys to include your existing customers, current social media followers, newsletter subscribers, attendees at relevant industry events, and community members from online forums, discussion boards, or other online communities that cater to your target audience. 

Focus questions on a desired data type: As you conceptualize your survey, consider whether a qualitative or quantitative approach will better suit your research goals. Qualitative methods are best for exploring in-depth insights and underlying motivations, while quantitative methods are better for obtaining statistical data and measurable trends. For an outcome like "optimize our ice cream shop's menu offerings," you may want to find out which flavors of ice cream are most popular with teens. This would require a quantitative approach, for which you would use categorical questions that can help you rank potential flavors numerically.

Establish a timeline: Set a realistic timeline for your survey, from creation to distribution to data collection and analysis. You'll want to balance having your survey out long enough to generate a significant amount of responses but not so long that it loses relevance. That length can vary widely based on factors like type of survey, number of questions, audience size, time sensitivity, question format, and question length.

Market research survey campaign example

Let's say you own a market research company, and you want to use a survey to gain critical insights into your market. You prompt users to fill out your survey before they can access gated premium content.

Survey questions: 

1. What size is your business? 

<10 employees

11-50 employees

51-100 employees

101-200 employees

>200 employees

2. What industry type best describes your role?

3. On a scale of 1-4, how important would you say access to market data is?

1 - Not important

2 - Somewhat important

3 - Very important

4 - Critically important

4. On a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important), rank how important these market data access factors are.

Accuracy of data

Attractive presentation of data

Cost of data access

Range of data presentation formats

Timeliness of data

5. True or false: your job relies on access to accurate, up-to-date market data.

Survey findings: 

63% of respondents represent businesses with over 100 employees, while only 8% represent businesses with under 10.

71% of respondents work in sales, marketing, or operations.

80% of respondents consider access to market data to be either very important or critically important.

"Timeliness of data" (38%) and "Accuracy of data" (32%) were most commonly ranked as the most important market data access factor.

86% of respondents claimed that their jobs rely on accessing accurate, up-to-date market data.

Insights and recommendations: Independent analysis of the survey indicates that a large percentage of users work in the sales, marketing, or operations fields of large companies, and these customers value timeliness and accuracy most. These findings can help you position future report offerings more effectively by highlighting key benefits that are important to customers that fit into related customer profiles. 

Market research survey example questions

Your individual questions will vary by your industry, market, and research goals, so don't expect a cut-and-paste survey to suit your needs. To help you get started, here are market research survey example questions to give you a sense of the format.

Yes/No: Have you purchased our product before?

Multiple choice: How many employees work at your company?

<10 / 10-20 / 21-50 / 51-100 / 101-250 / 250+

Checkbox: Which of the following features do you use in our app?

Push notifications / Dashboard / Profile customization / In-app chat

Dropdown: What's your household income? 

$0-$10K / $11-$35K / $36-$60K / $61K+

Ranking: Which social media platforms do you use the most? Rank in order, from most to least.

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Reddit

Ranking scale: On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate our customer service? 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Textbox: How many apps are installed on your phone? Enter a number: 

Market research survey question types

Good survey apps typically offer pre-designed templates as a starting point. But to give you a more visual sense of what these questions might look like, we've put together a document showcasing common market research survey question types.

Screenshot of Zapier's market research survey question format guide

Use automation to put survey results into action

Related reading:

This article was originally published in June 2015 by Stephanie Briggs. The most recent update, with contributions from Cecilia Gillen, was in September 2023.

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Amanda Pell

Amanda is a writer and content strategist who built her career writing on campaigns for brands like Nature Valley, Disney, and the NFL. When she's not knee-deep in research, you'll likely find her hiking with her dog or with her nose in a good book.

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10 Free Business Plan Templates in Word, Excel, & ClickUp

Praburam Srinivasan

Growth Marketing Manager

February 13, 2024

Turning your vision into a clear and coherent business plan can be confusing and tough. 

Hours of brainstorming and facing an intimidating blank page can raise more questions than answers. Are you covering everything? What should go where? How do you keep each section thorough but brief?

If these questions have kept you up at night and slowed your progress, know you’re not alone. That’s why we’ve put together the top 10 business plan templates in Word, Excel, and ClickUp—to provide answers, clarity, and a structured framework to work with. This way, you’re sure to capture all the relevant information without wasting time. 

And the best part? Business planning becomes a little less “ugh!” and a lot more “aha!” 🤩

What is a Business Plan Template?

What makes a good business plan template, 1. clickup business plan template, 2. clickup sales plan template, 3. clickup business development action plan template, 4. clickup business roadmap template, 5. clickup business continuity plan template, 6. clickup lean business plan template, 7. clickup small business action plan template, 8. clickup strategic business roadmap template , 9. microsoft word business plan template by microsoft, 10. excel business plan template by vertex42.

Avatar of person using AI

A business plan template is a structured framework for entrepreneurs and business executives who want to create business plans. It comes with pre-arranged sections and headings that cover key elements like the executive summary , business overview, target customers, unique value proposition, marketing plans, and financial statements.  

A good business plan template helps with thorough planning, clear documentation, and practical implementation. Here’s what to look for:

  • Comprehensive structure: A good template comes with all the relevant sections to outline a business strategy, such as executive summary, market research and analysis, and financial projections 
  • Clarity and guidance: A good template is easy to follow. It has brief instructions or prompts for each section, guiding you to think deeply about your business and ensuring you don’t skip important details
  • Clean design: Aesthetics matter. Choose a template that’s not just functional but also professionally designed. This ensures your plan is presentable to stakeholders, partners, and potential investors
  • Flexibility : Your template should easily accommodate changes without hassle, like adding or removing sections, changing content and style, and rearranging parts 🛠️ 

While a template provides the structure, it’s the information you feed it that brings it to life. These pointers will help you pick a template that aligns with your business needs and clearly showcases your vision.

10 Business Plan Templates to Use in 2024

Preparing for business success in 2024 (and beyond) requires a comprehensive and organized business plan. We’ve handpicked the best templates to help you guide your team, attract investors, and secure funding. Let’s check them out.

ClickUp Business Plan Template

If you’re looking to replace a traditional business plan document, then ClickUp’s Business Plan Template is for you!

This one-page business plan template, designed in ClickUp Docs , is neatly broken down into the following sections:

  • Company description : Overview, mission, vision, and team
  • Market analysis : Problem, solution, target market, competition, and competitive advantage
  • Sales and marketing strategy : Products/services and marketing channels
  • Operational plan : Location and facilities, equipment and tools, manpower, and financial forecasts
  • Milestones and metrics: Targets and KPIs

Customize the template with your company logo and contact details, and easily navigate to different sections using the collapsible table of contents. The mini prompts under each section guide you on what to include—with suggestions on how to present the data (e.g., bullet lists, pictures, charts, and tables). 

You can share the document with anyone via URL and collaborate in real time. And when the business plan is ready, you have the option to print it or export it to PDF, HTML, or Markdown.

But that’s not all. This template is equipped with basic and enterprise project management features to streamline the business plan creation process . The Topics List view has a list of all the different sections and subsections of the template and allows you to assign it to a team member, set a due date, and attach relevant documents and references.

Switch from List to Board view to track and update task statuses according to the following: To Do, In Progress, Needs Revision, and Complete. 

This template is a comprehensive toolkit for documenting the different sections of your business plan and streamlining the creation process to ensure it’s completed on time. 🗓️

ClickUp Sales Plan Template

If you’re looking for a tool to kickstart or update your sales plan, ClickUp’s Sales Plan Template has got you covered. This sales plan template features a project summary list with tasks to help you craft a comprehensive and effective sales strategy. Some of these tasks include:

  • Determine sales objectives and goals
  • Draft positioning statement
  • Perform competitive analysis
  • Draft ideal customer persona
  • Create a lead generation strategy

Assign each task to a specific individual or team, set priority levels , and add due dates. Specify what section of the sales plan each task belongs to (e.g., executive summary, revenue goals, team structure, etc.), deliverable type (such as document, task, or meeting), and approval state (like pending, needs revisions, and approved).

And in ClickUp style, you can switch to multiple views: List for a list of all tasks, Board for visual task management, Timeline for an overview of task durations, and Gantt to get a view of task dependencies. 

This simple business plan template is perfect for any type of business looking to create a winning sales strategy while clarifying team roles and keeping tasks organized. ✨

ClickUp Business Development Action Plan Template

Thinking about scaling your business’s reach and operations but unsure where or how to start? It can be overwhelming, no doubt—you need a clear vision, measurable goals, and an actionable plan that every member of your team can rally behind. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Business Development Action Plan Template is designed to use automations to simplify this process so every step toward your business growth is clear, trackable, and actionable.

Start by assessing your current situation and deciding on your main growth goal. Are you aiming to increase revenue, tap into new markets, or introduce new products or services? With ClickUp Whiteboards or Docs, brainstorm and collaborate with your team on this decision.

Set and track your short- and long-term growth goals with ClickUp’s Goals , break them down into smaller targets, and assign these targets to team members, complete with due dates. Add these targets to a new ClickUp Dashboard to track real-time progress and celebrate small wins. 🎉

Whether you’re a startup or small business owner looking to hit your next major milestone or an established business exploring new avenues, this template keeps your team aligned, engaged, and informed every step of the way.

ClickUp Business Roadmap Template

ClickUp’s Business Roadmap Template is your go-to for mapping out major strategies and initiatives in areas like revenue growth, brand awareness, community engagement, and customer satisfaction. 

Use the List view to populate tasks under each initiative. With Custom Fields, you can capture which business category (e.g., Product, Operations, Sales & Marketing, etc.) tasks fall under and which quarter they’re slated for. You can also link to relevant documents and resources and evaluate tasks by effort and impact to ensure the most critical tasks get the attention they deserve. 👀

Depending on your focus, this template provides different views to show just what you need. For example, the All Initiatives per Quarter view lets you focus on what’s ahead by seeing tasks that need completion within a specific quarter. This ensures timely execution and helps in aligning resources effectively for the short term.

This template is ideal for business executives and management teams who need to coordinate multiple short- and long-term initiatives and business strategies.

ClickUp Business Continuity Plan Template

In business, unexpected threats to operations can arise at any moment. Whether it’s economic turbulence, a global health crisis, or supply chain interruptions, every company needs to be ready. ClickUp’s Business Continuity Plan Template lets you prepare proactively for these unforeseen challenges.

The template organizes tasks into three main categories:

  • Priorities: Tasks that need immediate attention
  • Continuity coverage: Tasks that must continue despite challenges
  • Guiding principles: Resources and protocols to ensure smooth operations

The Board view makes it easy to visualize all the tasks under each of these categories. And the Priorities List sorts tasks by those that are overdue, the upcoming ones, and then the ones due later.

In times of uncertainty, being prepared is your best strategy. This template helps your business not just survive but thrive in challenging situations, keeping your customers, employees, and investors satisfied. 🤝

ClickUp Lean Business Plan Template

Looking to execute your business plan the “lean” way? Use ClickUp’s Lean Business Plan Template . It’s designed to help you optimize resource usage and cut unnecessary steps—giving you better results with less effort.

In the Plan Summary List view, list all the tasks that need to get done. Add specific details like who’s doing each task, when it’s due, and which part of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) it falls under. The By Priority view sorts this list based on priorities like Urgent, High, Normal, and Low. This makes it easy to spot the most important tasks and tackle them first.

Additionally, the Board view gives you an overview of task progression from start to finish. And the BMC view rearranges these tasks based on the various BMC components. 

Each task can further be broken down into subtasks and multiple checklists to ensure all related action items are executed. ✔️

This template is an invaluable resource for startups and large enterprises looking to maximize process efficiencies and results in a streamlined and cost-effective way.

ClickUp Small Business Action Plan Template

The Small Business Action Plan Template by ClickUp is tailor-made for small businesses looking to transform their business ideas and goals into actionable steps and, eventually, into reality. 

It provides a simple and organized framework for creating, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks. And in effect, it ensures that goals are not just set but achieved. Through the native dashboard and goal-setting features, you can monitor task progress and how they move you closer to achieving your goals.

Thanks to ClickUp’s robust communication features like chat, comments, and @mentions, it’s easy to get every team member on the same page and quickly address questions or concerns.

Use this action plan template to hit your business goals by streamlining your internal processes and aligning team efforts.

ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template 

For larger businesses and scaling enterprises, getting different departments to work together toward a big goal can be challenging. The ClickUp Strategic Business Roadmap Template makes it easier by giving you a clear plan to follow.

This template is packaged in a folder and split into different lists for each department in your business, like Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement. This way, every team can focus on their tasks while collectively contributing to the bigger goal.

There are multiple viewing options available for team members. These include:

  • Progress Board: Visualize tasks that are on track, those at risk, and those behind
  • Gantt view: Get an overview of project timelines and dependencies
  • Team view: See what each team member is working on so you can balance workloads for maximum productivity

While this template may feel overwhelming at first, the getting started guide offers a step-by-step breakdown to help you navigate it with ease. And like all ClickUp templates, you can easily customize it to suit your business needs and preferences.

Microsoft Word Business Plan Template by Microsoft

Microsoft’s 20-page traditional business plan template simplifies the process of drafting comprehensive business plans. It’s made up of different sections, including:

  • Executive summary : Highlights, objectives, mission statement, and keys to success
  • Description of business: Company ownership and legal structure, hours of operation, products and services, suppliers, financial plans, etc.
  • Marketing: Market analysis, market segmentation, competition, and pricing
  • Appendix: Start-up expenses, cash flow statements, income statements, sales forecast, milestones, break-even analysis, etc.

The table of contents makes it easy to move to different sections of the document. And the text placeholders under each section provide clarity on the specific details required—making the process easier for users who may not be familiar with certain business terminology.

Excel Business Plan Template by Vertex42

No business template roundup is complete without an Excel template. This business plan template lets you work on your business financials in Excel. It comes with customizable tables, formulas, and charts to help you look at the following areas:

  • Highlight charts
  • Market analysis
  • Start-up assets and expenses
  • Sales forecasts
  • Profit and loss
  • Balance sheet
  • Cash flow projections
  • Break-even analysis

This Excel template is especially useful when you want to create a clear and visual financial section for your business plan document—an essential element for attracting investors and lenders. However, there might be a steep learning curve to using this template if you’re not familiar with business financial planning and using Excel.

Try a Free Business Plan Template in ClickUp

Launching and running a successful business requires a well-thought-out and carefully crafted business plan. However, the business planning process doesn’t have to be complicated, boring, or take up too much time. Use any of the above 10 free business plan formats to simplify and speed up the process.

ClickUp templates go beyond offering a solid foundation to build your business plans. They come with extensive project management features to turn your vision into reality. And that’s not all— ClickUp’s template library offers over 1,000 additional templates to help manage various aspects of your business, from decision-making to product development to resource management .

Sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan today to fast-track your business’s growth! 🏆

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Customer Feedback Surveys: Types, Questions, and Templates

12 min read

Customer Feedback Surveys: Types, Questions, and Templates cover

Customer feedback surveys serve as invaluable tools for gathering actionable insights directly from your audience.

However, it’s important to know when and how to trigger the forms to gather user feedback , for increased response rate and data credibility.

In this article, we explain the definitions, types, examples, and best practices of customer feedback questionnaires to help you increase your response rate.

  • Customer feedback forms gather user insights and sentiments that allow you to improve your product/service.
  • Collecting customer feedback helps to build user-centric products, measure satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and boost user retention.
  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT). Track overall satisfaction with your product or service.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS). Measure customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your product to others.
  • Customer Effort Score (CES). Determine your platform’s ease of use.
  • For close-ended questions . Use a Likert or rating scale, give dichotomous options, or offer multiple choices.
  • For open-ended asks. Allow users to answer using their own words.
  • Onboarding. Rate from one to five your overall satisfaction with the onboarding process .
  • Customer service experience. Overall, how would you rate your experience with our customer service team?
  • Product usage. Have you encountered any issues or challenges while using our product? If yes, please describe.
  • Product usability . Did you find it easy to navigate through our product?
  • Quality. Which specific aspects of our product do you find most valuable?
  • New feature release. Were there any features or functionalities missing from the new release that you would have expected to find? If yes, please describe.
  • Customer experience. How was your experience with our product?
  • Customer loyalty. On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your overall experience using our product?
  • Best practices for feedback collection involve triggering the surveys in context, keeping them short, avoiding leading questions, and closing the feedback loop.
  • To collect user feedback by building in-app surveys and keep track of your analytics in the same place, try Userpilot. Get a demo .

survey questionnaire for business plan example

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survey questionnaire for business plan example

What are customer feedback surveys?

Customer feedback surveys are a way of gathering user insights and sentiments about your product. Through a customer satisfaction survey, companies can determine what’s working and what’s not and plan for new features or improvements.

For example, a poor result in onboarding overall satisfaction shows that you need to offer a better experience to new users.

Why should you collect customer feedback?

Collecting customer feedback allows you to build user-centric products that serve them better. But also, you should launch a customer survey to gather feedback and:

  • Measure customer satisfaction over time. Stay on top of the CSAT and your NPS rates by using surveys to discover user expectations and feelings. Use the same scale over time to compare year-on-year results.
  • Identify areas of improvement. Gather actionable analytics , review the customer sentiment, and determine which aspects of your platform could use more work.
  • Increase user retention. Collect customer feedback to build a direct line of communication with your users. Showing that you listen to their ideas can help improve your customer retention.

Types of customer satisfaction surveys

There are different types of customer satisfaction surveys in SaaS depending on the insights that you want to get.

For example, you’ll ask different questions to measure customer satisfaction vs. to track whether or not they’d recommend your platform to others.

Here are the types of questionnaires to keep in mind when creating customer satisfaction surveys:

1. Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) surveys

The CSAT is a metric that reveals overall satisfaction. To determine your business’s CSAT, ask different questions to your users via a customer satisfaction survey.

It’s crucial to ask users to answer on a rating scale of five or seven points to get quantitative answers. Look at this CSAT survey template for inspiration.

The question usually starts with “On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with X?” or “Rate how satisfied you are with X.”

The X can change depending on your goals, i.e., to measure post-product upgrade satisfaction, interactions with your customer service teams, or your onboarding process .

CSAT survey example

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys

This type of customer satisfaction survey measures customer loyalty and retention . You get an NPS by asking users how likely they are to recommend your platform.

The NPS is tracked on a scale of one to ten and separates the answers into three groups:

  • Detractors . Customers who feel dissatisfied with your product (ratings from one to six).
  • Passives . Indecisive or not overly satisfied, but also not unsatisfied customers (seven and eight ratings).
  • Promoters . People who are excited about your product, are loyal, and will recommend it to others (ratings nine and ten).

Choose one of the types of NPS surveys (relationship or transactional) that fits your goals best. Also, compare your NPS with benchmarks of customer satisfaction in the industry.

Example of an NPS survey for Campfire

3. Customer effort score (CES) surveys

The third type of customer satisfaction survey measures the CES. This KPI determines product ease according to users.

You can get this score by asking questions such as: “On a scale of one to five, how easy did you find it to complete X?”

You can use a customer effort score survey template to determine how easy it is to:

  • Navigate your website.
  • Adopt new features.
  • Find support.
  • Complete onboarding tasks.

Example of a CES survey

Types of customer survey questions

Just like there are different types of surveys, there are diverse forms to ask questions. These can be open-ended or close-ended survey questions .

Here’s a list of five types of survey questions :

1. Likert scale questions

The Likert scale is a method to quantify answers based on a very specific range from five to seven points. These usually help determine a customer’s level of agreement or disagreement.

For instance, a question such as “How satisfied are you with our customer service?” allows respondents to rate their experience along a spectrum of satisfaction – from Very dissatisfied to Very satisfied.

Example of a Likert scale question

2. Rating scale questions

This is similar to the above, but rating scale questions usually refer to a numerical or a more vague range. E.g., rate from 1 to 5, and use these emojis to determine your satisfaction, on a scale of dissatisfied to very satisfied. For example:

Q: On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with our onboarding guidance?

A: 1 – – – 5

example of a survey question using a rating scale

3. Dichotomous questions

Ask questions with two possible answers and let the customer decide between them, i.e., yes/no, agree/disagree, or truth/false.

The goal of dichotomous questions is to gather the absolutes. I.e., overall, is the user more satisfied or dissatisfied with your product? For example:

Q: Did you find the information provided helpful?

Use open-ended questions to follow up and gain more information.

Dichotomic, yes or no questions on a customer satisfaction survey

4. Multiple choice questions

As the name implies, these questions present customers with several options to choose from. Here, customers can select one or multiple answers that apply to their experience. For example:

Q: Choose one from the list below. Which of the following features do you find most valuable?

A: a. Automated reporting; b. Integration capabilities; c. Customizable dashboards; d. AI-driven analytics; e. Others (Please specify).

Example of a multiple choice question on a survey

5. Open-ended questions

Contrary to all of the above, these are questions where users get to write their answers. The goal of open-ended questions is to gain details and verbatim of the user experience.

These constitute the qualitative part of the survey responses. You can usually add open-ended questions at the end of the survey as a follow-up. For example, you can trigger different NPS follow-up questions depending on the score they chose.

Q: Can you expand on why you wouldn’t recommend the product to others?

Templates for customer satisfaction survey questions

Use these templates to build customer satisfaction surveys and gather insights across the full customer journey lifecycle. Here are questions to ask for different purposes:

For measuring onboarding satisfaction

A good onboarding survey should have around seven to ten questions to maximize the chances of getting answers. So, mix some closed-ended questions with one or two open-ended ones.

Build your internal customer onboarding feedback survey template to measure satisfaction with your customer’s response onboarding experience consistently over time. Examples include:

Rating or Likert scale questions :

  • How would you rate the accessibility of resources (e.g., knowledge base, help center) during the onboarding process?
  • Rate from one to five your overall satisfaction with the onboarding process .
  • How would you rate the onboarding experience compared to similar products you’ve used in the past?

Dichotomic questions :

  • Are the onboarding materials (tutorials, guides, etc.) helpful?
  • Do you agree or disagree with this statement: The onboarding was comprehensive and contained useful learning materials.

Open-ended questions :

  • Were there any aspects of the onboarding process that you found particularly confusing or unclear?

Example of how survey questions look on Userpilot

For evaluating the customer service team experience

The best way to reduce the customer service gap is by identifying your customer expectations and needs in terms of the customer support team itself. You can do this through customer service surveys .

Here are some customer satisfaction survey examples for service rating:

  • Based on the recent interaction with X customer service representative, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our company?
  • Overall, how would you rate your experience with our customer service team?
  • How would you rate the accessibility of our customer service channels (e.g., live chat, email, phone support)?

Dichotomic + open-ended questions :

  • Were there any challenges or frustrations you encountered while interacting with our customer service team? If yes, please explain. (Dichotomic + open-ended)

Screenshot of how to create surveys on Userpilot

For determining product and usage frequency

Ask product survey questions to gain insight into your product’s usage. For example, if you want to know which features people value the most.

Product satisfaction surveys are different than heat maps because you get to discover the customer sentiment behind usage.

Examples of questions to ask here:

  • Truth or false: I use X feature every time I interact with the product.
  • Have you encountered any issues or challenges while using our product? If yes, please describe.
  • Are there any specific tasks or processes for which you primarily use our product?
  • Are there any features or functionalities that you would like to see added or improved in our product to better meet your needs?
  • Why did you choose our product over your previous solution?
  • If you had to modify or add something to our product, what would it be?

Multiple choice questions :

  • How often do you use our product every week?
  • Which specific features of our product do you use most frequently?

example of feature adoption and product usage survey on Userpilot

For measuring product usability

The goal of a product feedback survey is to identify key aspects of your product that might be confusing or overly complicated to your users and come up with a plan to fix them.

Here are some customer satisfaction survey templates to determine issues with the customer experience:

Likert or rating scale questions :

  • Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with our product usability?
  • How would you rate the clarity of provided instructions within our product?
  • Rate your agreement with this phase: I know where to find the help desk.
  • Did you find it easy to navigate through our product?
  • Truth or false: The website is easy to navigate.
  • Were there any features or functionalities within our product that you found confusing? If yes, please describe.
  • Did you encounter any errors or bugs while using our product? If yes, please describe.
  • Which feature did you find easiest to use? a. AI-driven analytics. b. Interactive dashboards. c. Automated alerts.

Userpilot's usability survey questions using a rating scale

For assessing your product or service quality

A picture is worth a thousand words but poor quality can cost you thousands. Stay on top of how your users perceive the quality of your product/service over the years. Use their answers to influence future product improvements.

Ask these product evaluation survey questions :

  • How satisfied are you with the pricing of our [product/service]?
  • On a scale of one to seven, rate your likeliness to renew your subscription or continue using our product/service based on the value it provides.
  • How disappointed would you be if you could no longer use our product?
  • Which specific aspects of our product do you find most valuable? a. Features. b. Integrations. c. Ease of use. d. Customer service. e. Overall customer experience.
  • What do you think sets us apart from our competitors? a. Features. b. Integrations. c. Ease of use. d. Customer service. e. Overall customer experience.

For gaining feature release feedback

Query your existing customers on their satisfaction levels with your new feature right after launch. Measure the effectiveness of the new functionality and assess basic usability through questions of this sort:

Likert or rating scale questions:

  • Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with the recent feature release?
  • Rate from dissatisfied to very satisfied, how content you are with X feature.

Dichotomic + open-ended questions:

  • Have you encountered any issues or challenges while using the new feature(s)? If yes, please describe.
  • Were there any features or functionalities missing from the new release that you would have expected to find? If yes, please describe.
  • Are there any additional features or improvements you would like to see in future updates? If yes, please describe.

Example of open-ended question to ask on a feature release feedback survey

For evaluating the customer experience

Happy customers have a good experience and recommend your product to others. Create customer experience surveys to collect their opinions on your overall product or service experience.

Here’s a possible customer satisfaction survey template for measuring experience:

  • How was your experience with our product?
  • How would you rate the helpfulness of our customer service representatives?
  • Did you encounter difficulties using our product? If yes, please describe.
  • Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience with us?
  • What is one thing we could do to improve your experience with [product or service]?

open-ended question to ask at the end of a customer experience survey

For tracking customer loyalty

As you know, satisfied customers are usually loyal ones. So, review this metric in tandem with others and segment customers depending on how they feel about your company. Assess their loyalty levels by asking these questions:

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your overall experience using our product?
  • How likely are you to recommend our product to others?
  • If you were to change companies and were in charge of using a tool for X, would you recommend us? (Yes/No)
  • What is the main reason we won your business?

example of an NPS question

Best practices to improve feedback collection across the customer journey

To improve your survey distribution and data collection, here are a few best practices we recommend:

  • Contextualize the customer satisfaction survey. Trigger questions based on specific interactions or at certain times during the customer lifecycle. A contextual, in-app survey can increase your response rate and have higher credibility.
  • Keep them short and simple. Avoid asking multiple questions, especially if you include open-ended ones. Try to stick to three to five for in-app questionnaires. This helps prevent survey fatigue and increase completion rates.
  • Avoid leading questions . These are the kinds of questions that hint at the answer. For example, “Our support team solved your problems quickly, haven’t they?” This can result in survey bias and inaccurate survey data.
  • Close the customer feedback loop . Show your customers that you care about them and are willing to fix their pain points by getting back to them. Inform them about changes, plans, or future improvements based on their feedback.

With careful planning and implementation, customer feedback surveys are powerful tools to improve your customer satisfaction survey’s efficacy. It’s also best to use a no-code tool for the automation and scalability of your in-app surveys.

Interested in collecting actionable insights from your users? Get a demo to start building your own customer feedback survey without coding!

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Uncategorized – May 11, 2024 May 11, 2024

Example questions for a marketing strategy survey, mastering the art of marketing strategy surveys.

A marketing strategies questionnaire sample can help gather valuable insights from customers and stakeholders. It should include questions about target audience, competitive analysis, and branding . Customizing the questionnaire to your specific needs is crucial for obtaining relevant data .

In the dynamic arena of commerce, where every brand competes for a slice of visibility and loyalty, mastering marketing strategy surveys is not just beneficial—it’s essential. These tools are more than mere questionnaires; they’re powerful catalysts that drive your business forward by syncing your strategies with the genuine needs and preferences of your target market.

Elevating Business Growth Through Strategic Surveys

Crafting an effective marketing strategy survey is akin to constructing a bridge between you and your consumers. It offers a rare glimpse into their minds, revealing not only their desires but also their reservations. This critical insight lays the groundwork for crafting campaigns that strike a chord with audiences because they stem from authentic consumer feedback .

– Improved design and layout for easier completion – Updated questions to reflect current market trends and consumer behavior – Added new sections on digital marketing and social media strategies – Addressed previous issues with unclear or redundant questions – Streamlined the questionnaire for a more efficient data collection process

Key Advantages of Implementing Marketing Strategy Surveys

  • Deep Customer Insights: Plunge into the depths of what truly matters to your clients. By analyzing responses from these surveys, you can fine-tune your products and services to better meet customer expectations.
  • Data -Driven Strategies: Shift away from assumptions and base your decisions on solid data gathered directly from those who interact with your brand—your customers .
  • Competitive Edge: In today’s fiercely competitive landscape, understanding how you measure up against competitors is crucial—not just recognizing your strengths but also identifying potential areas for improvement.
  • Boosted Engagement: Tailoring questions that resonate personally with customers amplifies engagement across various platforms—from social media interactions to direct communications.
  • Predictive Trends Analysis: As market trends evolve, these surveys are invaluable in forecasting future consumer behaviors and purchasing patterns based on current insights and shifts within the industry.

By weaving regular marketing strategy surveys into your planning process, you transform from merely participating in the marketplace to leading it with acute awareness of changing consumer dynamics—a strategic advantage that promotes enduring growth.

Essential Components for Crafting a High-Impact Marketing Strategy Survey

Developing a marketing strategy survey is like sculpting a detailed map of your market’s terrain—it demands accuracy, deep insights, and an intimate understanding of your target demographic. Let’s dissect the core components that transform your survey from standard to stellar.

Precision in Question Design

At the forefront, precision rules. Each query should stand as a pillar of simplicity—effortlessly comprehensible without any room for misinterpretation. It’s not merely about employing straightforward language; it’s about formulating questions that cut directly to the essence of what you need to uncover. For instance, rather than asking “What are your thoughts on our products?” refine this to “How satisfied are you with our product quality?” This targeted approach doesn’t just streamline the answering process but also sharpens the reliability of the data collected.

Pertinence and Detail: The Critical Duo

Moving forward, pertinence and detail are crucial—two interconnected facets vital for aligning your questionnaire with its strategic aims. Every inquiry must have a clear purpose and contribute directly toward securing actionable intelligence. Reflect on each question: does it deepen my understanding of my customers? Is it in sync with my business objectives? If any question seems misplaced or overly vague, it likely requires refinement.

Demographic-Specific Inquiry

Recognizing who is responding to your survey is just as critical as knowing what information you seek from them. Customizing questions to resonate with different demographic groups can reveal deeper insights into diverse consumer experiences and expectations.

Consider age variations: younger groups might be more engaged through mobile-optimized surveys or social media channels while older segments may lean towards email -based questionnaires or even direct interactions if they’re less digitally inclined.

By weaving these essential components into your marketing strategy survey design—precision in questioning; relevance & specificity; tailored demographic considerations—you craft a robust framework poised to capture precise data effectively geared towards refining business strategies.

Example Questions for a Marketing Strategy Survey

Crafting the perfect questions for your marketing strategy survey is like setting the foundation for a towering skyscraper. Each question must be meticulously crafted to uncover crucial insights that will propel your business to unprecedented heights. Below, we delve into some stellar examples of questions that could be integral to an effective marketing strategy survey, each uniquely designed to illuminate various facets of your market and customer demographics. 1. **Understanding Customer Needs**: “What specific needs do our products fulfill for you?” This question aims to gather data on customer satisfaction and product relevance, helping to tailor future offerings. 2. **Evaluating Market Position**: “How do you perceive our brand compared to our competitors?” Use this to collect feedback that informs your competitive analysis and brand positioning strategies. 3. **Assessing Advertising Effectiveness**: “Which of our marketing campaigns has resonated with you most?” Understanding responses to different campaigns can guide your advertising strategies and content planning. 4. **Gauging Service Satisfaction**: “How would you rate our customer service ?” This direct question is crucial for evaluating service satisfaction and identifying areas for improvement. 5. **Exploring Product Development**: “What new features would you like to see in our products?” This helps in product planning and ensures that your development team focuses on customer-driven innovations. 6. **Analyzing Purchase Patterns**: “What factors influence your decision to purchase our products?” Insights from this question can enhance your sales strategies and help understand the customer decision-making process. 7. ** Collecting Demographic Information**: “Can you share some details about your age, occupation, and lifestyle?” This information is vital for demographic analysis and helps in creating targeted marketing campaigns. Each of these questions serves as a critical tool in your survey arsenal, designed to provide the insights necessary to refine your marketing strategies and enhance customer engagement. By integrating these questions into your questionnaires, you can ensure a comprehensive understanding of your audience and market dynamics, setting the stage for your business’s success .

  • Purpose: This query helps map out the efficacy of various advertising channels and strategies. Pinpointing where your audience engages with your brand enables you to amplify successful tactics and refine or enhance less effective ones.
  • Purpose: Customer satisfaction is crucial; this metric directly impacts repeat patronage and referrals. A quantifiable rating offers a definitive benchmark for tracking enhancements over time.
  • Purpose: Identifying which elements resonate most with users can steer future developments—vital data for sustaining a competitive edge.
  • Purpose: Direct feedback regarding potential upgrades or new features can ignite innovative ideas within R&D teams and help prioritize efforts based on real customer demands.
  • Purpose: The Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures overall customer loyalty by assessing their likelihood of endorsing your offerings—a key indicator of organic growth potential.
  • Purpose: This inquiry illuminates competitor positioning within the market, helping pinpoint what attracts customers towards or away from your brand compared to available alternatives.
  • Purpose: Gathering feedback on customer service experiences highlights strengths and areas for improvement in client relations management, essential for building trust and nurturing long-term relationships.
  • Purpose: Delving into motivations behind purchases provides insights into drivers of sales conversions, offering actionable intelligence on messaging strategies that resonate profoundly with target demographics.
  • Purpose: Analyzing economic sensitivity helps forecast consumer behavior under different financial scenarios ensuring strategic alignment amidst broader macroeconomic changes.

Each question not only serves as a tool for data collection but also acts as a beacon guiding toward deeper comprehension of nuances driving consumer behavior , preferences, expectations, thereby empowering more informed strategic decisions bolstering overall market stance.

Mastering the Analysis of Your Marketing Strategy Survey Results

Once you’ve gathered your marketing strategy survey responses , the journey to transformative insights begins. As a seasoned market analyst, I can attest that decoding these responses is pivotal for refining your marketing plans and driving business growth. Let me guide you through converting raw data into actionable intelligence.

Step 1: Compile and Structure Data

Kick off by amalgamating all survey feedback into a unified database or spreadsheet. This step enhances visibility into emerging patterns and trends essential for insightful analysis. Utilize tools like Excel or Google Sheets; their sorting and filtering capabilities are invaluable in streamlining this phase.

Step 2: Dive Into Quantitative Evaluation

For questions yielding numerical or singular-choice responses—analyze using statistical metrics such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation. These figures offer a quick glimpse into customer preferences and behaviors. For example, calculating the average satisfaction score from a scale of 1-10 provides immediate understanding of overall client sentiment towards your product or service.

Step 3: Explore Qualitative Insights

Qualitative queries demand an in-depth examination as they consist of open-ended answers that unveil deeper perceptions about customer attitudes and experiences . Apply content analysis methods here ; classify responses based on recurring themes or sentiments expressed by participants. While software like NVivo can streamline some aspects of this task, manual interpretation remains crucial to grasp subtle nuances that automated processes may overlook.

Step 4: Implement Cross-tabulation Techniques

This robust analytical approach compares two variables to unearth correlations among different demographic groups (such as age or gender) or behaviors (like purchase patterns). Discovering how younger clients perceive certain features compared to older ones could lead to targeted tweaks in your marketing strategies.

Step 5: Generate Actionable Insights

The ultimate aim transcends mere data collection —it’s about extracting actionable insights that drive improvement. Pinpoint critical areas needing enhancement based on participant feedback—for instance, revamping communication tactics if customers feel under-informed about new offerings—or spotting innovation opportunities indirectly suggested through user remarks.

By meticulously following these steps in analyzing your marketing strategy survey results , you elevate yourself from merely gathering information to becoming a savvy strategist poised to advance strategic initiatives within your organization.

Translating Survey Insights into Dynamic Marketing Strategies

Once you’ve expertly collected and dissected the responses from your marketing strategy survey, it’s time to ignite transformation. This pivotal moment is about converting valuable feedback into actionable strategies that reshape your approach to reaching customers.

1. Highlight Key Insights

Begin by pinpointing the most impactful insights from your survey data . Focus on those that align with your overarching business objectives and enhance customer satisfaction levels. It’s crucial to sift through the feedback methodically—prioritize initiatives that promise significant boosts in customer interaction and organizational growth.

2. Craft a Detailed Action Plan

With key priorities at hand, construct a comprehensive action plan detailing how these strategic adjustments will be rolled out across different facets of your marketing efforts. Whether it involves refining demographic targets, tweaking advertising messages, or upgrading digital engagement platforms, each action step must be clear and executable.

3. Secure Stakeholder Buy-In

Implementing strategic shifts necessitates consensus across various departments—from sales to client services to online marketing teams. Communicate changes persuasively, ensuring all stakeholders understand how they stem directly from consumer insights and their critical roles in successful deployment.

4. Implement Gradually

Avoid overwhelming both your team and clientele by introducing changes incrementally. Start with small-scale pilot projects that test the effectiveness of new strategies before escalating to broader implementation—a tactic that allows for measured assessment and adjustment without major disruptions.

5. Monitor Progress & Refine Continuously

As you roll out new strategies, keep a close eye on key performance metrics like conversion rates or social media interactions based on initial survey targets set forth earlier. Regular monitoring enables ongoing refinement of tactics ensuring optimal performance while minimizing impact on well-established successes.

A meticulously crafted marketing strategy survey template can unlock profound insights into consumer behavior and preferences, essential for refining your business strategies. Experts advocate for a balanced inclusion of both open-ended and closed-ended questions within the survey, enabling the collection of rich qualitative data alongside precise quantitative analysis. For those new to this realm, be prepared to dedicate time to meticulously analyze the survey results . This critical evaluation will guide pivotal decisions in your marketing campaigns, ensuring they are data-driven and targeted effectively. It’s crucial to tailor your survey design to resonate with your specific target audience, as varying demographics might respond differently based on their unique needs and preferences. Interestingly, even minor tweaks in the phrasing or layout of your questions can significantly influence the quality and authenticity of the feedback you receive. Here are some strategic steps to optimize your survey: 1. Clearly define the target demographics for your questionnaire to ensure the content is relevant and engaging. 2. Incorporate questions that delve into consumer behavior and preferences to gather actionable insights. 3. Include a variety of question types—such as multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended responses—to capture a wide spectrum of data. 4. Ensure the survey is concise, clear, and straightforward to encourage higher completion rates. 5. Pilot your questionnaire with a select sample group before a full rollout to fine-tune elements based on initial feedback. 6. Consider offering incentives to boost participation rates and gather a more robust data set. 7. Conduct a thorough analysis of the survey responses to effectively inform and adjust your marketing strategies. By following these guidelines, you can create a powerful tool that not only enhances your understanding of your audience but also significantly amplifies the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Adopting this structured methodology for applying survey-derived insights not only demonstrates responsiveness but also cultivates an ethos of perpetual enhancement within company culture—propelling long-term success. Additionally conducting follow-up surveys can verify whether implemented changes are hitting their marks or require further fine-tuning—an iterative process essential for adaptive growth!

In summary transforming raw data into polished strategy isn’t merely about adjustments—it’s about evolving dynamically alongside shifting consumer preferences maintaining fidelity to core brand values amidst today’s competitive fast-paced market landscape which demands agility adaptability more than ever when crafting engaging narratives around products services offered.

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5 Ways to Make Your Survey Attractive to Your Customers to Increase Response Rates

Workflow improvements launched with SurveyTown release – March 2018

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Employee Satisfaction Survey : 40 Effective Questions,Benefits and Examples

employee-satisfaction-survey

In the ever-evolving landscape of building a thriving workplace, the happiness of your employees stands as a cornerstone. However, as workplace dynamics evolve and the needs of today's workforce vary greatly, understanding the level of satisfaction among employees becomes crucial. This is where employee satisfaction surveys come into play, serving as a pivotal tool for organizations.

In this detailed guide, we'll delve into the essentials of crafting an impactful employee satisfaction survey. We'll discuss its significance and provide a step-by-step approach to conducting it effortlessly. But before we dive into the details, let's take a brief look at the key takeaways from the blog.

Key Insights

  • Concept Of Employee Satisfaction And Its Importance
  • Concept Of The Employee Satisfaction Survey
  • What Are The Benefits Of Conducting Employee Satisfaction Surveys?
  • How To Plan an Employee Satisfaction Survey?
  • How To Analyze And Take Action After Conducting An Employee Satisfaction Survey?
  • Best Practices For Conducting An Employee Satisfaction Survey

What Is Employee Satisfaction And Why Should We Measure It?

What Is Employee Satisfaction

Employee Satisfaction is a measurement of an employee’s “happiness” with current job and conditions. – ADP Research Institute

Employee satisfaction refers to employees' overall contentment and happiness toward their jobs and work environment. It encompasses satisfaction from pay and benefits to organizational culture, work relationships, growth opportunities, and more.

Monitoring employee satisfaction provides valuable insights into how satisfied versus dissatisfied workers perceive the workplace. This allows organizations to identify problem areas and gaps in meeting employee needs. Measuring employee satisfaction ensures employees feel valued, engaged, and dedicated to the company's success.

As per a recent report by CNN Business , US employees’ job satisfaction overall is the highest it has ever been since the survey began in 1987.

What Is Employee Satisfaction Survey?

What-is-Employee-Satisfaction-Survey-

From company culture to manager relationships and everything in between, these surveys provide a meticulous analysis of the employee experience.

Regular satisfaction surveys, whether monthly, quarterly, or annually, offer a reliable pulse check on your organization.

Vantage-Pulse-Employee-Survey-Feedback-Convsersation

The image above illustrates how employee satisfaction survey tools enable you to understand the satisfaction level of your employees and resolve issues by getting to the bottom of the problems.

Benefits Of An Employee Satisfaction Survey

Benefits-of-an-Employee-Satisfaction-Survey

  • A company’s culture is said to be the sum of the behavior of its people. Satisfaction surveys offer meaningful data that can help you understand the dynamics of the company culture .
  • These surveys create organizational awareness by addressing the critical as well as minor issues of the workplace.
  • Employee satisfaction surveys are the best way to track and benchmark employee satisfaction within the industry. It is a great way to ensure the company aligns with industry standards in offering employee perks and benefits.
  • Running regular surveys to understand employees’ satisfaction levels presents a caring image of the company . Employees feel empowered, and it boasts a much-needed culture of continuous improvement.
  • Another advantage of employee satisfaction surveys is that it spreads positive word of mouth . Happy employees advocate positive vibes through social media, review websites, polls, etc.

How To Plan An Effective Employee Satisfaction Survey

Planning-And-Implementing-An-Effective-Employee-Satisfaction-Survey--

In the planning phase, you lay the groundwork for the entire survey process. This involves defining objectives, selecting appropriate survey methods, designing relevant questions, and ensuring confidentiality and anonymity to encourage honest feedback.

But the question is, how do you get started with your employee satisfaction survey? You need to have a strategic plan first. And that involves asking a few questions -

  • Are you trying to reduce employee turnover in a certain department?
  • Are you trying to gain insight into remote employee challenges?
  • What specific issues do you want to uncover?
  • Should participation be voluntary or mandatory?

These questions will help you in planning an effective employee satisfaction survey. Typically, a plan like this involves multiple steps. Let’s see what they are -

1. Identify Goals

Determine the key things you want to learn from the survey, such as sources of dissatisfaction, engagement levels, retention risks , etc. Your goals also determine appropriate survey frequency - quarterly for a pulse check versus annually for a broader assessment. Keep the goals focused for a survey that yields actionable insights.

2. Create Survey Questions

With goals framed, develop 10-15 questions to reveal related insights. Use a mix of question types - satisfaction ratings, agree/disagree statements, multiple choice, and open-ended to create the perfect employee satisfaction survey questionnaire. Review existing questionnaires for inspiration but customize them to your goals. Allocate the majority of questions to your 2-3 priority focus areas for sufficient related data.

Vantage Pulse employee survey questions

3. Choose Survey Method

Select the best method, such as an online survey, paper, kiosk survey, interviews , etc, based on your workforce.

4. Determine Audience

Decide if all employees will participate or only specific teams, roles, levels, demographics , etc. Do not ask for names or identifiable info to encourage honest feedback. Inform your employees in advance and communicate the purpose of your survey.

5. Check Survey Length

Keep the survey focused at 10-15 minutes maximum to avoid survey fatigue. Measure the time required to complete when piloting. Remove or condense unnecessary questions to respect employees' time. Long surveys lead to poor-quality data due to rushed or abandoned responses.

6. Test The Survey

Pilot the survey with a small test group to identify flaws before the full launch. Check for unclear wording, ideal order/flow, technical glitches, and projected completion time . The test group can provide input on adding or removing questions. Refine the survey based on feedback before distributing company-wide.

7. Select Distribution Method

Choose the best communication method for sharing the survey based on your workforce makeup and culture. Email, internal portals, or messaging platforms are solid choices. Printed forms may suit some environments. Ensure the selected method is the most convenient and effective for increasing participation.

8. Set A Timeline

Schedule start and end dates thoughtfully, avoiding conflicts with other surveys or peak workload periods that lower participation. Allot 1-2 weeks for responses, with extensions if needed to improve response rate. Advance communication of timelines helps employees plan for completing the survey amidst their responsibilities.

Employee-Survey-Scheduling

Related Article: How to Design an Employee Survey:Best Practices and Tips

40 Examples Of Employee Satisfaction Survey Questions Based On Different Categories

50-Examples-Of-Employee-Satisfaction-Survey-Questions-Based-On-Different-Categories

To make it easier for you, we have curated a category-wise list of employee satisfaction survey questions in the eNPS format that focus on gathering employee feedback regarding various aspects of their job, workplace, and overall work experience.

Questions are presented along with a scale, where the employee can choose the appropriate response from a scale of 1 to 5 . In this scale, 1 = Strongly Disagree, 3 = Neutral, and 5 = Strongly Agree .

Company Culture

A positive culture fosters collaboration, recognition, and a sense of belonging. In contrast, a toxic culture breeds stress, mistrust, and disengagement, undermining job satisfaction and well-being.

Here’s a list of employee survey questions you can ask your employees to promote a positive company culture:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to proudly recommend the company to your friends and family?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how strongly do you feel your values align with the company's values?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your organization's commitment to creating a safe and supportive work environment?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how actively does your company promote diversity, inclusivity, and belonging?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how actively does the company encourage teamwork and collaboration?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how transparent is your organization is about its policies and rules?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how openly does your organization embrace new ideas, opinions, and innovations?

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is an intricate concept representing the emotional and psychological state of fulfillment an employee experiences in their work role. It reflects the individual's expectations, needs, and aspirations.

Below, you'll find a compilation of employee survey questions that delve into the realm of job satisfaction within your workforce:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how closely do your current roles and responsibilities align with the job description you received?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how often do you leave work with a sense of achievement and satisfaction?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to continue working with this organization for the foreseeable future?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the challenge and complexity that your job demands?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how strongly do you feel a sense of purpose in your job?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how manageable do you consider your workload to be?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how excited are you to come to work every day?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how frequently does your company seek employee feedback to improve the work experience?

A Zippia research concluded that 65% of U.S. workers are happy with their job. But only 20% are passionate about their jobs. Likewise, only 49% of American workers report being “very satisfied with their work,” while 30% are “somewhat satisfied.”

Professional Growth

Professional growth opportunities play a pivotal role in employee satisfaction by fostering a sense of engagement, motivation, and purpose. When employees have access to continuous learning, skill development, and the chance to advance their careers, they feel valued and invested in their organization's success.

Below is a compilation of survey questions exploring professional growth within your workforce:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the variety and relevance of training courses offered by the company?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how well do the professional development workshops provided by the company align with your career goals?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how clear is the company's communication about potential career paths and the training required to reach them?
  • On a scale of 1-5, to what extent are you able to apply the skills and knowledge gained from the company's training programs in your current role?

A 2023 Linkedin report shows that 94% of employees would stay with a company longer if the organization invested in learning.

Manager-Employee Relationship

The manager-employee relationship profoundly shapes employee satisfaction. A positive and supportive relationship fosters open communication, mutual respect, and a conducive work environment.

Here is a list of survey questions for employees that explores the manager-employee relationship within the workforce:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your manager's willingness to listen to your ideas and concerns?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how frequently does your manager provide feedback that directly helps you improve your specific skills and performance?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how well does your manager celebrate your individual achievements, both in private and in front of the team?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how supportive is your manager when you face challenges?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how fairly and effectively does your manager handle interpersonal conflicts within your team?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how confident are you in your manager's ability to guide and lead the team toward common goals?

According to McKinsey , Workplace relationships account for 39% of employees’ job satisfaction, and relationships with management, particularly, account for 86% of workers’ satisfaction with their interpersonal ties at work.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and benefits are an integral aspect that influences employee's job satisfaction.

Competitive and fair compensation, including salaries, bonuses, and incentives, provides employees with financial security. At the same time, comprehensive benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans address employees' personal needs by providing a safety net.

Presented below is a compilation of survey questions aimed at eliciting insights from employees regarding compensation and Benefits within the workforce:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with your current compensation package?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how fairly do you think you are paid compared to your coworkers in similar roles?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the retirement/pension plan?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how adequate is the annual paid time off provided by the company's policy?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the current healthcare benefits?
  • On a scale of 1 - 5, how comfortable do you feel discussing compensation and benefit matters with the company's HR?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how consistent is your employer in offering performance-based incentives?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the company's ESOP or stock options program?

Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is crucial for employee satisfaction as it ensures that individuals have the time and energy to fulfill both their professional responsibilities and personal pursuits.

Here’s a list of employee satisfaction questions that helps measure the work-life balance of the employees in the workplace:

  • On a scale of 1-5, how often does your employer take actionable steps to reduce workload during particularly intense or stressful periods?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how open is your employer to offering flexible work arrangements (such as remote work, flextime) to enhance work-life balance?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how frequently does your employer actively promote the utilization of paid time off, vacations, and breaks to ensure rest and recuperation?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how responsive is your employer to individual requests or concerns regarding adjustments needed for better work-life balance?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how consistent is your employer in respecting non-working hours by avoiding unnecessary intrusions into personal time?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how well does your employer align workload and deadlines with realistic expectations, considering the human aspect of work-life balance?
  • On a scale of 1-5, how often does your employer engage in discussions or solicit feedback regarding work-life balance improvements?

A Study by Randstad shows that approximately 94% of employees consider work-life balance important.

Analyzing And Acting On Survey Results

Analyzing-and-Acting-on-Survey-Results

1. Review Survey Data

The first step is to look at the overall response rate. What percentage of employees who received the survey actually completed it? Always aim for a 30-40% minimum response rate for valid insights. If the response rate is lower than that, it could mean your data is skewed and not worth analyzing.

Low response rates signal that the survey may need to be redone. It also indicates that communication has to be improved within the organization to convey the importance of the survey.

2. Segment Survey Data

Once you have completed reviewing the survey data, you must Break down survey responses by department, location, role, seniority level, or other demographic factors . Look for trends in satisfaction scores or feedback from certain employee segments. This identifies if dissatisfaction concentrates on one group.

3. Quantify The Data

Assign numerical values to each rating option for survey questions that use a satisfaction rating scale (e.g., 1-5 or 1-10) . Then calculate average satisfaction scores for each rating question. This helps quickly identify areas with particularly high or low average satisfaction. Low-scoring areas pinpoint where employees are most dissatisfied.

4. Analyze Qualitative Data

Well-constructed surveys include some open-ended questions or comment boxes to gather qualitative insights. Review all comments and categorize them into common themes around issues, challenges, suggestions, and sentiments . The themes help reveal larger trends across the open-ended feedback.

5. Visualization Of Data

Convert survey data into visual charts and graphs to simplify analysis. Pie charts work for rating questions. Bar or column graphs display segmented data. Heat maps visualize satisfaction ratings.

6. Review Insights And Take Action

Discuss survey results with leadership, managers, and employees for their perspectives. This collaborative approach enriches understanding of the issues uncovered in the survey.

Employee-survey-data-insights

Using insights gathered from the survey analysis, and review discussions, outline specific steps your organization can take to address problem areas. Turn feedback into actions to improve policies, communication, employee experience , and satisfaction.

Common Challenges Faced During Satisfaction Survey

Common-Challenges-Faced-During-Satisfaction-Survey

Survey Fatigue:

survey fatigue is real, and it is often the main reason behind low response rates. Survey weariness happens when:

  • Surveys are too long
  • The questions are very vague and irrelevant
  • The motive behind the survey is not clear
The number one driver of survey fatigue is the perception that the organization wouldn’t act on the results. – Mckinsey

Low Response Rates:

It's frustrating when only a small percentage of employees complete the survey, skewing results. This happens due to -

  • Poor communication
  • Survey fatigue
  • Lack of trust

Promote the survey through multiple channels, explain the valuable role of feedback, keep it concise, and ensure anonymity. Consider incentives for responding. Follow-up with non-responders to increase participation.

Time-Consuming:

Employees are most likely to respond to a survey during work hours. You must ensure that it doesn’t take up much of the time from their already cramped schedule. It is for the best if the survey is online and they land directly in their inboxes.

Frequency Of The Survey:

Timing and frequency are critical factors in running a survey—running surveys once a year is a bad idea. Instead, you should spread the survey over the period. Improving the frequency and making surveys a regular part of the culture will ensure maximum success.

Lack Of Anonymity:

Employee satisfaction surveys, especially, should be made anonymous. What makes an employee satisfied or dissatisfied at work are often personal factors. They would most likely not like to share it unless confidentiality is ensured.

Inaction Of The Management:

Surveys are often ignored because management doesn’t take the necessary actions on the results. Before you rush to run your survey, make sure that you have an action plan and are ready to implement changes.

Unclear Communication:

Make it a point to share a summary of the critical results once the data are in. Also, communicate the successes after implementing employee-led ideas. This will reinstate the trust among employees, and they will stay engaged in future surveys.

Recommended Resource: A Brief Guide On Employee Pulse Surveys

Employee Engagement Survey Vs. Employee Satisfaction Survey

Recommended Resource: Ultimate Guide On Employee Engagement Surveys

In the big picture of making your company great, keeping your employees happy is like planting the seeds of success. When you look at your Employee Satisfaction Survey feedback, you're holding a treasure map to a happier and more successful team. Each response is like a clue that can lead to better teamwork, more work getting done, and a workplace where everyone feels good.

We hope this guide gives you a better overview of designing an effective employee satisfaction survey and getting the most out of them.

Are you running these surveys in your organization? If not, you should start right now. If yes, then do drop us an email. We'd love to include your suggestions on this blog.

FAQs

What is the ideal frequency for conducting employee satisfaction surveys?

Most experts recommend conducting frequent satisfaction pulse surveys. Gathering regular feedback based on a steady stream of data enables continuous improvement.

How do we encourage participation in surveys?

Encourage participation in surveys by reducing survey fatigue and through gamification of the surveys. Explain to your employees how results will be used to drive improvements.

What incentives can we offer employees for completing surveys?

Small incentives like gift cards, reward points, or monetary incentives help boost participation. Monetary incentives can be provided through the gamification of the surveys. For example, you can offer online scratch cards to participants that contain monetary amounts ranging from $0 to $100.

Should managers see their team members' individual responses?

No, individual responses should always be anonymous to encourage honest feedback. Only aggregated team-level data should be visible to managers.

Nilotpal Saharia

This article was co-authored by Nilotpal and Supriya , who work as digital marketers at Vantage Circle . For any queries reach out to [email protected] .

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  28. Employee Satisfaction Survey : 40 Effective Questions,Benefits and Examples

    2. Create Survey Questions. With goals framed, develop 10-15 questions to reveal related insights. Use a mix of question types - satisfaction ratings, agree/disagree statements, multiple choice, and open-ended to create the perfect employee satisfaction survey questionnaire. Review existing questionnaires for inspiration but customize them to ...