Customer Satisfaction Survey

Many satisfaction surveys fail for the same reason: they ask people how satisfied they are, get an average of 4.1 out of 5, and change nothing. A useful survey asks what someone actually did and what they would change, because those two answers can be acted on and a score cannot.

This one is built around that. It opens with how often the person comes in, which lets you separate a regular’s complaint from a first-timer’s. It asks the recommendation question on the standard nought-to-ten scale, so your result is comparable to anyone else’s. Then it asks what they came in for and how long they waited, which is where the real answer usually hides. The open question comes near the end, once the specific ones have jogged the memory.

What to change before you send it

The wait-time bands assume a counter service. If you take bookings, replace that question with one about the booking itself. The grid rows are the four things you most want rated; swap them for whatever your business actually competes on, and keep it to four, because a grid with eight rows on a phone is where people abandon a form.

Leave the email question last and optional. Asking for it first changes what people are willing to say.

When to send it

Within a day of the visit, while the detail is still there. A QR code on the receipt or the table works better than an email two weeks later, which is answered mostly by people who were either delighted or furious.