Using Customer Service Survey Questions to Complement Your Survey
All brands should carefully construct their customer service survey questions, as the questions make up the core of any survey. Thus, the effectiveness of this survey largely depends on the questions you use.
Brands use the customer service survey to understand and improve all instances that involve their customers receiving some form of customer service. Customer service should not be a secondary concern for any organization, as the success of a business largely depends on providing good customer service.
As a matter of fact, 58% of American customers will switch companies because of poor customer service. This would be especially devastating for businesses who work towards strengthening other key aspects of their company, such as the product or UX, proving that you shouldn’t cast aside customer service.
In contrast, 89% of customers are more likely to buy from the same company again after a positive customer service experience. It’s evident that maintaining good customer service has tangible benefits.
This article observes customer service survey questions, presenting key examples of each type so that you can correctly craft them in your survey with ease.
Common Types of Customer Service Survey Questions
You can survey your customers about any touchpoint or experience relating to customer service in this survey type. At times, you’ll notice that these involve other key aspects customers face in their customer buying journey.
You should expect to deal with other matters as customers usually receive customer service in relation to some issue when they’re not using it to ask general questions.
There are several key points in the customer journey that are most apt for sending the customer service survey to your customers, whether they are loyal buyers or casual browsers. As such, you should form your survey questions around these instances.
The following sections provide examples of substantial customer service survey questions to use in your customer survey.
Customer Service Survey Questions to Use Before They Go to a Store
Sometimes customers will be in talks with customer service representatives before physically visiting a store or other establishment. You should survey them after they received this customer service that led them to take a trip to your store.
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the customer service you received?
- Question type: Scaled from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied
- Did the representative help you find the store?
- Question type: Likert scale from Not at all to I wouldn’t have found it without the representative’s help.
- Did the representative help you get to the store?
- Question type: Likert scale from Not at all to the representative gave me sufficient assistance in getting to the store.
- Did the representative answer all of your questions about the store?
- Question type: Matrix question from No to the representative answered all of my questions.
- Which question or concern did you feel the representative didn’t fully answer?
- Question type: Open-ended question
- A follow-up question to the previous
- How else could we have assisted you in getting to the store?
- Question type: Open-ended question
Customer Service Survey Questions to Use As Customers Are Being Helped
There will be times in which it is best to survey customers as soon as they receive their customer service. Sometimes, this may be in the midst of the session (towards its end). This is important as their customer service experience will be fresh on their minds. In order to do so, preface the customer service session by mentioning the survey.
You should also tell the customers the importance of completing it ASAP. In this case, it may be useful to offer survey incentives.
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the customer service you received?
- Question type: Scaled from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied.
- Did you receive all the information you needed?
- Question type: Yes or no
- What else did you need more information on that you didn’t receive?
- Question type: Open-ended question
- A follow-up question to the previous
- How comfortable were you speaking with the customer service representative?
- Question type: Likert scale of Extremely comfortable to extremely uncomfortable
- Rate the following statement: the customer service representative spoke with you in a polite manner.
- Question type: Matrix scale of Extremely agree to extremely disagree
- Was there anything you didn’t like about your customer service experience?
- Question type: Likert scale of No, I was satisfied with everything to I didn’t like any aspect of the service
- Was the customer service representative able to resolve your issue for you?
- Question type: Yes or no
- If no, follow up with: Do you still have this issue? Or: what else can we do for you to help resolve your issue?
- What would you change about your recent customer service experience?
- Question type: Open-ended question
- Do not use this question if the answer to the previous question was NO, I was satisfied with everything
Customer Service Survey Questions to Use After a Purchase
Whether your customers make an in-store or online purchase, this is an appropriate time to survey them on customer service. After all, many customers rely on customer service before finally buying. This may have been months, weeks or even seconds leading up to customers making a purchase.
- Did you receive any help today?
- Used best in: in-store and other brick-and-mortar settings
- Question type: Yes or no
- How did you receive help?
- Used best in: in-store and other brick-and-mortar settings
- Question type: Multiple-choice and multiple-selection
- Who helped you today?
- Used best in: in-store and other brick-and-mortar settings
- Question type: Multiple-choice
- The customer service representative did a fantastic job helping me find what I needed.
- Used best in: in-store and other brick-and-mortar settings
- Question type: Likert scale from Extremely disagree to extremely agree
- Did you receive any help in making your purchase today?
- Used best in: digital purchases
- Question type: Yes or no
- How did you receive customer service leading up to this purchase?
- A follow-up question to the previous
- Used best in: digital purchases
- Question type: Multiple-choice and multiple-selection
- If they select multiple answers, follow up with questions about their preferred method of receiving customer service and why.
- How would you rate the customer service you’ve received on a scale of 1-10?
- Used best in: in-store, brick-and-mortar settings and after digital purchases
- Question type: Scaled question
- How much did the customer service you received help you in making your purchase?
- Used best in: digital purchases
- Question type: Likert scale of not at all to I wouldn’t have made the purchase without it
Customer Service Survey Questions to Use When Customers Miss a Scheduled Session
There will be times when you encounter customers who have scheduled a customer service or support session and missed it, either by opting out officially or by simply not showing up.
Showing up can refer to in-person services, as well as digital and phone services. In these cases, you should use customer service questions to get to the bottom of the situation and prevent future such cases.
- Did you miss your scheduled customer service session intentionally?
- Question type: Yes or no
- If yes, what was the main reason behind your absence?
- Question type: Multiple-choice
- A follow-up question to the previous
- Use answers specific to the nature of the appointment, along with general ones, such as:
- My issue was resolved.
- Someone else helped me.
- I do not wish to receive customer service from you.
- I figured out how to resolve this issue without getting help from you.
- I’ve gotten help in the past and used that knowledge to fix my issue.
- Would you like to schedule another [name of your customer service session]?
- Question type: Yes or no
- If no, why not?
- A follow-up question to the previous
- Question type: Multiple-choice with an open-ended answer option
- Use answers specific to the nature of the appointment, along with general ones, such as:
- My issue was resolved.
- Someone else helped me.
- I figured out how to resolve this issue without getting help from you.
- I don’t have the time.
- I do not wish to receive customer service from you due to a poor experience in the past.
- Follow up by asking about the nature of this experience with an open-ended question.
- I try to avoid unnecessary customer service sessions.
Customer Service Survey Questions to Use After They Made a Complaint
Some customer service sessions involve customers reaching out to a business — but not to get assistance, but to complain. Whether it is in-person, over the phone, or through a Voice of Customer (VoC) program, many customers won’t shy away from airing their grievances.
While this may appear negative and undesirable, this kind of feedback is valuable for avoiding any similar issues with the same or other customers in the future. No business is perfect, whether in its products or customer satisfaction. Complaints help you steer your business in the right direction.
The key is to use the proper questions.
- How well did the customer service representative help you address your issue and how to resolve it?
- Question type: Likert scale from Extremely poorly to extremely well
- What can our customer service representative do to improve your service in the future?
- Question type: Open-ended question
- This can be a standalone question, or used as a follow-up to the previous question, if the customer’s answer is on the lower end of the scale.
- Is there anything you would suggest we do to address, resolve or improve your issue?
- Question type: Open-ended question
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the customer service you received?
- Question type: Scaled from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied.
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions about the customer service you received today?
- Question type: Open-ended question
Excelling at All Customer Service Endeavors
Excelling at customer service involves surveying your customers at appropriate times, with appropriate questions on hand. The above questions provide examples of how to survey customers during various instances in the customer service process.
However, aside from using the correct questions, you’ll also need to use a strong online survey platform to carry out all your survey research.
First, you’ll need a platform that offers advanced skip logic in your questionnaire. This feature routes respondents to relevant follow-up questions based on their answers to a preliminary or previous question. Given the nature of the questions in this article, and survey questions in general, you’ll need to have this functionality.
Additionally, such a platform should be mobile-first, since mobile dominates the digital space and many of your qualified respondents will be on their mobile phones.
Most importantly, the survey platform should allow you to survey anyone. As such, you’ll need a platform with a reach to millions of consumers, along with one that offers the Distribution Link feature. This is especially important in the case of the customer service survey, as it involves specific customers and their feedback, as opposed to anyone in your target market for a market research study.
When you use an online survey platform with all of these capabilities, coupled with these questions, you’ll be well adept at collecting customer service data and outperform all future customer service endeavors.
Do you want to distribute your survey? Pollfish offers you access to millions of targeted consumers to get survey responses from $0.95 per complete. Launch your survey today.