Satisfaction survey

A satisfaction survey is a survey that measures how satisfied a customer is with a product, service, or a specific interaction. Companies send it after a purchase, a support contact or a delivery to find what to fix and to track satisfaction over time.

It is short, asks "How satisfied are you with the service?" or similar, and is captured at the moment of truth, while the experience is fresh. Metrics: CSAT, NPS, CES, top box. Connected to the customer journey and to feedback. For staff there is a separate format: the employee satisfaction survey.

It works best as a systematic measurement at the key points of contact rather than a one-off "how are we doing?".

Definition

A satisfaction survey is a survey for measuring how satisfied a respondent is with a product, service, interaction, or experience. It is run among customers and users, and less often among employees (then it is an employee satisfaction survey). Questions are scales (1-5, 1-7, NPS 0-10), more rarely yes/no or open-ended. Metrics: the average, top box score, bottom box score, NPS, CSAT, CES. A satisfaction survey is tied to a touchpoint or to the product as a whole. Connected to the customer experience - data to drive improvement.

In short: "how satisfied are you" - at a specific moment or overall.

When to run a satisfaction survey

After a key action. A purchase, delivery, contact with support, sign-up, subscription cancellation. The moment of truth - the experience is fresh and the answers are relevant. A delay of a few days reduces accuracy.

Regular monitoring. Once a quarter or every six months - a general survey about satisfaction with the product or service. For trends, not for the "moment of truth".

After changes. A redesign, a new feature, a process change - measure 1-2 months later: has satisfaction changed.

Do not survey the same touchpoint too often - survey fatigue lowers both response rate and quality.

Metrics in a satisfaction survey

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score). "How satisfied are you?" - a 1-5 or 1-7 scale. The average or the share who are "satisfied" (4-5). A classic for post-interaction.

NPS (Net Promoter Score). "Would you recommend the product/company?" - 0-10. Promoters (9-10) minus detractors (0-6). A loyalty index comparable over time and across companies.

CES (Customer Effort Score). "How easy was it to [do X]?" - a 1-7 scale. For scenarios with friction: support, checkout, setup. The metric comes from the CEB research described by Dixon, Freeman and Toman (Harvard Business Review, 2010), which linked low effort to loyalty.

Top Box / Bottom Box. The share of the highest and the lowest ratings. Top box is "how many are delighted", bottom is "how many are disappointed". They complement the average.

The choice of metric depends on the goal: overall loyalty - NPS, a specific episode - CSAT, the ease of a process - CES.

Questions for a satisfaction survey

Basic CSAT. "How satisfied are you with [the product / the service / the last interaction]?" - a 1-5 or 1-7 scale. Options from "not at all satisfied" to "completely satisfied".

NPS. "How likely are you to recommend [the company/product] to a friend?" - 0-10. One question, high comparability.

CES. "[The company] made it easy to resolve my issue" - from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Or "How easy was it to [place the order / contact support]?" - 1-7.

Open-ended. "What should we improve?", "What did you like the most?" - qualitative feedback. Combine it with a closed question: first the rating, then the open one (optional).

A short survey - 2-5 questions - has a higher completion rate. A long one is for a deep cross-section once every six months.

The satisfaction survey and touchpoints

The customer journey map and the touchpoints define where to ask. After a purchase - CSAT or NPS about the purchase. After support - CES and CSAT. After delivery - a delivery rating. Different points mean different contexts. Targeted surveys after key touches work better than one general "how are we doing?" survey once a year, because they make it clear which stage drags things down. Connected to segmentation: satisfaction by product, channel, region.

Customers vs employees

A customer satisfaction survey - after a purchase, support, usage. CSAT, NPS, CES. The goal is product and service quality, retention, recommendations.

An employee satisfaction survey - conditions, relationships, balance, pay. Anonymity is mandatory. The goal is turnover, climate, engagement. The metrics are scales by aspect, eNPS. The same "how satisfied are you" principle, a different context.

Common mistakes

Surveying a week after the action. The respondent has forgotten the details. Survey within hours or 1-2 days of the touchpoint.

A survey that is too long. 20 questions after a single purchase - a low completion rate and fatigue. 2-5 questions are enough for a post-action survey.

No link to the action. "Rate the company" with no context - it is unclear what to rate. Tie it to a specific interaction or product.

Collecting and not acting. Results with no feedback and no changes erode trust. Have a plan: what you do with the data, how you tell customers about the improvements.

The satisfaction survey in SurveyNinja

Create a short survey: CSAT or NPS, CES if needed, one open-ended question. Send the link after the target action (email, SMS, a "thank you" screen). Hidden variables (Basic plan and above) pass the product, the date, the source so you can analyze by segment. Logic jumps - for example, show an extra "What should we improve?" question for a low rating. Export to XLSX or CSV to build trends and cross-tabulations by segment in a spreadsheet. Templates: a post-support survey, a post-purchase evaluation - a basis for a satisfaction survey.

Frequency and volume

After each key touchpoint - a separate short survey (or one survey with different entry points driven by a hidden variable). A general product satisfaction survey - once a quarter or every six months. The balance: do not overload customers with surveys, but do not miss the moment of truth. A single customer should not get five surveys a month - pick the priority touchpoints.

Connection with retention and LTV

Satisfaction is a predictor of retention. A low CSAT or NPS in a segment is a churn risk. Regular satisfaction surveys help spot problems before the customer leaves. Connected to LTV: satisfied customers stay longer and buy more - their LTV is higher. Surveys provide the data to improve the experience and grow retention.

Example: CSAT after support

Suppose an online store runs this. After a support ticket is closed - an email with a survey: CES "How easy was it to resolve your issue?" 1-7, CSAT "How satisfied are you with support?" 1-5, open-ended "What should we improve?". A hidden variable - the ticket type (return, delivery, breakage). After a quarter, analysis: for the "delivery" type, CES and CSAT are lower. They went through the open-ended answers - "waited a long time for a reply", "no callback". They introduced an SLA and reminders - six months later, CES and CSAT for delivery tickets went up. The satisfaction survey pointed to the problem segment and gave qualitative cues.