If you’re putting together a survey or questionnaire, it shows that you truly value customer feedback and have the drive to make your company the best it can be. Surveys are a great way to gather valuable information, improve your product or service, build brand loyalty and a positive reputation, increase your net promoter score, and more.
But what questions should you ask in your survey? Which ones will give you the most actionable information? And how do you analyze all of the responses?
We’re covering everything you need to know about survey questions below, including a list of survey question examples to help you create the best survey for your business.
Contents
- How do you start a survey questionnaire?
- What are good questions to ask?
- 130+ survey question examples (by category)
- The main types of survey questions
- Qualitative vs. quantitative survey questions
- How to write survey questions
- How do you ask someone to answer your survey?
- How do you convince a customer to fill out a survey?
- How to analyze all of the answers
How do you start a survey questionnaire?
Starting a survey questionnaire begins with finding a survey hosting platform that works for your business and the survey recipients. You’ll also need a mailing list of participants who you’re legally allowed to contact and ask for feedback. Most online survey tools send surveys via email, although there are other options if you don’t have a mailing list (e.g. social media surveys or a dedicated landing page).
What are good questions to ask?
Good questions to ask in a survey are ones that help you gather concrete information from participants and help you make smarter business decisions. Understanding exactly what kind of details you’re looking to extract from the audience helps you get clear on your intention with the survey and desired outcome.
Additionally, be sure to consider the way in which the survey is being delivered. For example, if you’re sending a survey to employees via email, consider asking mostly open-ended questions to gather in-depth insights, but if you’ll be collecting answers through a social media survey, consider asking mostly close-ended questions to keep things brief and increase the chances of people participating and completing the survey.
130+ survey question examples (by category)
We’ve put together a list of over 130 questions for you to use in your surveys. We’ve organized them by the most popular survey categories and within each category, you’re able to click further to dig deeper into that specific category.
- Demographic survey questions
- Customer satisfaction survey questions
- User experience survey questions
- Product survey questions
- Social media survey questions
- Training survey questions
- Employee survey questions
- Student survey questions
- Restaurant survey questions
Demographic survey questions
Collecting demographic information is one of the first and most important steps in many surveys. Although some surveys may be anonymous and shouldn’t collect names or contact information, you can still collect basic demographic information such as age, gender, income, and more.
This type of personal information is actually best collected anonymously as people are often more comfortable sharing these details if they’re not associated with their name or identity.
Here is a list of demographic questions you can use for your survey:
- What is your name?
- How old are you?
- What gender do you identify with?
- What is your ethnicity?
- Where are you located? / What is your city of residence?
- What is your zip code?
- Are you eligible to vote?
- What education do you have? / What is your highest level of education?
- What is your marital status?
- How many children do you have?
- What is your household income?
- What type of housing do you reside in?
- What is your current job status?
- What is your job title?
- What department do you work for?
- What is the name of the company?
- What industry is the company in?
- How many employees work within the company?
- What is the company’s annual revenue?
- What is your email address?
- What is the best number to reach you at?
Customer satisfaction survey questions
Customer satisfaction questions are a great way to gauge how happy (or unhappy) a customer is with your product or service. These types of questions should be asked after an interaction or transaction has been completed. For example, after a customer speaks to a live chat agent or customer service representative over the phone, or after they’ve received a service or purchased a product from you.
Here is a list of customer satisfaction questions you can use for your survey:
- How would you rate your experience with [insert company, product, service, technician, etc.]?
- Did the [product or service] solve your problem?
- How likely are you to refer a friend, family member, or colleague?
- How likely are you to use this product/service again?
- How could your experience with [company, product, or service] be improved?
- Do you have any additional comments, concerns, or feedback you would be willing to share?
User experience survey questions
User experience (UX) survey questions should be specific to the customer’s online experience (e.g. a website or application), specifically in regards to how easy or pleasing the software was to use.
Here is a list of user experience questions you can use for your survey:
- How did you learn about the app/website?
- What was your first impression when you entered the app/website?
- How easy was it to navigate?
- Were you able to find what you were looking for quickly?
- Was anything you expected to see missing or not present?
- What did you like most about the experience?
- What did you not like about the experience?
- What is the most important feature to you?
- What is the least important feature to you?
- How was your experience overall?
- Would you recommend this website/app to a friend, family member, or colleague?
Product survey questions
If you’ve developed a product, you probably know it inside and out. Sometimes, however, being too close to a product means that we can’t see what those who are new to it see.
Product survey questions are a great way to understand how your product is seen and used. This information can help with marketing, product tweaks, and future product developments.
Here is a list of product questions you can use for your survey:
- How did you hear about the product?
- How long have you been using the product?
- How often do you use the product?
- Is it an easy process to use the product?
- Does the product help you achieve your goal?
- What is your favorite thing about the product?
- What is your least favorite thing about the product?
- What product feature is the most valuable to you?
- What product feature is the least valuable to you?
- Is there anything you would change about the product?
- What made you choose this product over our competitors?
- How would you rate the product’s value?
- How likely are you to recommend this product to others?
Learn more about product survey questions, formatting, answers, analysis, and more. >>
Social media survey questions
Social media surveys are a great way to capture feedback in a relaxed and informal setting. Survey questions are displayed on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Here you can collect market research information or ask any type of question relating to your company, product, or service.
Here are some examples of social media questions you can use for your survey:
- How often have you come across this product online?
- Do you prefer to shop online or offline?
- Do reactions and comments on an ad influence your decisions to click on it to learn more?
- To what extent does a brand’s social media presence influence your purchasing decision?
- What social media channels are you most active on?
- How often do you check your social media account per day?
- What do you use social media for?
- Which social media platform do you like the most?
- Which social media platform do you like the least?
- Which social media platform do you trust the most?
- Which social media platform do you trust the least?
Facebook survey questions
Similar to social media surveys, Facebook surveys are a great way to capture platform-specific information.
Here are some examples of Facebook questions you can use for your survey:
- How often have you come across this product on Facebook?
- How many purchases have you made from a product you saw on Facebook?
- Do you think Facebook is a useful tool for finding relevant products or services?
- How many times a day do you check your Facebook?
- Do you check Facebook reviews before making your first purchase with a new company?
Training survey questions
When your team succeeds, your business succeeds. Proper training is essential for employees to develop the expertise and abilities needed to do their job. Training can be the deciding factor in whether an employee succeeds in their role or not. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your training program can be determined by using the right survey questions.
Here is a list of training questions you can use for your survey:
- How would you rate your training experience overall?
- What was your favorite part of training?
- What was your least favorite part of training?
- Were there any barriers to learning?
- Do you feel like you had all the necessary resources to complete your training?
- Do you feel like you gained enough knowledge through the training to effectively and safely carry out your responsibilities?
- What part(s) of your training have you found most useful in your role so far?
- If you could add or remove anything from the training, what would it be?
Employee survey questions
Sending surveys to customers is incredibly valuable, but sending surveys internally to your staff can also help your business grow. Employee surveys help you better understand your business from the perspective of those on the inside. These surveys can shed light on circumstances you may be too far removed from to see yourself and give you valuable insights into your business’s day-to-day operations.
Employee surveys can be sent out quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. Try not to send out employee surveys more frequently than every quarter; your employees are busy (both with work and in their personal lives) so try not to bombard them with feedback requests too frequently.
Probe your employees for anything from minute details to big picture ideas. Your team will have plenty of insights to offer—especially if you make the survey anonymous.
Here is a list of employee survey questions you can use for your survey:
- Do you feel this company is a great place to work?
- What do you like most about working at this company?
- What do you like least about working at this company?
- Do you feel that you have access to resources that allow you to do your job well?
- Do you feel like you know what you need to do to be successful in your role?
- Do you feel supported by your manager?
- Do you feel that you have good growth opportunities at this company?
- How could this company be a better place to work?
- What are the most important things for the company to do in the next year to set ourselves up for long-term success?
- How can we better support innovation and growth?
Student survey questions
Polling the student body can give you many insights into how they’re feeling about their experience in school. Whether it be in-person or online, student surveys should include questions about the course work, instructors, facilities, and mental health.
These can be conducted mid-way through a program or at the end. For the sake of the examples, we’ve worded them in the present tense.
Here is a list of student survey questions you can use for your survey:
- What program/course are you studying?
- What motivated you to take this course?
- What year of study are you in?
- What style of learning do you prefer?
- What style of learning do you struggle with?
- Do you feel like you are lacking any resources to succeed in your studies?
- Is the coursework interesting to you?
- What do you enjoy most about the program?
- What do you enjoy least about the program?
- Do you feel supported by your classmates?
- Do you feel supported by your instructor?
- How would you rate your overall experience with your instructor?
- How would you rate your overall experience with the school?
Restaurant survey questions
Customer service is incredibly important when it comes to the restaurant business. Keeping customers happy and generating positive reviews is necessary to bring in new business and repeat customers.
Sending out restaurant surveys will help you better understand how the customers really felt about their dining experience with you.
Here is a list of restaurant survey questions you can use for your survey:
- How did you hear about our establishment?
- What made you decide to visit?
- How many people were in your party?
- Did you have a reservation?
- Did you have to wait to be seated? If so, how long?
- Were you greeted warmly at the door?
- Did the menu have enough variety to satisfy your table’s needs?
- Do you have any food allergies or sensitivities?
- Did your drinks arrive in a timely manner?
- Did your food arrive in a timely manner?
- What did you order?
- Did you enjoy what you ordered?
- Did you enjoy the music that was playing during your stay?
- Did the wait staff take good care of your table?
- Were dirty dishes bussed (taken away) in a timely manner?
- If you visited the washrooms, were they well-maintained?
- Do you feel the pricing of the items matched their value?
- How likely are you to return?
- How likely are you to recommend this restaurant to family, friends, or colleagues?
- If you could change anything about the experience, what would it be?
The main types of survey questions
Survey questions can be asked in many ways but at the highest level they can be broken down into two categories:
- Close-ended questions
- Open-ended questions
1. Close-ended questions
Close-ended questions are those that can only be answered by selecting from a limited number of options. The answer options usually include:
- One-word answers: These can include answers such as ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘sometimes’, or straight-forward, one-worded, written answers from the participant.
- Multiple-choice answers: Multiple-choice answers will follow multiple-choice questions, nominal questions, or matrix questions. They offer participants multiple answers to choose from and you can have them select one, all that apply, or all that don’t apply.
- A rating scale: Rating scale answers follow questions such as rating scale questions, ranking questions, ordinal questions, and Likert scale questions. They ask participants to rank a range of items in order of importance or select the rating options that best describe their feelings towards the question.
Close-ended questions are best for sensitive questions within a survey because of their straightforwardness, simplicity, and ease of answering. It’s more likely that the participants will feel comfortable answering sensitive or personal questions if they are asked in a closed-ended format. Close-ended questions don’t just have to be yes or no questions; by creating multiple choice questions, you can gather detailed information in a quick, simple way as shown below.
Closed-ended question examples:
- Multiple choice: What is the name of the company you work for?
- Multiple choice: Who was your service technician?
- Multiple choice: What product is your favorite?
- Were you offered a discount code at checkout?
2. Open-ended questions
Open-ended questions are questions without predetermined answers. They offer an open space for participants to provide answers in their own words. Open-ended questions help you truly understand customer pain points, reduced feedback friction, and uncover issues that you could be unaware of.
Open-ended question examples:
- How did you find out about our company?
- What made you choose this product/service over others?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
Qualitative vs. quantitative survey questions
Qualitative questions
Qualitative questions are often open-ended questions and help you understand the “why” of a customer’s experience. They give participants space to provide greater detail about their motivations and reasoning in their own words. Qualitative answers are much more difficult to analyze because they can’t be quantified using concrete numbers.
Qualitative survey question examples:
- How was your experience with our customer support team?
- What could we have done differently to improve your experience?
- What is your favorite feature of this product and why?
Quantitative questions
Quantitative questions are usually closed-ended questions that result in answers that are easily converted into objective, numbers-based analysis. This type of survey question format can make it easy for people to participate and respond as they usually take less time to complete than open-ended, qualitative questions.
Quantitative survey questions examples:
- How long did you have to wait to speak to a customer service representative?
- We’re all of your concerns addressed during your live chat session today?
- Would you recommend this product/service to a family member or friend?
How to write survey questions
Survey questions should be short, direct, and to the point. You should avoid double-barrelled questions that touch on more than one issue, such as “Have you ever been bullied or harassed online?” In this example, bullying and harassment are two separate ideas, so it’s best to write separate questions even if they’re open-ended, to avoid confusing the participant or congesting the answer section.
How do you ask someone to answer your survey?
You can ask someone to answer a survey by sending them an email, asking them in person, or even through an ad on social media. Be sure to introduce yourself and the survey when making an initial connection and asking participants to fill out a survey. Make it easy for them by providing a clear link to the survey with details on how long the survey will take to complete and clear instructions on how to participate.
How do you convince a customer to fill out a survey?
Asking someone to take time out of their day to fill out your survey can take some convincing. One way to do this is through incentives. For example, you can offer a discount code, free gift, or gift certificate to those who complete your survey. It can also be beneficial to tell participants why you’re conducting this survey. When people understand your reasoning, they may be inclined to help you come to a conclusion on a certain topic.
Learn more tactics to increase your survey response rate.
How to analyze all of the answers
After you’ve selected your survey tool, come up with all your questions, sent out the surveys, and received all the answers and feedback, it can be overwhelming to analyze the feedback and turn it into actionable data.
Idiomatic’s powerful AI helps businesses and marketers analyze customer feedback data and make data-driven decisions to eliminate pain points and create loyal, lifelong customers.
Our platform can analyze and quantify thousands of open-ended survey responses and turn them into actionable insights, saving you time, money, and guesswork. Here’s a video that shows how we do it.
If you’d like to learn more about how Idiomatic turns customer feedback such as open-ended survey answers into Voice of Customer within minutes, here’s a quick video for you:
