Survey Question Types ~ Add a Little Variety

Superb customer service includes using customer surveys to build a connection with your customers, making their voices feel valued and important.

Survey questions vary according to what type of information they are trying to collect from your consumers and how this information will apply to the goals of the survey. The goal of customer satisfaction surveys should clearly be to satisfy your customers.

 There are two basic types of survey questions: Open-ended and Closed-ended.

Open-ended

This type of question allows participants to respond in any way they choose. Open-ended questions provide primarily qualitative data, and are commonly used in probing research. When you want to know an answer in detail you use an open ended question on your surveys.

Example

What was the best service our company provided on your visit today?

A: [Customers provide answers in their own words]

Closed-ended

In contrast to open-ended questions, closed-ended questions require consumers to choose from a restricted number of responses determined by the researcher or business owner. There are 5 basic types of closed-ended questions: Multiple-choice; Categorical; Likert-scale; Numerical; and Ordinal. Closed-ended questions provide primarily quantitative data. When you have specific answers in mind and you merely want the customers to choose from those, you would use close-ended questions like those shown below:

Multiple Choice

Use a multiple-choice question when you want your respondents to choose the best possible answer among all options presented.

Example

How much did you spend on your visit? (Select one)

__$1.00 - $30.00
__$30.00 - $50.00__ $50.00 +

Categorical

Use a categorical question when the possible answers are categories, and the respondent must belong to one category.

Example

What is your gender?__ Male 

__Female

Likert-Scale

Use a Likert-scale question when you are trying to determine respondents’ attitudes or feelings about something.

Example

How satisfied were you by our customer service? (Select one):

Not Very Satisfied __ 1__   2__   3__   4__   5   Extremely Satisfied

Ordinal

Sometimes you may want your respondents to rank order their responses. A ranking indicates the importance assigned by a participant to an attitudinal object.

Example

Please rank the importance of the following qualities in a team leader. (Please fill in your rank order in the spaces provided using the numbers 1 through 5)

__A team leader that is sincere __ A team leader that gets resources for the team __ A team leader that is an advocate for the team __ A team leader that is a strong disciplinarian __ A team leader that is a good motivator

Numerical

When the answer must be a number, ask a numerical question.

Example

What is your current age? (Select one)
__Less than 18
__18 to 29
__30 to 39
__40 to 49
__50 or older

Remember: How you develop your questions depends on why you are conducting your survey, and how you plan to apply the data from your survey to your survey problem. Educate yourself on the various types of survey questions, and what purpose they serve before developing questions for your own survey project. Know why you are offering the survey, and make sure that it is written to best make your company successful.

Also, pay attention to what questions your customers are answering – it will tell you whether or not they agree with the type of question or the question itself.

Using customer satisfaction surveys to improve your product line and customer service will take you on that enviable road leading to success.