Surveys are a great way to collect information about people’s perceptions, opinions, thoughts, attitudes, etc. But what makes for a good survey or good survey question?
The trick is making sure that you’re asking your questions the right way in order to get the data that you need, as well as ensuring that the people who take your survey will all interpret your survey questions the same way. To help you get started, below are 12 qualities of good survey questions to keep in mind when writing your surveys.
12 Things Good Survey Question Do…
#1: Evokes the truth. However, you should avoid sensitive questions.
#2: Asks for an answer on only one dimension. You will need to phrase the question to extract the exact information you need, and avoid the possibility of someone giving you an ambiguous response.
#3: Can accommodate all possible answers. A good practice is to allow for multiple responses. Don’t assume that you know it all.
#4: Has mutually exclusive options. (i.e. There should be only one correct or appropriate choice.)
#5: Flows well from the previous question. Your question transitions should be smooth and logical.
#6: Does not make erroneous assumptions.
#7: Does not imply a desired answer. Remember to use objectivity in your questions.
#8: Does not use emotionally loaded or vaguely defined words. Also remember not to use unfamiliar acronyms or abbreviations.
#9: Does not ask the respondent to rank more than five items in a given series.
#10: Puts personal questions at the end of the survey.
#11: Gives respondents the option to not answer the question.
#12: Uses one or two open-ended questions. This invokes direct, well thought out answers.
Types of Survey Questions
Here are some of the most common survey question types you could use:
- Multiple Choice Questions
- Open Ended Questions
- Close Ended Questions
- ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ Answer Questions
- Rating Scale Questions
Good Survey Questions to Ask
Depending on your subject matter, here are some examples of good survey questions to ask about a product/service or a brand/company.
- What could we improve on?
- On a scale of 1-10 how easy was it to use our product/service?
- Would you recommend our product/service to a friend?
- Why did you choose us over a competitor?
- Did our product/service help you accomplish your goal?
- Did we solve your problem?
- How can we be more helpful?
- What would you like to see from us?
- How would you rate our customer service from 1-10?
- Why did you choose this product/service?
- Why are you canceling your service?
- Where did you hear about us?
Your survey will want to give you the right data so make sure to ask the right questions and phrase it in a way that’ll achieve what you’re looking for.
Looking for More Advice on How to Craft Effective CX Surveys and Good Survey Questions?
Over our decades of experience improving customer and employee experiences with the world’s most beloved brands, our experts have collected plenty of best practices and compiled them into various resources to help you inform your efforts! Wondering how to measure survey success? We’ve got you. What about increasing your response rates? We’ve got you there, too.
Check out this list of our most game-changing survey best practices here:
Focus on Your CX Program to Improve Your Response Rates
Clients frequently ask InMoment XI Strategist Eric Smuda how they can improve their response rates, which is a significant issue in the customer feedback and market research arenas. However, he believes the obsession with them is misguided and stuck in traditional market research methodology. The quality of the feedback you are getting is much more important than how many people answered a given question or the statistical significance of that sample size. Learn more here!
When to Send a Traditional Employee or Customer Experience Survey
What questions warrant sending a survey? Our experts advise a process of elimination that helps you understand which listening tools to use and when—and they’ve laid it out step by step in this asset!
How to Achieve Meaningful Listening Through Surveys
It can be tempting to send out surveys whenever you have a question, but effective surveys are part of a much larger strategy. Wondering how to craft that strategy? Our expert Andrew Park has you covered in this quick article.
How Short Should You Make Your Survey?
Most customer experience surveys are designed to be five minutes in length or shorter. However, we have seen a trend toward companies requesting even shorter customer experience surveys, often due to the impression that shorter surveys increase response rates. Their assumption is that customers are overwhelmed with surveys and therefore will only answer short ones. Is there empirical evidence to back up this perception? Find out in this white paper by expert Dave Ensing!
The Art and Science of Email Survey Invitations
We don’t know about yours, but our email inboxes are constantly flooded with requests from brands! So, how do you make your email survey invitations stand out, fetch great response rates, and collect quality data? Dave Ensing has the answers here!
Looking for more advice on how to craft good survey questions and even better surveys? Contact an InMoment sales representative today to inquire about InMoment Survey Design & Data Gathering Best Practices Consulting Services. And/or, sign up today for one or more survey training courses at InMoment University.
