What is a customer satisfaction survey?
A customer satisfaction survey is a short questionnaire that asks customers how well a product, service or interaction met their expectations. It usually combines a rating question (for example, "How satisfied were you?" on a 1 to 5 scale) with one or two open questions that explain the score. The results tell you what to keep, what to fix and which customers need a follow-up. With Mailpro, you can build a customer satisfaction survey from a ready-made template, send it by email to your contacts and follow the answers in real-time statistics.
Key takeaways
- Send it right after a key moment: a purchase, a delivery, a support case or a renewal.
- Keep it to 3 to 10 questions; one rating plus one open question is often enough.
- Choose the metric for the job: CSAT for a moment, NPS for loyalty, CES for effort.
- Your CSAT score is the share of 4 and 5 ratings out of all answers.
- Close the loop: reply to unhappy customers quickly and show everyone what you changed.
Why run customer satisfaction surveys?
- Spot problems early, before unhappy customers leave without saying why.
- Find what to improve first, based on what customers actually rate low.
- Measure the effect of changes by comparing scores over time.
- Recover at-risk customers by following up on low ratings.
- Collect reviews and testimonials from your most satisfied customers.
Types of customer satisfaction surveys: CSAT, NPS and CES
| Metric | Question | Scale | What it measures | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSAT (customer satisfaction score) | How satisfied were you with…? | 1–5 | Satisfaction with one moment | After a purchase, delivery or support case |
| NPS (net promoter score) | How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? | 0–10 | Overall loyalty | Every few months, across your customer base |
| CES (customer effort score) | How easy was it to…? | 1–7 | How much effort a task took | After support, onboarding or checkout |
Read more about each metric in our definitions of customer satisfaction score and net promoter score.
When to send a customer satisfaction survey
| Moment | Send it | Focus on |
|---|---|---|
| After a purchase | Right after checkout or on delivery | Ordering, delivery, product |
| After a support case | When the case is closed | Speed, friendliness, resolution |
| After onboarding | After the first week or month | Ease of getting started |
| Periodic check | Every 3 to 6 months | Overall satisfaction and loyalty (NPS) |
| Before renewal | 4 to 8 weeks before the date | Value for money and risks of leaving |
50 customer satisfaction survey questions
Pick the questions that fit your moment, adapt the wording and keep the survey short.
Overall satisfaction
- How satisfied are you with our product or service overall? (1–5)
- How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? (0–10)
- How well does our product meet your needs? (1–5)
- How would you rate the value for money? (1–5)
- Compared with alternatives, is our product better, about the same or worse?
- How likely are you to buy from us again? (1–5)
- What is the main reason for your score? (open)
- What one thing should we improve? (open)
- How long have you been a customer?
- Is there anything you expected that we did not deliver? (open)
Product or service
- How would you rate the quality of the product? (1–5)
- Which feature do you use most?
- Which feature do you find least useful?
- Did the product work as described? (yes / no)
- How easy is the product to use? (1–7)
- What would make the product more useful for you? (open)
- Have you had any problems with the product? If so, which?
- How satisfied are you with the product's reliability? (1–5)
- Which feature is missing? (open)
- How does the product compare with what you used before?
Purchase and delivery
- How easy was it to find what you were looking for? (1–7)
- How satisfied are you with the checkout process? (1–5)
- Did your order arrive on time? (yes / no)
- How satisfied are you with the delivery? (1–5)
- Did the product arrive in good condition? (yes / no)
- Were the prices and fees clear before you paid? (yes / no)
- Which payment method did you use?
- How satisfied are you with the packaging? (1–5)
- Did anything almost stop you from completing your order? (open)
- How likely are you to order from us again? (1–5)
Customer support
- How satisfied are you with the support you received? (1–5)
- How easy was it to get your issue resolved? (1–7)
- Was your issue fully resolved? (yes / partly / no)
- How quickly did we respond? (much faster than expected … much slower)
- How knowledgeable was the person who helped you? (1–5)
- How friendly and respectful was our team? (1–5)
- How many times did you have to contact us about this issue?
- Which channel did you use? (email, phone, chat, form)
- What could we have done better? (open)
- Would you like us to contact you about your answers? (yes / no)
Loyalty and relationship
- How likely are you to continue using our product in the next 12 months? (1–5)
- What would make you switch to a competitor? (open)
- How well do we understand your needs? (1–5)
- How satisfied are you with how often we contact you? (too often / just right / not enough)
- Which of our emails or messages do you find most useful?
- How would you describe us in three words? (open)
- Have you recommended us to anyone in the last 6 months? (yes / no)
- Would you be willing to leave a public review? (yes / no)
- What do you value most about working with us? (open)
- Is there anything else you would like to tell us? (open)
Satisfaction surveys work best when they arrive right after the moment you want to measure. With Mailpro you send them by email to the right segment, with the customer's details already filled in — see the customer satisfaction survey
How to create a customer satisfaction survey in 6 steps
- Pick one moment and one goal. For example: measure satisfaction with delivery for online orders.
- Choose your main metric. CSAT for that moment, NPS for overall loyalty, CES for a task.
- Write 3 to 10 questions. One rating, one open "why" question, and only the extra questions you will act on.
- Add logic. Show "What went wrong?" only to people who rate 1 or 2, using survey branching.
- Send it at the right time, by email. Within hours of the moment, with the customer's details already filled in.
- Remind once, then act. Send one reminder email to people who have not answered, and follow up on low scores within a day or two.
How to calculate your CSAT score
Count the customers who answered 4 or 5 on a 1 to 5 scale, divide by the total number of answers and multiply by 100. Example: 160 of 200 customers answer 4 or 5, so your CSAT is 160 ÷ 200 × 100 = 80%.
For NPS, subtract the percentage of detractors (0 to 6) from the percentage of promoters (9 and 10). There is no universal good score: as a rough guide many businesses aim for a CSAT around 75 to 85%, but your own trend over time and your industry matter more than any average.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Asking too much: long surveys get fewer and worse answers.
- Leading questions such as "How great was your experience?".
- Surveying too often, so customers stop answering.
- Changing the scale between surveys, which makes trends impossible to compare.
- Collecting scores and doing nothing: customers notice when feedback disappears.
What to do with the results
- Reply personally to every low score within one or two days.
- Group open answers into themes and count how often each comes up.
- Fix the most frequent problem first and tell customers what changed.
- Thank satisfied customers and invite them to leave a review.
- Track your score month by month and by segment (product, channel, region).
Customer satisfaction survey template
Start from a ready-made survey instead of a blank page: the customer satisfaction survey template covers ordering, delivery and product, the CSAT survey asks a single rating question, and the NPS survey measures loyalty. See how to build, send and analyze one on the customer satisfaction survey page, with rating scales and NPS built in.
Customer satisfaction survey FAQ
How many questions should a customer satisfaction survey have?
Between 3 and 10. A single rating plus one open question is enough after a purchase or support case; a periodic survey can go up to 10.
What is a good response rate?
It depends on your audience and channel. Surveys sent by email right after an interaction, kept short and followed by one reminder, get noticeably more answers than long surveys sent weeks later.
Should customer satisfaction surveys be anonymous?
Only if you will not follow up. If you want to call back unhappy customers, keep the answers linked to the customer and say so in the invitation.
What is the difference between a customer satisfaction survey and a market research survey?
A satisfaction survey asks existing customers how you are doing. A market research survey helps you decide about a market, product or price and can include people who are not customers yet.
Mailpro for customer satisfaction
Measure customer satisfaction after every purchase and support case
CSAT, NPS and open questions, sent by email to the right segment, with live results and reminders to non-respondents. Data hosted in Switzerland under the GDPR.
