Feedback Survey Questions: Types, tips, and 31+ examples
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Running surveys and asking questions is one of the most important things you can do when trying to collect feedback on your business, product or service. But how do you know what kind of questions are right? What questions would be best for your business?
This guide will provide a comprehensive introduction to feedback survey questions, including the different types of questions you can ask, best practices for question design, and example feedback survey questions you can start using today.
Question Types
In general, questions fall into one of the following question types:
- Open-ended questions: These questions allow respondents to provide feedback in their own words. This type of question is great for getting detailed feedback but can be difficult to analyse and track responses.
- Closed questions: These questions have predetermined answers that respondents select from a list. This type of question is good for tracking responses and generating quantitative data.
- Likert questions: These questions use a five-point scale to indicate how strongly the respondent agrees or disagrees with a statement. This type of question is good for generating overall feedback and tracking trends over time.
There are also two different types of open questions: ‘general’ questions, which ask about any topic that may be on the respondent’s mind, and ‘specific’ questions, which ask about a particular topic or issue.
When choosing questions for your feedback survey, it’s important to consider the following factors:
- What you want to learn from the feedback: Open-ended questions are great for getting detailed feedback, while closed questions can help you track responses and generate quantitative data.
- The target audience: Likert questions are good for getting feedback from a general audience, while specific questions are better suited for targeted surveys.
- How much time they have: Open-ended questions can take longer to answer than closed or Likert questions.
Multiple choice questions
A multiple-choice question is a type of question that gives the respondent a list of options to choose from. This is a great option for questions that have a right or wrong answer, or for questions where you want to know what the respondent prefers.
Here are some example questions:
- What is your favorite colour?
- Which of the following best describes your feelings about our product?
- Do you prefer a digital or paper receipt?
Rating scale questions
A rating scale question is a type of question that asks the respondent to rate something on a scale. This is a great option for questions where you want to know how the respondent feels about something, or for questions where there is no right or wrong answer.
Here are some example questions:
- On a scale of 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with our product?
- On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?
NPS is a great example of a rating scale question.
Likert scale questions
A Likert scale question is a type of question that asks respondents to rate something by choosing how much they agree or disagree with a statement using a rating scale, which typically includes five points from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”
This is a great option for questions where you want to know the respondent’s opinion on something or questions where you want to measure how they feel about a certain topic.
For example, the Customer Effort Score (CES) uses a Likert scale question, “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following: The company made it easy for me to (insert specific action*).”
Dropdown questions
A dropdown question is a type of question that asks the respondent to choose from a list of options. This is a great option for questions where you want to know what the respondent’s favorite thing is, or for questions where you want to know more about their background.
Here are some example questions:
- What is your job title?
- Which of the following best describes your relationship with our business?
- Do you prefer to make/receive calls or send messages via text message when communicating about questions related to our product/service?
Open ended questions
An open-ended question is a type of question that asks respondents for free-form input. This is a great option for questions where you want to know what the respondent thinks about something or questions that need more context.
Here are some example questions:
- What do you think of our product?
- Do you have any feedback on how we can improve our product/service?
Open-ended questions should be used sparingly because they can be difficult to analyze.
Demographic questions
A demographic question is a type of question that asks for information about the respondent’s background, such as their age, sex, or job title. This is a great option for questions where you want to know more about your respondents.
Here are some example questions:
- What is your age?
- What is your job title?
Ranking questions
A ranking question is a type of question that asks the respondent to arrange things in order from best to worst. This can be helpful if you want to know where something ranks according to respondents, or when there are multiple options and you want one option chosen as “best” while others are chosen as “worst.”
Here are some example questions:
- Please rank the following options in order of how important they are to you.
- Please rate the following options on a scale from one to five, with one being the worst and five being the best.
- Which of the following is your favorite color?
File upload questions
A file upload question is a type of question that asks the respondent to upload a file. This can be helpful if you want to see examples of something, or if you need more information from the respondent.
Here are some example questions:
- Please attach a screenshot of your receipt.
- Please attach a copy of your driver’s license.
- Please upload a picture of your product.
Question design best practices
(or, “how to write effective survey questions that will get you valuable feedback”)
Now that we’ve gone over the different types of questions that can be used in a feedback survey, let’s take a look at some best practices for question design. These build on common survey methodologies.
When creating questions for a feedback survey, it’s important to keep the following in mind:
Questions should be clear and easy to understand
Questions should be clear and easy to understand so that respondents can easily answer questions. If questions are not clear, people will get frustrated with the survey. Additionally, if questions are confusing or misleading, it is possible for some respondents to provide inaccurate feedback because they misunderstood a question.
Questions should be relevant to the topic of the survey
Questions should be relevant to the topic of the survey so that questions are focused on the things that matter. If questions are not relevant, respondents will have a hard time understanding what you’re asking for in your feedback survey, and they may feel like their responses don’t really matter because the questions seem unrelated to the product or service being surveyed about.
Questions should be designed to elicit useful responses
Questions should be designed to elicit useful responses. If questions aren’t designed to elicit useful responses, it can make analysis more difficult, which means you’ll have a harder time trying to extract actionable insights from feedback survey results.
Questions should be unbiased and non-judgmental
Questions should be unbiased and non-judgmental so that respondents feel like their opinions are valued. If questions are biased or judgmental, respondents may feel like their answers don’t matter and they may be less likely to provide honest feedback.
Now that we’ve gone over the questions that can be asked and best practices for question design, let’s move on to some examples of survey questions.
Examples of good questions
How easy was it to understand the questions in this survey?
This is a great question for a feedback survey. The question is clear, easy to understand, and unbiased. This question allows for the respondent to give an honest answer.
Would you recommend this product to a friend?
This is another great example of questions that can be used in a feedback survey. The response options are limited, but they allow for more specific answers than “yes” or “no.” This question also has potential follow-up questions, such as “why” or “what would you recommend.”
On a scale from one to five, how satisfied are you with our product?
This is an example of a Likert scale question. This type of question allows respondents to rank their level of satisfaction on a scale from one to five. This question is relevant to the topic of the survey, and it is designed to elicit a useful response. It is also unbiased and non-judgmental.
What did you like best about our product?
This question allows respondents to share their positive experiences with the product. This question is relevant to the topic of the survey, and it is designed to elicit a useful response.
Examples of badly designed questions
What was wrong with our service?
This is not a good question. This question requires someone to come up with something negative and it may be awkward if they can’t think of anything.
Do you like kittens?
This question is not as relevant to the topic of the survey, and therefore may not elicit useful responses.
How much do you dislike puppies?
This is a leading, or biased, question and may produce unreliable results.
How easy is it for you to understand the meaning of the questions we’re asking in this survey?
This question is not clear, and it is difficult to understand. This question may also produce unreliable results.
Example feedback survey questions
Product feedback questions
How would you rate our product?
This is a good example of questions that can be used in a feedback survey. The response options are limited, but they allow for more specific answers than “good” or “bad.” This question also has potential follow-up questions, such as “why” or “what did you like best?”
Was the quality of our product what you were expecting?
This is another good example question that can be used in a feedback survey. This question allows respondents to share their thoughts on the quality of the product. This question is relevant to the topic of the survey, and it is designed to elicit a useful response.
Did you encounter any problems using our product?
This is a good question for a feedback survey. The response options are limited, but they allow for more specific answers than “yes” or “no.” This question also has potential follow-up questions, such as “what was wrong?” or “how can we fix this problem in the future?”
Customer feedback questions
How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?
This is an example of a question that can be used in a customer experience survey. The question is designed to elicit information about the respondent’s likelihood of recommending the product to a friend.
Why did you choose our product over the competition?
This question allows respondents to share their thoughts on why they chose the product over the competition. This information can help understand what aspects of the product are most appealing to customers.
How often do you use our product?
This question is designed to understand how often customers use the product. This information can help determine customer engagement and identify areas where the product could be improved.
How would you feel if you could no longer use our product?
This question is designed to elicit feelings about whether customers would be disappointed if they could no longer access the product. The responses can help measure product-market fit.
What could we do to improve your experience with our product?
This question is designed to understand what can be done to improve customer experience. This information might include ways that customers would like the company to provide support or how they’d prefer contact about questions related to their account.
Which features of our product are most important to you?
This question allows respondents to share their thoughts on the features of the product that are most important to them. This information can help prioritize and streamline future development.
What could we do to make our product more valuable to you?
This question is designed to understand what would increase the value of a product or service for customers. This information might clarify where improvements should be prioritised, as well as how much people are willing to pay for the product.
How would you rate your overall experience with our product?
This question is designed to understand how customers rate their experience using a particular product or service. This information might help identify areas that need improvement and specific questions on which surveys should focus.
Employee feedback questions
How likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or relative?
This is an example of a question that can be used in a feedback survey to measure employee loyalty.
On a scale from one to ten, how satisfied are you with your job?
This is an example of a question that can be used in a feedback survey to measure employee satisfaction.
How do you think we can improve our company?
Open-ended questions like these allow employees to share their thoughts and suggestions on ways the company can improve.
What do you like most about your job?
Likert scale questions are a great way to measure employee satisfaction because they allow employees to express their opinion on a range of topics.
How often do you feel appreciated for the work that you do?
This question is designed to measure employee satisfaction with recognition. It’s important for employees to feel valued and appreciated, so this question can help identify areas of improvement in the workplace.
How often does your supervisor or manager provide feedback on your performance?
This question measures how often supervisors provide feedback about an employee’s performance. This information can help identify areas of improvement for employees who feel that they’re not receiving enough feedback.
What could we do to make you more excited about coming to work?
This question helps employees share what would increase their motivation and excitement about working at the company. Employees need to be engaged to drive success, so questions like this can help identify areas of improvement.
How would you rate your experience during the interview process?
This question is designed to understand how likely candidates are to recommend working at a company, as well as what they liked most about the interview process.
Market feedback questions
How likely are you to purchase our product?
This is an example of a question that can be used in a feedback survey to measure market demand.
On a scale from one to ten, how interested are you in our product?
This is an example of a question that can be used in a feedback survey to measure customer interest in a product.
How likely are you to recommend our company or products?
This question measures customer loyalty, which is an important measure of success for companies that depend on referrals and word-of-mouth advertising.
What can we do to improve your opinion about our brand?
Companies often seek the opinions of their customers because customers have valuable insights into what they like and dislike about a company. This question is designed to understand what customers would change or improve about the brand, as well as how likely they are to recommend it to others.
Key takeaways
When creating questions for a feedback survey, it is important to keep the following in mind:
- The purpose of the survey: What are you trying to learn from the respondents?
- The audience for the survey: Who will be taking the survey?
- The format of the questions: How will the questions be asked?
- The questions themselves: What questions will be asked?
By following best practices for question design and avoiding bad questions, you can create a feedback survey that produces useful responses. And by using questions that are relevant to the topic of the survey, easy to understand, and unbiased, you can create a survey that respondents will be happy to take.
Tom Sutton
Co-founder, TRACX
Tom is the co-founder of TRACX, a no-code marketing platform that allows local business owners to collect customer feedback and create engaging marketing campaigns. With over 17 years of experience in entrepreneurship, product development, and marketing for businesses large and small, Tom is currently responsible for developing product and marketing strategies for TRACX.