10 Must-Ask Customer Survey Questions for Better Insights

You’ve heard the saying “Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers”, right?

Well, the flipside of this is that when you ask high-quality questions you get high-quality answers.

And better feedback is invaluable for a growing business or brand—so it pays to ask smart and insightful questions.

They’ll lead to superior responses that can really open your eyes to what your customers and audiences are thinking.

When you ask the right customer survey questions you’ll be better able to:

• Identify customer needs and pain points
• Improve your products and services based on real insights
• Build stronger relationships with your audience

So, let’s help you ditch the useless questions for genuinely useful ones.

We’ve got 10 essential customer survey questions here for you that every business should ask if they’re looking to make smarter decisions and boost customer satisfaction.

We’ll also show you how to make the most of them by using ScoreApp to create and promote your surveys, as well as automate and analyze customer responses so you know what to do with the information going forward.

The 10 must-ask customer survey questions

Here are 10 key questions we think you should be asking to gain those eye-opening and revealing insights into customer thinking.

1. How did you first hear about our business?

• Why you should ask it: You’ll be better able to track which of your marketing channels are working and which aren’t pulling their weight.
• Example action to take: A gym owner who’s found that 70% of new members discovered them through Instagram ads could refine their ad spend strategy and stop throwing money at other channels.
• How to use ScoreApp: Automate this as a pre-qualifying survey question when new leads sign up.

2. What problem were you looking to solve when you found us?

• Why you should ask it: This is a great way to understand customer pain points. People search for solutions to problems—knowing what those problems are means you’ll be able to position yourself as that solution.
• Example action to take: A business coach who’s discovered most clients struggle with time management could then tailor their content accordingly.
• How to use ScoreApp: Use this question in an onboarding customer assessment to segment people based on their needs.

3. What nearly stopped you from buying or signing up?

• Why you should ask it: To identify barriers to conversion so you can address objections that others may have.
• Example action to take: An e-commerce store that’s found customers hesitate due to high shipping costs could then test a free-shipping offer.
• How to use ScoreApp: Embed this question into your post-purchase surveys to optimize your conversion rates.

4. What features or services do you wish we offered?

• Why you should ask it: To identify new opportunities for business growth.
• Example action to take: A software company that’s learned users want an automation feature could then build and successfully launch it.
• How to use ScoreApp: Ask this question in product development surveys to segment responses based on priority.

5. On a scale of 1–10, how satisfied are you with our product or service? 

• Why you should ask it: This one is fairly obvious, but important nonetheless, as it measures overall customer satisfaction (CSAT) and highlights areas for improvement.
• Example action to take: A beauty brand that’s noticed a drop in satisfaction scores after a formula change would be able to investigate further and re-examine their approach.
• How to use ScoreApp: Set up automated score-based follow-ups, such as providing happy customers with a referral program invite.

6. Would you recommend us to a friend?

• Why you should ask it: To identify who are the promoters (happy customers) and who are the detractors (unhappy customers) in your audience.
• Example action to take: A software as a service (SaaS) company seeing high net promoter scores (NPSs) could create a referral program to leverage word-of-mouth marketing.
• How to use ScoreApp: Automate NPS surveys and trigger follow-up funnels based on customer feedback.

7. What nearly made you choose a competitor instead?

• Why you should ask it: If you want to reveal weak spots in your brand’s offerings and stay competitive, this can help you find out what your competitors are doing that you aren’t… yet!
• Example action to take: A digital agency that’s learned pricing is the top reason for prospects choosing competitors could introduce more flexible payment plans.
• How to use ScoreApp: Use this one in post-purchase surveys to gain important competitive insights.

8. What do you love most about our product or service?

• Why you should ask it: Where the previous question can show you what you’re doing wrong, this one alerts you to what you’re doing right. Understanding what sets you apart can help you decide what to double down on and really push as a unique selling point (USP).
• Example action to take: A meal subscription company that’s found convenience is their biggest selling point could further emphasize this in their marketing campaigns.
• How to use ScoreApp: Automatically pull customer responses into testimonial-style content for marketing materials.

9. What could we do better?

• Why you should ask it: When you encourage honest feedback, you’ll be able to drive continuous improvement—and show you’re actually listening to your audience!
• Example action to take: The team behind a fitness app who’ve learned users want more guided workouts could expand their library.
• How to use ScoreApp: Ask this one in customer retention surveys so you can analyze trends over time.

10. What would make you stay with us for the long term?

• Why you should ask it: This one can be crucial for helping you identify strategies for customer retention and loyalty, especially if your short-term customer relationships tend to go well but drop off over time.
• Example action to take: A membership-based site that’s learned their customers want exclusive content could take steps to introduce additional premium resources.
• How to use ScoreApp: Create and set up your own loyalty-building surveys to keep customers engaged for longer.

How ScoreApp helps businesses get better customer insights

Every single one of these questions can provide key insights into what your current and potential customers are thinking.

The information you gain from asking the right questions can be incredibly valuable and affect your business decisions for the better—they could end up being game-changers for your brand.

And when you combine asking smarter questions with the features in ScoreApp, your customer survey questionnaires become even more effective. You’ll be able to:

• Personalize experiences – Quickly and easily create interactive surveys tailored to your customers’ needs.
• Automate segmentation – Automatically sort audience responses into relevant funnels for targeted follow-ups.
• See real-time analytics – Track customer responses to optimize your business strategies going forward.
• Access seamless integrations – Connect ScoreApp with your email marketing, CRM, and automation tools.

Every stage of the customer journey can be enhanced and measured with ScoreApp, so you’ll know exactly what’s working and what needs changing, as well as be better able to attract leads, engage your audience, and convert people into loyal customers.

Start collecting smarter customer insights today

When you start asking the right survey questions, you can transform customer feedback into actionable insights.

ScoreApp makes it easy to create and automate surveys that provide real value for making informed decisions, improving customer retention, and driving long-term success—it really is that simple!

So, are you ready to create better customer surveys that fuel business growth? Try ScoreApp for free today and see the difference it can make for you.