CSAT survey questions and survey templates
Pick a survey type and the channel. The builder puts together a short survey you can paste into your help desk or survey tool.
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CSAT, CES and NPS survey templates
Copy a survey or single questions into your survey or help desk tool, and replace the parts in [brackets]. 23 templates in 6 groups.
Ready survey templates
Post-ticket CSAT survey (send when a ticket is solved)
1. How satisfied are you with the help you got from [company] today? 1 = Very dissatisfied, 2 = Dissatisfied, 3 = Neither, 4 = Satisfied, 5 = Very satisfied 2. Was your issue solved? Yes / Partly / No 3. What is the main reason for your rating? (optional) [Open text]
Customer effort score (CES) survey
1. [Company] made it easy for me to solve my issue. 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Somewhat disagree, 4 = Neither, 5 = Somewhat agree, 6 = Agree, 7 = Strongly agree 2. What, if anything, made it harder than it should have been? (optional) [ ] I had to contact you more than once [ ] I had to repeat my question to different people [ ] I could not find the answer myself [ ] It took too long [ ] Something else: [open text]
NPS relationship survey (send every 6 or 12 months)
1. How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? 0 = Not at all likely ... 10 = Extremely likely 2. What is the main reason for your score? [Open text] 3. What is one thing we could do to improve your experience? (optional) [Open text] 4. May we contact you about your answers? Yes / No
Chatbot feedback survey
1. Did the assistant answer your question? Yes / Partly / No 2. If not, what happened? (shown after "Partly" or "No") [ ] It did not understand my question [ ] The answer was wrong [ ] The answer was not detailed enough [ ] I wanted to talk to a person [ ] Something else: [open text] 3. How easy was it to get what you needed? 1 = Very difficult ... 7 = Very easy 4. Anything we should add to our help pages? (optional) [Open text]
Onboarding feedback survey (after the first weeks)
1. How easy was it to get started with [product]? 1 = Very difficult ... 7 = Very easy 2. Did you get the result you signed up for? Yes / Not yet / No 3. What almost stopped you from getting started? (optional) [Open text] 4. Which help did you use? (choose all that apply) [ ] Help center [ ] Chat [ ] Email [ ] Video or webinar [ ] None
Cancellation survey (when a customer leaves)
1. What is the main reason you are cancelling? ( ) It costs too much for what I use ( ) I am missing a feature: [open text] ( ) It was hard to use ( ) I had problems that support did not solve ( ) I am moving to another product: [which one, optional] ( ) I no longer need it ( ) Other: [open text] 2. Is there anything we could have done to keep you? (optional) [Open text] Keep it to these two questions and make both skippable. A long exit survey gets few answers.
CSAT question bank
Core CSAT question
How satisfied are you with [the help you got / your order / your visit] today? 1 = Very dissatisfied, 2 = Dissatisfied, 3 = Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 4 = Satisfied, 5 = Very satisfied Score: CSAT = answers of 4 or 5 ÷ all answers × 100.
Resolution questions
- Was your issue solved? (Yes / Partly / No) - Did you have to contact us more than once about this issue? (Yes / No) - Is there anything still open that we should follow up on? (Open text)
Questions about the agent
Rate each from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree): - The person who helped me understood my question. - The person who helped me knew the answer or found it. - The person who helped me was polite and respectful. - The person who helped me explained the next steps clearly.
Questions about speed and channel
- How satisfied are you with the time it took to get an answer? (1 to 5) - How did you contact us? (Chat / Email / Phone / Social media / Other) - Next time, how would you prefer to get help? (Help center / Chat / Email / Phone)
Open follow-up questions
Pick one, not all: - What is the main reason for your rating? - What could we have done better? - What did we do well that we should keep doing? - If you could change one thing about how we helped, what would it be?
Customer effort questions
Standard CES statement (agree scale)
[Company] made it easy for me to handle my issue. 1 = Strongly disagree ... 7 = Strongly agree Score: CES = the average answer. Also report the share of answers from 5 to 7.
CES question (ease scale)
How easy was it to get your issue solved today? 1 = Very difficult, 2 = Difficult, 3 = Somewhat difficult, 4 = Neither, 5 = Somewhat easy, 6 = Easy, 7 = Very easy
Effort questions for self-service tasks
- How easy was it to [find the answer / change your plan / return your order]? (1 = Very difficult, 7 = Very easy) - Did you find what you needed on our help pages? (Yes / Partly / No) - What were you looking for? (Open text, shown after "Partly" or "No")
NPS survey questions
Standard NPS question
On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? 0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely Score: NPS = % of 9 and 10 answers minus % of 0 to 6 answers.
Follow-up questions by score
Show one follow-up question, based on the score: - 9 or 10: What do you value most about [company]? - 7 or 8: What would make you more likely to recommend us? - 0 to 6: What disappointed you, and what could we do better?
Transactional NPS (after one interaction)
Based on your [support conversation / purchase / delivery] today, how likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? 0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely Use this only right after the interaction, and report it apart from your relationship NPS. The two answer different questions.
Chatbot and help center feedback
One-click answer feedback (under a chatbot answer)
Did this answer your question? [Yes] [No] If "No": What were you looking for? [Open text] [Talk to a person]
Help article feedback
Was this article helpful? [Yes] [No] If "No", choose one: ( ) It did not answer my question ( ) It was hard to follow ( ) The steps did not match what I see ( ) Other: [open text]
After a handoff from the chatbot to a person
1. How satisfied are you with the help you got today? (1 to 5) 2. Did you have to repeat your question after you were passed to a person? (Yes / No) 3. Should the assistant have been able to answer this on its own? (Yes / No / Not sure)
Survey invitations
Email invitation after a solved ticket
Subject: How did we do with your request? Hi [customer name], [Agent name] marked your request "[ticket subject]" as solved. How satisfied are you with the help you got? [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] (1 = Very dissatisfied, 5 = Very satisfied) It takes one click. If anything is still open, reply to this email and we will pick it up again. Thank you, [Company] support
In-chat invitation at the end of a conversation
Before you go: how satisfied are you with this chat? [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Thanks! If you want to tell us more, type it here. (optional)
NPS survey email
Subject: One question about [company] Hi [customer name], How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] (0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely) The [team name] team reads the answers and uses them to decide what to improve next. Thank you, [Your name]
Short answer
The standard CSAT survey question is "How satisfied are you with the help you got today?" on a 1 to 5 scale, sent right after a ticket is solved. Add one optional open question, such as "What is the main reason for your rating?", and stop there: short surveys get more answers. Use customer effort (1 to 7) for how easy it was, and NPS (0 to 10) for the relationship as a whole.
How to use the survey builder and templates
- Pick the survey type. Post-ticket CSAT for one support contact, customer effort (CES) for how easy it was, NPS for the relationship as a whole, or chatbot feedback for automated answers.
- Pick where you ask. The email version adds a subject line, a greeting and a sign-off. The chat version is only the questions, for the end of a conversation or a pop-up in your app.
- Add your company name and choose the open question. One optional open question gives you the reason behind the score. The builder runs in your browser and sends nothing to a server.
- Copy the survey into your tool. Most help desks and survey tools let you paste the question and set the scale. For more questions, use the question bank above.
Which question and scale to use
| Survey | Question | Scale | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSAT | How satisfied are you with the help you got today? | 1 to 5 | Share of 4 and 5 answers |
| CES | [Company] made it easy for me to solve my issue. | 1 to 7 | Average answer |
| NPS | How likely are you to recommend [company] to a friend or colleague? | 0 to 10 | % of 9 and 10 minus % of 0 to 6 |
| Chatbot | Did the assistant answer your question? | Yes, Partly, No | Share of Yes answers |
These are the scales the CSAT calculator and the NPS calculator use, so you can paste your counts there when the answers come in and see the score with its margin of error.
How to write survey questions that get honest answers
- Ask about one thing. "How satisfied are you with the speed and quality of our help?" asks two questions. A customer who got a fast but wrong answer cannot answer it.
- Do not lead. "How satisfied are you?" is neutral. "How great was your experience?" pushes the answer up and makes the score less useful.
- Label every point on short scales. "4 = Satisfied" means the same to everyone; a bare "4" does not.
- Keep the scale direction the same. If 5 is good in one question, it is good in all of them.
- Make open questions optional. Forced comments get one-word answers or no answer at all.
When to send each survey
Send CSAT and CES surveys right after the interaction: when a ticket is marked solved, or at the end of a chat. The memory is fresh and the answer is about that contact, not about the product in general. Wait a few hours at most for email.
Send NPS on a schedule, every 6 or 12 months, to a sample of active customers, and not right after a support ticket. NPS asks about the whole relationship, so a survey sent after a bad day measures the bad day. If you also want a score after each interaction, use the transactional NPS template and report it apart from the relationship score.
Do not survey the same person too often. A common rule is no more than one survey per customer in a set period, such as 30 or 90 days, whatever the number of tickets.
How to get more answers
- Put the rating in the email itself, so one click answers it.
- Say how long it takes, and keep that true: one question takes seconds.
- Send it from a person or a team name, not a no-reply address.
- Say what you do with the answers, and close the loop: reply to low scores with comments.
- Test the survey on a phone. Most people answer there.
Feedback on chatbot answers
A customer support chatbot needs its own short question, because the useful signal is different: did this answer the question or not? A Yes or No under each answer is enough. When the answer is No, ask what the customer was looking for and offer a way to reach a person. Those No answers are a list of the questions your help pages do not answer yet. Write the missing pages, and the chatbot can answer those questions next time.
After a handoff from the bot to a person, ask whether the customer had to repeat their question. If many say yes, the person is not getting the conversation history, and that is a quick thing to fix.
Reading the results
Track your own scores over time with the same question, the same scale and the same moment. Published averages come from different questions and timings, so they rarely compare with your numbers. Read the comments from low scores every week, group them by cause, and fix the most common cause first. A score moves when the cause does.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should a CSAT survey have?
One rating question and one optional open question is enough for a survey after a ticket. Each extra question lowers the share of customers who finish. Ask for more detail in a separate survey sent to fewer people.
When should I send a CSAT survey?
Right after the interaction you ask about: at the end of a chat, or when a ticket is marked solved. Answers given days later mix in other experiences. Send relationship surveys such as NPS on a fixed schedule instead, for example every 6 or 12 months.
Should the CSAT scale run from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10?
Use 1 to 5 with a label on every point: it is quick to answer on a phone, and the usual CSAT score (the share of 4 and 5 answers) is calculated from it. Keep the same scale over time, because scores from different scales cannot be compared.
What is the difference between CSAT, CES and NPS surveys?
CSAT asks how satisfied a customer is with one interaction. CES asks how easy it was to get the issue solved. NPS asks how likely they are to recommend you, and measures the relationship as a whole rather than one ticket.
How do I ask for feedback on a chatbot?
Ask "Did this answer your question?" with Yes and No under each answer, and show a short follow-up and a way to reach a person after No. The No answers show which questions your help pages do not answer yet.
Does the survey builder save my answers?
No. The builder runs in your browser and sends nothing you type to a server. Copy the survey into your own tool to send it.
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Related
- Free toolCSAT & CES CalculatorEnter how many customers gave each rating. The CSAT or effort score, the breakdown and the margin of error update as you type.
- Free toolNPS CalculatorEnter how many people gave each answer, or paste the raw scores. The score, the breakdown and the margin of error update as you type.
- Free toolChatbot Script & Name GeneratorDescribe your business and pick a tone. The generator writes a full chatbot script, with name ideas if you need a name.