10 Customer Satisfaction Survey Best Practices [Checklist]

To create effective customer satisfaction surveys for your meal prep service:

Define Clear Goals: Identify what you want to learn, such as measuring overall satisfaction, evaluating meal quality, or assessing delivery service.
Know Your Audience: Understand different customer groups (frequent buyers, one-time customers, dietary needs) and tailor questions accordingly.
Keep Questions Simple: Use plain language that's easy to understand. Avoid jargon, technical terms, or confusing phrases.
Avoid Biased Questions: Ask neutral questions that don't lead customers to a particular answer.
Keep It Short: Aim for 10 questions or fewer to respect customers' time. Focus on the most important areas.
Use Different Question Types: Combine rating scales, multiple choice, and open-ended questions for a well-rounded survey.
Optimize for Mobile: Ensure the survey is easy to access and use on smartphones and tablets.
Time It Right: Send surveys at optimal times, like after delivery or reaching a milestone.
Test and Refine: Get feedback from your team and customers to improve the survey before sending it out.
Analyze and Act: Use survey tools to review data, identify key insights, and create an action plan to address areas for improvement.

Quick Comparison: Question Types

Question Type	Description
Rating Scales	Customers rate their experience on a numerical scale (e.g., 1-5)
Multiple Choice	Customers select from a set of predefined answer choices
Open-Ended	Customers provide detailed feedback in their own words
Comparison Tables	Customers rate different aspects of your service side-by-side

Conducting well-designed customer surveys is crucial for understanding your customers' needs and improving your meal prep service. By following these best practices, you can create surveys that provide valuable insights, leading to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and business success.

Set Clear Survey Goals

Identify Your Objectives

Before creating a customer satisfaction survey, it's crucial to identify your objectives. What information do you want to gather? What questions do you need answered? Clearly defining your goals will guide the survey design and ensure you collect relevant data.

For meal prep service owners, common objectives might include:

Measuring overall customer satisfaction
Evaluating meal quality
Assessing delivery service

Having clear goals will help you create targeted questions that provide valuable insights.

Track Key Metrics

Certain metrics are essential for measuring the success of your survey goals. Common metrics include:

Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty by asking, "On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our service?"
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Evaluates overall satisfaction with your service.
Customer Effort Score (CES): Measures the ease of doing business with your company.

Understanding these metrics will help you create questions that provide actionable insights. For example, if you want to improve your NPS, you might ask about meal quality, ordering ease, or customer service responsiveness.

Key Metrics Table

Metric	Description
Net Promoter Score (NPS)	Measures customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your service
Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)	Evaluates overall satisfaction with your service
Customer Effort Score (CES)	Measures the ease of doing business with your company

Target Audience

Understand Your Customers

To create an effective customer satisfaction survey, you need to identify the different groups of customers that use your meal prep service. For instance, you may have frequent buyers, one-time customers, and customers with specific dietary needs like vegan or gluten-free. By recognizing these groups, you can tailor your survey questions to address their unique needs and concerns.

Customer Segments

To segment your customers effectively, you need clear criteria. This can include:

Demographics (age, gender, occupation)
Purchase frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)
Product preferences (vegetarian, meat-based, dietary needs)
Feedback frequency (frequent reviewers, occasional responders, non-responders)

Using these criteria, you can create targeted survey questions that provide valuable insights into each segment's needs and preferences. This enables you to tailor your service to meet their expectations and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Segmentation Criteria

Criteria	Examples
Demographics	Age, gender, occupation
Purchase Frequency	Daily, weekly, monthly
Product Preferences	Vegetarian, meat-based, dietary needs
Feedback Frequency	Frequent reviewers, occasional responders, non-responders

Clear Questions

Use Simple Words

To make sure your customer survey is effective, use simple words that are easy for people to understand. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or complex phrases that may confuse your customers. Instead, ask clear, straightforward questions that leave no room for misunderstanding.

Avoid Biased Questions

Biased questions in your survey can skew the results and make the data inaccurate. To avoid this, ensure your questions are neutral and do not lead respondents towards a particular answer. Avoid double-barreled questions that combine multiple queries into one, as they can be confusing and yield unreliable responses.

Good Question Examples

Here are some examples of clear and effective survey questions for meal prep services:

How satisfied are you with the freshness of our meals?
How would you rate the variety of our menu options?
Do our meals meet your dietary preferences or requirements?
How convenient do you find our delivery or pickup process?
How likely are you to recommend our meal prep service to a friend or family member?

Question Clarity Tips

Tip	Example
Use simple language	"How easy was it to order meals?" instead of "How would you rate the user-friendliness of our ordering process?"
Ask one question at a time	"How satisfied are you with our meal variety?" instead of "How satisfied are you with our meal variety and portion sizes?"
Be specific	"How would you rate the taste of our vegetarian meals?" instead of "How would you rate our meals?"
Avoid leading questions	"How satisfied are you with our service?" instead of "You're satisfied with our service, right?"

Survey Length

Keep It Short

Make your survey quick and easy for customers to complete. Aim for 10 questions or fewer. This will help you get the key details without taking too much of their time. To keep it short:

Focus on the most important areas you need feedback on
Identify the key things that impact customer satisfaction the most
Ask questions that will give you useful insights to improve

Put your most critical questions first, when customers are most engaged. Group related questions together in a logical flow to keep people focused.

Prioritize Key Questions

Priority	Question Examples
High	How satisfied are you with our meal quality?
High	How likely are you to recommend us to others?
Medium	How convenient is our delivery/pickup process?
Low	What is your age range?

Place high-priority questions at the start. These cover the core areas like meal quality and overall satisfaction. Medium-priority questions come next, covering important but less critical topics. Leave low-priority questions like demographics until last.

A short, well-planned survey will give you the insights you need without frustrating customers. Keep it focused and respect their time.

Question Types

Rating Scales

Rating scales let customers rate their experience with numbers. These scales often range from 1 (very unhappy) to 5 or 7 (very happy). For example:

How happy were you with your meal quality? 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐

Rating scales give you data you can analyze to see what needs improving. They are simple for customers to use and cover many parts of your service.

Multiple Choice

Multiple choice questions let you sort customer feedback easily. By giving set answer choices, you can quickly see common issues, likes, or dislikes. For instance:

What could we improve about delivery?

[ ] Faster delivery times
[ ] Better packaging
[ ] More scheduling options
[ ] Other: _____________

Multiple choice works well for getting specific insights while keeping the survey short. You can combine them with rating scales or open-ended questions.

Open-Ended Questions

While numbers are helpful, open-ended questions give you details customers explain in their own words. These can reveal feedback you didn't expect. For example:

"What did you like best about our service?" "How could we improve ordering?"

Open-ended questions encourage honest, in-depth responses and can lead to new ideas for improving. However, they take more effort from customers.

Comparison Tables

Comparison tables let customers rate different parts of your service. By listing criteria in a table, customers can easily rate each aspect. For example:

Aspect	Poor	Okay	Good	Great
Meal Quality	☐	☐	☐	☐
On-Time Delivery	☐	☐	☐	☐
Portion Size	☐	☐	☐	☐
Value for Money	☐	☐	☐	☐

Tables provide structure for customers to evaluate multiple factors side-by-side, making it easier to pinpoint areas needing improvement.

Mobile-Friendly Design

Make sure your survey works well on mobile devices, as many customers may complete it on their phones.

Mobile Optimization

A mobile-friendly survey is easy to access and use on small screens. This includes:

A layout that adjusts to different screen sizes
Large buttons and checkboxes that are easy to tap
Clear, readable text on small screens

To achieve this:

Use a responsive layout that fits different screen sizes and devices
Design touch-friendly elements like big buttons and checkboxes
Keep text clear and concise, with a readable font size

Test on Devices

Test your survey on various mobile devices and screen sizes to ensure it's mobile-friendly. This includes testing on different:

Operating systems (iOS, Android)
Devices (smartphones, tablets)
Screen sizes and resolutions
Internet connections (Wi-Fi, cellular data)

Testing on different devices helps you identify any issues or bugs that could affect the user experience, such as:

Navigation problems
Formatting issues with questions
Overall usability problems

Survey Timing and Distribution

Choose the right time and way to send surveys to get the most responses.

Best Times to Send

When you send a survey matters. For meal prep services, send surveys:

Up to 24 hours after delivery: Get feedback on the customer's first experience with their meal.
After a milestone: Send a survey after a customer reaches a certain number of orders or completes a program.
Regularly: Send surveys monthly or quarterly to track satisfaction over time.

How to Send Surveys

Pick a way to send surveys that works best for your customers. Options include:

Email: Send surveys by email to customers who agreed to get emails.
App notifications: Send surveys through your meal prep app.
Website pop-ups: Use pop-ups on your website to send surveys.
Text messages: Send surveys by text to customers who agreed to get texts.

Test different ways to send surveys. See what gets the most responses from your customers.

Survey Distribution Channels

Channel	Description
Email	Send surveys via email to opted-in customers
App Notifications	Send surveys through your mobile app
Website Pop-ups	Use pop-ups on your website to send surveys
Text Messages	Send surveys via text to opted-in customers

Incentives (Optional)

You can offer rewards to get more people to take your survey.

Rewards: Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
More people respond	May give biased results
Encourages honest feedback	Can cost money
Shows you value customers' time	May not work for all customers

Types of Rewards

Giving the right reward can motivate customers to take your survey. Some options include:

Discounts: Give a percentage or dollar amount off their next purchase.
Free items: Offer a free product or service for completing the survey.
Prize draw: Enter customers into a draw to win a prize like a gift card or free meal.

How to Get Rewards

Make sure customers know how to get their reward. Give clear instructions, including:

How to access it: Explain how they get the reward, like through a code or email.
Deadline: Say when they must claim the reward by.
Terms: List any rules for the reward, like minimum purchase amounts.

Test and Refine

Internal Testing

1. Review Within Your Team

Before sending the survey to customers, have your team members review and test it. This allows you to identify any unclear questions, typos, or technical issues.

2. Get Feedback

Encourage your team to provide honest feedback on the survey flow, question clarity, and overall experience. Note any areas that need improvement.

3. Make Changes

Based on the feedback, refine the survey by clarifying questions, fixing errors, and improving the design and functionality.

External Feedback

4. Find External Testers

Select a small group of customers or target audience members to test the updated survey. Aim for a diverse group that represents your intended survey audience.

5. Collect Feedback

After external testers complete the survey, gather their feedback on the survey experience, question clarity, and any issues they encountered.

6. Analyze and Update

Review the external feedback and make any necessary adjustments to the survey before finalizing and distributing it to your entire target audience.

Testing Checklist

Step	Action
1	Review survey internally with team
2	Gather feedback from internal reviewers
3	Refine survey based on internal feedback
4	Identify external testers from target audience
5	Collect feedback from external testers
6	Analyze external feedback and update survey

Analyze and Act

Store and Review Data

Use a survey tool to safely store customer feedback data. Look for tools that let you:

View Data Visually: See responses in charts, graphs, and reports for easy understanding.
Filter and Group Data: Sort data by customer details, question responses, or other criteria.
Analyze Text Feedback: Use AI to identify feelings and themes from open-ended comments.
Track Trends: Monitor changes in customer satisfaction over time by comparing survey results.
Connect to Other Tools: Link survey data with your CRM, analytics, or project management software.

Using a survey tool's analysis features helps you understand raw customer feedback.

Find Key Insights

To find areas for improvement, analyze survey results from different angles:

Overall Scores: Review metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), or Customer Effort Score (CES) to gauge overall customer feelings.
Question Analysis: Identify questions with low ratings or mixed responses. These may show pain points or areas needing attention.
Segment Analysis: Compare satisfaction across customer groups based on demographics, purchase history, or usage. This can reveal unique needs or experiences.
Open Comments: Use text analysis to find common themes, complaints, or suggestions for improvement in open comments.
Trend Analysis: Track scores and feedback over time to understand the impact of changes or identify new issues.

Prioritize insights based on their potential impact, the number of customers affected, and how feasible it is to make improvements.

Action Plan

To act on survey insights effectively, create a structured plan:

Set Goals: Establish clear, measurable goals for improving customer satisfaction based on survey findings.
Identify Initiatives: Develop specific projects or actions to address key areas for improvement. Involve teams from different areas for a well-rounded approach.
Assign Responsibilities: Designate owners and stakeholders for each initiative, ensuring accountability.
Allocate Resources: Secure necessary resources, including budget, personnel, and tools, to execute initiatives successfully.
Set Timelines: Establish realistic timelines for implementing improvements and achieving goals.
Communicate: Keep customers and employees informed about planned improvements and progress.
Monitor and Adjust: Continuously monitor the impact of initiatives through regular surveys and adjust the plan as needed.

Regularly improving based on customer feedback can drive long-term success and customer loyalty.

Action Plan Overview

Step	Action
1	Set clear, measurable goals
2	Identify improvement initiatives
3	Assign owners and stakeholders
4	Allocate necessary resources
5	Set realistic timelines
6	Communicate plans and progress
7	Monitor impact and adjust as needed

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

Here are the main points to remember when creating customer satisfaction surveys for your meal prep service:

Define Clear Goals: Identify what you want to learn from the survey, like measuring overall satisfaction, evaluating meal quality, or assessing delivery service.
Know Your Audience: Understand different customer groups, such as frequent buyers, one-time customers, or those with dietary needs. Tailor questions to their unique preferences.
Keep Questions Simple: Use plain language that's easy to understand. Avoid jargon, technical terms, or confusing phrases.
Avoid Biased Questions: Ask neutral questions that don't lead customers to a particular answer.
Keep It Short: Aim for 10 questions or fewer to respect customers' time. Focus on the most important areas.
Use Different Question Types: Combine rating scales, multiple choice, and open-ended questions for a well-rounded survey.
Optimize for Mobile: Ensure the survey is easy to access and use on smartphones and tablets.
Time It Right: Send surveys at optimal times, like after delivery or reaching a milestone.
Test and Refine: Get feedback from your team and customers to improve the survey before sending it out.
Analyze and Act: Use survey tools to review data, identify key insights, and create an action plan to address areas for improvement.

Final Thoughts

FAQs

How do you create an easy-to-understand customer survey?

To create a clear and effective customer satisfaction survey, follow these simple steps:

Keep it short: Limit the survey to 10 questions or fewer to respect your customers' time and avoid overwhelming them.
Focus on your goals: Ensure each question directly relates to your objectives and provides valuable insights.
Ask open-ended questions: Use open-ended questions to gather detailed feedback in the customers' own words, without leading them to a specific answer.
Ask one question at a time: Avoid combining multiple questions into one, as this can lead to confusion and inaccurate responses.
Use consistent rating scales: Maintain the same rating scale format (e.g., 1-5 stars) throughout the survey for simplicity and easier data analysis.
Remain neutral: Phrase questions objectively to avoid influencing or biasing the respondents' answers.
Include yes/no questions: Use yes/no questions for quick, straightforward responses on specific topics.
Be specific: Avoid making assumptions about your customers. Instead, ask precise questions to gather accurate, actionable insights.

When to Use Tables

Scenario	Examples
Organizing information into rows and columns	Product features, customer demographics
Improving readability and understanding	Presenting data or statistics
Comparing or contrasting items	Listing pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages
Providing a concise overview	Summarizing key points or details

Ordered List Examples

For ordered lists without related content under each item:

First step: Identify your survey goals
Second step: Define your target audience
Third step: Create clear, unbiased questions

For ordered lists with related content under each item:

1. Define Survey Goals

Clearly outline the objectives and information you want to gather from the survey.

2. Understand Your Audience

Identify the different customer segments you want to target, such as frequent buyers, one-time customers, or those with specific dietary needs.

3. Craft Clear Questions

Use simple language and avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse respondents. Ask one question at a time and remain neutral to avoid biasing responses.