A Guide to Close-Ended Questions for Better Customer Feedback Surveys

Are you searching for ways to gather structured and actional customer feedback? If yes, then you must know more about close-ended questions. These questions let you measure customer satisfaction as well as gauge preferences. They are also used to collect data in NPS Surveys.

When it comes to business growth, collecting customer feedback becomes very important. So, in this blog, we'll not only explore these questions in depth but also learn to use them in customer feedback surveys to get valuable insights.

What Are Close-Ended Questions?

These questions are inquiries that can be answered with a simple, limited response. You can give predefined choices to the respondents, like "Yes" or "No" or a specific rating on a scale. The structure of these questions is such that it leaves little to no room for interpretation. Hence, they are useful in ensuring clear answers that are uniform across all respondents.

For example, if you want to know whether people will find your product useful, you can ask, "Do you find our product useful in your daily life?". Then, you can give a yes/no option.

Through this question, you have already set the choices for your respondents. Now, it will allow them to simply choose the rating. As a result, this structure makes these questions easy to answer. Besides, it also becomes easier for you to analyze this data.

What Do Close-Ended Questions Help You Understand?

Using these questions will help you get clear and specific answers. Hence, they give you valuable insights into various customer sentiments and behaviour. Through such questions, you can understand the following-

● Measure Satisfaction Levels:

Wondering whether your products or services are meeting customer satisfaction? A simple way to know about this is through measuring customer satisfaction. For this, you can use these questions to encourage people to rate their experiences. Then, you can analyze the rating to understand the satisfaction levels.

● Track Trends:

Want to identify the ever-changing shifts in customer behaviour, references, and satisfaction levels? You can do it by using the same questions over time. By analyzing trends in this way, you can gain critical information to make informed decisions. Furthermore, you can adjust your strategies accordingly.

● Benchmark Performance:

If you are performing an NPS survey, these questions will help you track customer loyalty. It is basically done through a measurable metric called the NPS score. You can benchmark this score against industry standards. As a result, you will get valuable insights into competitive positioning as well.

In totality, these questions are very simple. Hence, you can use them to get quick and straightforward answers to efficiently capture data for analysis.

Using Close-Ended Questions in Customer Feedback Surveys

You may have guessed that these questions are important tools for customer feedback surveys. But why are they so valuable? Well, it is mainly because they provide structured answers that are easy to quantify. Hence, through these questions, you can grasp the sentiments of your customers. What's the best part? It is that you do not have to go through lengthy answers to know how your customers feel about your business. The simplicity of these questions is important in formats like NPS surveys, customer satisfaction surveys (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES) surveys.

Now, here is how you can effectively use such questions in different customer feedback surveys.

● NPS Surveys:

Have you ever wondered how much your loyal customers contribute to your brand's growth? If you want to assess the loyalty of your consumer base, then you use NPS surveys. Through these surveys, you ask your customers to rate you. For example, you can ask, "How likely are you to recommend our brand on a scale from 0 to 10?"

It gives a clear metric through which you can measure customer loyalty. The responses are divided into three groups- promoters, passives, and detractors. It will help you calculate NPS scores easily.

● Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

Are you aware of what aspects of your service are meeting customer expectations? If yes, then you can use these questions to know how satisfied customers are with your products and services. Commonly, these questions ask respondents to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1-5. Through this straightforward approach, you can measure the sentiment of the respondents after an interaction. So, it enables you to identify areas that need improvements.

● Customer Effort Score (CES)

How often do you check if your process is seamless for customers? Through Customer effort score surveys, you can focus on the ease of customer interaction with your business. Close-ended questions in these surveys let you know how easy it was for the customer to resolve their issue or complete their task. They also help identify any friction points in your customer journey.

So, by using such questions in these surveys, you can easily collect actionable insights. It also enables you to enhance customer experience and drive loyalty.

Examples of Close-Ended Questions

Since you now know the benefits of these questions and where to use them, here are some examples to give you a better idea.

1. On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with our customer service?
2. Did you find our product easy to use? (Yes/No)
3. How often do you use our service? (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Rarely)
4. Would you recommend our product to others? (Yes/No)

In these questions, you provide the respondent with specific choices. But the key is to keep the question simple and clear. It will let the respondents answer without confusion.

How to Create Effective Close-Ended Questions?

Creating effective close-ended questions is important to get meaningful customer feedback. So here are some points you should keep in mind-

● Clear and Concise:

Be straightforward with your questions and keep them easy to understand. Confusion can cause unreliable responses. So, instead of asking, "How do you feel about our service?" be direct and ask, "How satisfied are you with our service on a scale of 1-5?"

● Choice of Questions:

Choose the right format for your questions that aligns with the information you want to collect. For instance, for satisfaction levels, you can provide rating scales, or for straightforward questions, use a yes/no format.

● Timing:

Always consider when to send your survey. This is because timing can influence the responses. So, if you want to know about your delivery service, you can send the survey immediately. But, if you want feedback for a product, wait for some days so that the customer can use the product to give a reliable response.

Additionally, you can balance your surveys for more effective feedback. How so? If you add open-ended questions as a follow-up, it will give you deeper insights. For example, after asking to rate, you can ask, "What aspect of our service influenced your rating?" It will balance your quantitative data with qualitative insights. So you can get a richer understanding of customer experiences.

Conclusion

In customer feedback surveys, close-ended questions help in collecting clear, actionable data. They effectively measure satisfaction and track trends. When paired with open-ended questions, they offer a comprehensive understanding of customer needs. Using them strategically can help you get results that improve your business performance.