Customer Service Survey Questions: 80+ Ready-to-Use Examples and Best Practices

Good customer service often goes unnoticed. However, one poor experience can turn into a negative review or worse, a lost customer. In fact, a Hiver report says that 72% of customers will switch brands if they feel let down. 

But here’s the upside: customer service surveys can catch these issues before they arise. When done right, they give you a chance to:

• Spot broken workflows by tracking low CSAT or CES scores
• Coach agents using real, unfiltered customer feedback
• Identify which fixes will have the biggest impact
• Monitor improvements after rolling out changes like automation or self-service

To simplify things, I’ve curated 80+ ready-to-use customer service survey questions and show you how to use responses to improve your operation. 

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• What are customer service survey questions?
• Types of customer service survey questions & 80+ samples
  • 1. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Surveys
  • 2. Customer Effort Score (CES) Surveys
  • 3. Net Promoter Score (NPS) Surveys
  • 4. Support Agent-Specific Surveys
  • 5. Channel-Specific Surveys
  • 6. Product-Specific Feedback Surveys
  • 7. Feedback on Self-Service Tools
  • 8. Open-Ended Survey
• What can you do with customer service surveys?
• Best practices for writing and using survey questions
  • 1. Keep your survey short and focused. 
  • 2. Use clear and simple language in your survey
  • 3. Have a mix of question types to get better insights
  • 4. Send surveys while the experience is fresh
  • 5. Avoid leading or biased questions
  • 6. Make your survey mobile-friendly
  • 7. Offer an incentive if response rates are low
  • 8. Always close the feedback loop
  • 9. Segment your survey audience
  • 10. Track overall trends, not just individual scores
  • 11. Share feedback internally
• Make feedback work for you.
• Frequently Asked Questions

What are customer service survey questions?

Customer service survey questions are short, targeted prompts you send after a support interaction. They help you quickly understand what’s working and what’s not.

These questions give you:

• A clear picture of how customers feel after an interaction.
• Insight into how easy or frustrating your processes are.
• Signals on where to coach your team or adjust workflows.

Some common examples are:

• How satisfied are you with the support you received? (CSAT)
• How easy was it to get your issue resolved? (CES)
• How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? (NPS)

Types of customer service survey questions & 80+ samples

Not sure where to start with customer service survey questions? This Reddit thread is a great peek into how real support and MSP teams approach customer surveys, what they ask, what they avoid, and why.

Inspired by that, we’ve compiled a complete list of 80+ ready-to-use customer service survey questions across CSAT, CES, NPS, agent feedback, and more.

1. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Surveys

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys help you understand how satisfied a customer felt after a support interaction. You can send them right after a ticket is closed, a chat ends, or a phone call wraps up.

They’re short and focused. And they give you a quick read on how well your team did, straight from the customer’s point of view.

Here’s why CSAT matters.

• Helps you track frontline performance in real time.
• Flags unhappy customers before churn.
• Creates a baseline for team/agent-level coaching.
• Offers a simple metric for internal reporting (CSAT %).

The best time to send a CSAT survey is right after you’ve helped a customer. Whether it was over email, chat, or phone. This is when the experience is still fresh and you’re most likely to get honest feedback. 

This is especially worth doing for high-priority tickets or when you’ve just fixed something broken.

Here are some sample CSAT questions:

1. On a scale of 1–5, how satisfied were you with your recent support experience? (1 – Not Satisfied and 5 – Extremely Satisfied)

2. Did we resolve your issue to your satisfaction? (Yes/No)

3. How confident do you feel about the solution provided?

4. How satisfied were you with the speed of our response?

5. What did you like most about your experience?

6. What could we have done to make your experience better?

7. Would you reach out to our support team again if needed?

8. Compared to past experiences, how did this one go?

9. How easy was it to understand the solution provided?

10. Was the support team courteous and professional?

Once you start tracking CSAT, compare it against industry benchmarks.

• A CSAT score above 80% is generally considered strong.
• For SaaS and tech support teams, anything above 75% is a good baseline.

If your score is below this, you might want to look into patterns in your responses. Then use that data to coach your team, adjust workflows or improve documentation. This way you’ll be able to fix what’s slowing your customers down.

2. Customer Effort Score (CES) Surveys

CES surveys tell you how much effort it took for a customer to get help. These surveys help you spot friction points in your support process. Use the insights to simplify steps, fix slow handoffs, and remove anything that makes support harder than it needs to be.

While CSAT tells you how happy they were, CES questions helps you understand all the effort the users had to put into the surveys.

Here’s how it helps:

• Shows you where customers are struggling during support interactions.
• Helps identify bottlenecks like unclear steps, long wait times, or repetitive conversations.
• Tells you if your tools, like automation or self-service, are making things easier.
• Helps you prioritize workflow and process improvements that reduce customer effort.

It should be used:

• Right after a ticket is resolved.
• After a self-service session (e.g., help article or chatbot).
• When experimenting with a new support flow or automation.

Here are some CES questions:

11. On a scale of 1–7, how easy was it to get your issue resolved today? (1 – Extremely difficult to 7 – Extremely easy)

12. The process of getting support was effortless. (Agree/Disagree)

13. Did you have to follow up because your issue wasn’t resolved the first time? (Yes / No)

14. Did you feel like you had to start over each time you contacted us? (Yes, every time/ Sometimes/ No, it felt seamless)

15. What was the most frustrating part of this support experience?

16. How long did it take to resolve your issue from the moment you contacted us? (Less than 1 hour/ 1–3 hours/ Same day/ 1–2 days/ More than 2 days/ Still unresolved)

17. Were the instructions or next steps clear?

18. What could we do to make the process easier next time?

19. Did you experience any confusion or delays when your issue was handed over to another agent or team? (Yes, it caused delays/ Yes, but it was smooth/ No handover happened)

20. How easy was it to find the right channel to contact us?

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS) Surveys

Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys measure long-term customer loyalty by asking one powerful question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”

It’s not tied to a specific interaction but to the overall brand experience, making it ideal for spotting at-risk customers, brand advocates, and growth opportunities.

Why it matters:

• Reach out to promoters for testimonials, case studies, or referral programs.
• Follow up with detractors to understand pain points and prevent churn.
• Analyze NPS trends to identify which teams, products, or touchpoints need improvement.
• Use NPS scores to inform your roadmap, prioritize what’s holding customers back from scoring a 9 or 10.
• Benchmark scores quarterly to measure the impact of changes in onboarding, support, or product experience.

When should it be used?

• Quarterly or biannually (not after every ticket).
• After onboarding, product upgrades, or major product launches.
• As part of a customer health scoring system.

Here are some NPS questions:

21. On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend [Company] to a friend or colleague? (0 being not at all, and 10 being most likely)

22. What’s the primary reason for your score?

23. What could we do to improve your experience or raise your score?

24. What do you value most about working with our team or organization?(Responsiveness / Product quality / Ease of collaboration / Industry expertise / Problem-solving ability / Transparency)

25. Have you recommended us to anyone in the past 6 months?

26. What would stop you from recommending us to others?

27. Based on your recent experience, how likely are you to continue using our product/service over the next 12 months? (Very likely/ Somewhat likely/ Not sure/ Unlikely/ Very unlikely)

28. If you were to stop using our service, what would be the reason?

4. Support Agent-Specific Surveys

Agent-specific surveys help you see how individual team members are really doing. It’s not just about whether they resolved the issue. You’re also looking at how they communicated, like: were they clear, respectful, and empathetic?

This kind of feedback is incredibly useful. It helps with coaching, running better performance reviews, and spotting patterns that might point to a training gap.

Support agent-specific surveys matter because they help you:

• Pinpoint exactly where each agent is excelling or struggling.
• Spot gaps in soft skills like empathy, tone, or communication.
• Use real feedback to guide 1:1 coaching and training plans.
• Identify high performers you can reward, and agents who need support before issues escalate.

When to use support agent-specific surveys:

• Right after 1:1 interactions to gather targeted feedback on an agent’s performance.
• During onboarding, to evaluate how new agents are handling live conversations.
• After training or process changes to measure if there’s real improvement on the floor.

Here are some support agent-specific survey questions:

29. How would you rate the agent’s ability to resolve your issue? (1 – Very poor, 2 – Poor, 3 – Fair, 4 – Good, 5 – Excellent)

30. Did the agent clearly explain the solution?

31. Did the agent understand your issue without needing to repeat it? (Yes/No)

32. Was the agent professional and respectful during the interaction? (Yes/No)

33. Did you feel the agent genuinely cared about helping you?(Yes/No)

34. Would you be happy to work with this agent again? (Yes/No)

35. What did this agent do particularly well? (Open-ended)

36. Is there anything the agent could have done better? (Open-ended)

37. Did the agent offer any alternative solutions or workarounds? (Yes/No)

38. Did the agent follow up with you after the interaction (if needed)? (Yes/No)

39. Was this your first time interacting with this agent? If not, how does this experience compare?

40. Did the agent personalize the conversation, or was it too scripted? (Felt personalized / Neutral / Felt robotic)

41. Did the agent help prevent future issues by offering tips or advice? (Yes/No/Not applicable)

42. Was the agent proactive in helping you avoid future issues? (Yes/No/Not applicable)

43. Do you feel your time was respected during this interaction? (Yes/No)

5. Channel-Specific Surveys

Channel-specific survey questions help you evaluate how well each support channel (chat, email, phone, social media, etc.) is performing. Not all channels offer the same experience, so measuring them individually is important.

These questions help you identify which channels deliver fast, effective support and which are frustrating customers.

Channel-specific questions matter because they:

• Reveal if a channel is causing delays or confusion.
• Show which channels customers prefer (and why).
• Help you prioritize improvements, whether it’s better training, tools, or SLAs.
• Inform decisions about expanding or reducing channel coverage.

It should be used:

• After a support interaction on a specific channel.
• When rolling out a new channel (e.g., WhatsApp, chatbots).
• During a channel audit or tech stack review.

Here are some examples of channel-specific questions:

44. Which channel did you use to contact us today? (Email, In-app, Instagram, Facebook, Website)

45. How satisfied were you with the support you received via [channel]? (1 being not satisfied at all and 5 being completely satisfied)

46. Was this your preferred method of contact?

47. How easy was it to get connected to a support agent on this channel?

48. How long did it take to get a response through this channel?

49. Did you need to switch to another channel to get your issue resolved? (Yes/No)

50. Would you use this channel again for future support needs?

51. Did this channel help you resolve your issue faster than expected?

52. What, if anything, did you find frustrating about using this channel?

53. How would you improve your experience with this channel? (Shorter wait times / Easier access to agents / Clearer responses / Better follow-up / Smoother interface / Nothing / Other)

54. Was your issue resolved entirely on this channel, or did you need follow-up elsewhere?

55. Did you experience any technical issues while using this channel? (e.g., dropped calls, slow chat, email bouncebacks)

56. How clear and easy was the communication on this channel? (Very clear / Somewhat / Not clear)

57. Did this channel give you enough space to explain your issue clearly? (Yes/No)

58. Did you feel your issue was treated with urgency on this channel? (Yes/No)

59. Did you have to re-enter or re-explain your issue when switching agents or tools on this channel? (Yes/No)

60. Compared to other support channels you’ve used, how does this one perform? (Better / Same / Worse)

6. Product-Specific Feedback Surveys

Product-specific surveys help you understand how your customers feel about the product itself, whether it meets their needs, where it’s falling short, and what improvements they want to see.

Support conversations often surface product issues like bugs, usability gaps, and confusing features. This survey type helps capture that feedback in a structured way.

Product-specific features matter because they:

• Identify bugs, blockers, or confusing UX early
• Inform the product roadmap with real customer input
• Track post-purchase satisfaction over time
• Help support and product teams stay aligned

Here are some product-specific feedback questions:

61. How satisfied are you with the product? (1 – Not Satisfied/5 – Very Satisfied scale)

62. Did the product meet your expectations? (Yes/No)

63. What specific issue or limitation did you face? (Open-ended)

64. How easy was the product to use for your task? (1 being not easy at all to 5 being very easy to use)

65. Were there any features that you found confusing or hard to use? (Yes/No — If yes, please specify which ones and why.)

66. What features do you find most valuable? (Open-ended)

67. What’s one improvement you wish we’d prioritize? (Open-ended)

68. How likely are you to continue using the product over the next 6 months? (1–10 scale)

7. Feedback on Self-Service Tools

Self-service feedback surveys help you understand whether customers find value in tools like your knowledge base, FAQs, help center, or chatbots. They reveal if these resources save time or add to customer frustration.

Self-service tools feedback matters because it:

• Shows which content is working and what needs improvement
• Reveals gaps in coverage, clarity, or usability
• Informs content strategy for help docs, bots, and guided flows

It should be used:

• After a customer interacts with your knowledge base, chatbot, or FAQs
• After a user attempts self-service but escalates to live support
• As part of a periodic audit of self-service content and tools

Here are some examples of customer survey questions for self-service tools:

69. Did you try to resolve your issue using our self-service tools before contacting support? (Yes/No)

70. Which self-service resource did you use?

71. Were you able to find the information you needed? (Yes/No)

72. Did the self-service article solve your problem completely, partially, or not at all? (Completely / Partially / Not at all)

73. How easy was it to find the right answer using our self-service tools? (Very easy / Somewhat easy / Difficult / Couldn’t find it)

74. Was the content clear and easy to understand?

75. How up-to-date did the information feel? (Very current / Somewhat current / Somewhat outdated / Very outdated)

76. What keyword or phrase did you search for?

77. What were you looking for but didn’t find?

78. How would you improve this self-service resource? (More detailed explanations/ Simpler language/ Add screenshots or videos/ Update outdated info/ Improve search functionality/ Other: please specify)

8. Open-Ended Survey

Open-ended questions let customers tell you exactly what’s on their mind. It helps you dig into the “why” behind their answers, uncover patterns, and spot blind spots in your service or product.

They’re especially valuable when launching something new or trying to understand sentiment more deeply.

Open-ended questions matter because they:

• Reveal context and emotion behind ratings (CSAT, NPS, CES)
• Capture feedback that structured questions miss
• Surface trends and themes through text analysis
• Help personalize follow-ups or escalations based on tone and content

When should it be used?

• After major product changes or launches.
• In quarterly or annual customer feedback pulses.
• To follow up on low CSAT/CES/NPS scores.
• As a standalone qualitative feedback survey.

Here are some examples of customer survey questions for an open-ended survey:

79. In your own words, how would you describe your recent experience with our support team?

80. What did you appreciate most about your experience with us today?

81. What’s the one thing we could have done better in this interaction?

82. What frustrated you most during this experience?

83. Have you faced this issue before? If yes, how was your previous experience different?

84. What would help you trust our support more in the future?

85. If you were in charge of improving our customer service, what would you change first?

86. Is there anything we didn’t ask that you think we should know?

What can you do with customer service surveys?

Collecting this feedback is just one step to improving. The real value comes from using that feedback to improve your support experience. 

Here’s how you can turn responses into action:

• Look for patterns in what customers are saying. If you notice multiple responses mentioning billing confusion or long wait times, tag them under clear categories like “Billing” or “Response Time.” This helps you track recurring pain points easily over time.
• Fix the most talked-about issues first. If a third of your customers complain about delays, that’s your cue to review team coverage or update your response time goals.
• Use feedback to coach your team. Create a monthly summary for each agent, including their CSAT/CES scores and direct customer quotes. It can help them understand what’s working and what’s not.
• Set alerts for when things start slipping. For example, if CSAT drops below 80% for a particular channel or team, you can set up an auto-alert for managers to jump in. They can then fix it before it becomes a bigger issue.
• Follow up on bad experiences fast. If someone leaves a 1- or 2-star rating, route it directly to a manager or a senior agent. This quick follow-up can turn a customer from frustrated to loyal.
• Measure impact over time. Use CSAT or CES to compare before-and-after results. If you roll out a chatbot, check if customers find it helpful.

Best practices for writing and using survey questions

Creating a survey is easy, but making one that gives useful and actionable insights takes more effort. Here’s how to make your survey more impactful:

1. Keep your survey short and focused.

The longer your survey, the fewer customers will complete it, and the less reliable the answers will be. Short surveys show your customers that you respect their time. So, only ask the most important 5–7 questions that tie directly to what you want to learn. 

2. Use clear and simple language in your survey

Your questions should be easy to read and instantly understandable, even for someone distracted or in a hurry. Confusing questions lead to confusing answers. You should avoid technical jargon, long sentences, or vague wording. 

3. Have a mix of question types to get better insights

Use a combination of rating scales, multiple-choice, and open-text questions, because different questions uncover different things. Rating can give you quick metrics, and open-ended questions can explain why.

Tip: Start with a simple rating (e.g., “How satisfied were you with your experience?”) and follow it up with “What could we have done better?”

4. Send surveys while the experience is fresh

The timing of your survey affects how useful the responses are. So send the survey as soon as possible after a support interaction, purchase, or product change. People are more likely to give accurate, detailed feedback when the experience just happened.

5. Avoid leading or biased questions

Use neutral language in every question. Honest feedback helps you find what’s actually broken. Don’t push customers toward positive responses; you want the truth, even if it’s tough to hear.

6. Make your survey mobile-friendly

Most people check email and open surveys on their phones. So it needs to work well on small screens. Use mobile-friendly survey tools with large buttons and clean layouts. A clunky mobile experience leads to low completion rates.

7. Offer an incentive if response rates are low

Customers are more likely to complete a survey if there’s something in it for them. You can offer small rewards like a discount code or a chance to win a gift card. It makes people feel their time is valued.

8. Always close the feedback loop

Don’t just collect and leave responses; act on them and let your customers know you did. This will help customers feel heard and make them more likely to engage again. You can follow up with a summary of what you learned and what you’re changing.

9. Segment your survey audience

Not every customer needs to answer every survey. Tailor questions based on their journey, plan type, or interaction history. When sending surveys, you can use filters like “premium customers only” or “first-time support interactions.” Targeted surveys give more relevant feedback and avoid annoying your best customers with generic forms.

10. Track overall trends, not just individual scores

Instead of reacting to individual CSAT or CES responses, look at how feedback changes week by week. Are complaints about billing increasing? Are CES scores dipping after chatbot interactions?

11. Share feedback internally

Share relevant insights regularly with product, marketing, and leadership teams. This keeps customer feedback at the center of decision-making.

Make feedback work for you.

Customer service surveys are only valuable if they lead to real improvements. To make them work, you need to do three things well:

• Ask the right customer service survey questions.
• Send them at the right time.
• Automate follow-ups so no insights are missed.

As Shep Hyken said on the Hiver’s Experience Matters podcast:

“Ask yourself: Is what I’m doing right now going to make the customer come back?”

The real goal is collecting feedback and turning it into better service, stronger relationships, and long-term loyalty.

And if you’re looking for inspiration or peer insights, check out this Reddit thread where leaders share the customer service survey questions they rely on. It’s a great way to see what’s actually working in the field.

Customer feedback should power your next set of improvements. Use it well, and let the right tools do the heavy lifting.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are some good customer service survey questions?

Ask questions that cover both the experience and effort. Try: “How satisfied were you with the interaction?”, “Was your issue resolved?”, or “How easy was it to get help?” Use a mix of rating scales, yes/no, and open-ended questions.

2. What are good customer satisfaction survey questions?

Focus on outcomes. Examples: “How satisfied are you with the support you received?”, “Did we meet your expectations?”, or “Would you reach out to us again?” Send these right after the interaction for the best results.

3. What are some good customer service survey questions to ask?

Ask what worked and what didn’t. Try: “Did the agent explain the solution clearly?”, “Did you need to contact us more than once?” or “How could we make this easier?” These help improve training and workflows.

4. How often should I send customer service surveys?

It’s a good practice to send surveys immediately after an interaction, such as after a customer service call or purchase. This ensures the feedback is fresh and accurate.

5. How do I handle negative feedback from customer surveys?

Consider negative feedback as an opportunity for improvement. Respond promptly, thank the customer for their honesty, and outline steps you’ll take to address their concerns.

6. Can I customize my customer service survey to fit different customer segments?

Yes! To get more tailored insights, it’s recommended that you customize your survey for different customer segments. For example, you can segment into new customers and long-term customers.

7. What’s the difference between CSAT, NPS, and CES?

CSAT measures satisfaction. NPS measures loyalty. CES measures how easy it was to get help. Use all three to get the full picture.

8. What are 5 good survey questions?

A well-rounded customer survey includes a mix of rating, yes/no, and open-ended questions. For example, you can ask how satisfied the customer was with the support, whether their issue was resolved, how easy the experience was, how likely they are to recommend your service, and what could have been improved. This combination gives you both measurable scores and detailed insights.

9. What questions to ask for customer service?

The best customer service questions help you understand how well your team supported the customer. Ask if the agent explained things clearly, whether the customer had to reach out multiple times, how long it took to resolve the issue, and if the experience felt respectful and smooth. These questions uncover what’s working and where the friction lies.

10. What is a good customer satisfaction survey?

A good customer satisfaction survey is short, relevant, and sent immediately after the support interaction. It typically starts with a simple satisfaction rating and follows up with an open-ended question to capture detailed feedback. The goal is to get honest, useful insights without making the customer feel like they’re doing too much work.