Feedback form examples, templates and how to write your own

Listen to your customers. It is something a lot of companies say, but not so many of them actually do. Gathering customer feedback can help you see trends, understand what people want and find ways to improve your product or service. A good feedback form can help you do all of this and more. Even though we know it is crucial to gather feedback, it can sometimes be hard to know how to design a customer survey that actually works. In this post, we will share best practices for creating feedback forms that help you gain the insights you need to improve your business.

Feedback form examples

There are a lot of different ways you can get feedback from customers. Examples of feedback forms can include:

• Pop-ups on your website
• Chatbots
• Emails

They can also range in length from a single question to a more in-depth survey. Most companies use a few basic types of feedback templates, but there are many variations in how these forms are presented. Feedback requests can appear as pop-ups on web pages, chatbots, or emails. They can also range in length from a single question to a more in-depth survey. You can insert your feedback form in beautifully designed popup templates and collect customer feedback. The type of customer feedback form you choose will depend on what kind of information you are seeking.

While there are numerous ways to collect feedback, two of the most popular frameworks are customer satisfaction surveys and user experience questionnaires.

Types of feedback

The type of customer feedback form you choose will depend on what kind of information you are seeking. Here are the two most common examples of types of feedback:

• Customer satisfaction survey

A satisfaction survey enables business owners to understand why a customer was or was not happy with their purchase and overall experience. Questions encourage the customer to tell the business how they were treated, what product or services were missing, what went wrong, what could be better and more.

• User experience questionnaire

A user experience questionnaire is often used by software companies that want to ensure their product is simple and effective. Unlike a survey about a product or service, a questionnaire will focus far more on the features, how they work, what՚s missing and what could be improved.

How do you write a feedback form? (Templates you can copy)

A good feedback form is short (only a few questions), sweet (looks nice), and to the point (has clickable options), according to Gabe Caldwell, Director of Partnerships at Formstack. Taking it to the next level, a good feedback form is already prefilled with the user’s information. “I do not know about you, but receiving a prefilled form has the power to make my day,” said Caldwell. “It provides a customised experience and tells me that the sender knows who I am. Plus, it does not hurt that it saves me the time of filling out redundant information that I have already shared.”

1. Keep it short

   Conditional logic is an excellent tool when it comes to forms. Imagine your feedback form asks, “‘Are you a veteran?” If the answer is no, then the person does not have to answer the subsequent four questions—they do not even see them. If the answer is yes, dynamic questions pop up. "We always want to reduce the number of questions, and a good form solution should be dynamic – an accordion that opens or doesn not depending on the situation”, says Caldwell.

2. Keep it simple

   The fewer questions you have, the better. Including too many questions can be intimidating, causing some customers to give up before they reach the end of your form. Be careful with how you phrase the wording in your feedback form, advises Sara Staffaroni, head of content for CX at GetFeedback by SurveyMonkey. A good form has simple sentences and straightforward wording. By keeping the language simple and consistent, your customers will better understand what you are asking them. If you ask a leading question, you are more likely to get a biased response. “Be aware of how your question could bias respondents toward certain answers,” said Staffaroni. Asking: “You are satisfied with our products, are not you?” is not going to give you good data.

   Feedback form template

3. Make the customer feedback experience seamless

   The easier you make things for your customer, the more likely they are to fill out a feedback form. For instance, when you chat with a customer, make sure that survey pops up immediately within that chat channel, before they exit. That way, it is easy and top of mind for a customer to reply—they do not have to switch channels. “No one will want to respond to an email from your brand if they are used to making purchases through your app or vice versa,” said Staffaroni. “If you interact with customers in the channels they choose, they are more likely to actually respond to you.”

4. Have consistent rating scales

   When you include more than one question with a rating scale, make sure the scale is consistent from question to question. For instance, if a rating of 1 indicates “very unsatisfied” and a rating of 5 indicates “very satisfied” for one question, do not change the scale from 1 to 10 for the next question. Changing the scale can confuse the consumer and leave you with an answer they did not intend. You should not preselect any answer in your feedback form, either. Doing so leads the customer to respond a certain way and is likely to encourage false, unhelpful answers. You want to appear open to any answer on the customer՚s terms.

   Feedback form template

   Source: Uber Engineering

5. Personalise your request for feedback

   Use the information you already have about your customers to personalise the process of asking for feedback. This can help you achieve greater brand affinity among your customers because they feel a familiarity with your business.

   For example, you might send an email that says, “John, can you help us improve our service by answering some questions about your experience upgrading your account?”

   Feedback form template

   If possible, create a feedback template that requests the customer’s name and then uses their name when asking questions later, as shown above. Using the customer’s name in the form makes it feel much more personal, increasing the likelihood that they will complete it.

How to create a customer feedback form

Getting started is quick and easy. Here are just of few of the feedback form integrations that work with Zendesk:

• Formstack helps companies build no-code online forms to collect data and automate processes. Drag-and-drop functionality enables anyone in the organization to create mobile-friendly forms and gather actionable insights.
• Diduenjoy uses a data science expert–approved methodology to help your business create engaging customer feedback forms.
• JotForm is an online form builder. Thanks to its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, you do not need any coding experience to run this tool.
• GetFeedback by SurveyMonkey offers online survey-building software that easily organizes your customers and contacts into lists and automatically sends out surveys to them directly.

Watch this video about using simple CSAT surveys to get customer feedback:

Got feedback. Now what?

Asking for customer feedback is the first step. Now, you need to use the data you have collected. Here are some tips:

Analyse the feedback

Staffaroni said it is crucial to dig into the data to understand the sentiments of the feedback and to gauge why people love or hate your brand. How does it connect to your customer journey? Understanding what your customers are trying to tell you is critical to delivering consistently good CX.

Make the feedback data accessible

sHaving data is one thing, but it does not do a lot of good if no one can see it. Can you automatically get the data into your software system? If you are collecting a lead, you may want the data to go straight to a CRM or a marketing automation solution to follow up and nurture prospects, saids Caldwell. “What happens behind the scenes is where it gets really powerful.” By pooling feedback in a central location, agents can work together within your customer service software to see which channels are most popular and which need to be optimised. Analytic tools help your whole team see what’s working and what is not so they can make informed decisions that impact your business.

Create feedback forms that give you actionable insights

Understanding what your customers want, what complaints they may have, and what they think is an essential part of doing business. The best feedback form is the one your customers actually use, so experiment across channels to see what resonates. Consider what you want to accomplish with each survey, use customer feedback software, and software integrations and start collecting data to fuel your success.