Feedback form examples, templates and how to write your own

Listen to your customers. It's something many 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 customer feedback, it can sometimes be hard 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 many different ways that 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 form templates, but there are many variations in presenting these forms. 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 pop-up 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 customer 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 customer 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 products 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 is missing and what could be improved.

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

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

2. Keep it simple

   The fewer questions you have, the better. Having too many questions can be intimidating, and it may cause 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 towards certain answers”, says Staffaroni. Asking: Asking ‘you are satisfied with our products, aren’t you?’ isn’t going to give you good data.

   Feedback form template

3. Make the 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 the 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”, says 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 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 customer feedback forms, 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 customer feedback

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

   For example, you might send an email that says, “John, could 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 feedback form

Getting started is quick and easy. Here are a few customer 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 organisation 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 organises 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 highlights that it is crucial to dig into the data to understand customer feedback sentiments and gauge why people love or hate your brand. How does it connect to your customer journey? Understanding what your customers tell you is critical to delivering consistently good CX.

Make the customer feedback data accessible

Having 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”, suggests Caldwell. He asserts, “What happens behind the scenes is where it gets really powerful.” By pooling customer 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. Analytics tools help your whole team see what is 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.