Customer feedback survey examples: four short surveys you can adapt

What a good customer feedback survey example contains

A good customer feedback survey example is short: one overall rating, one or two questions about specific parts of the experience, one open comment and an optional contact question. Four to six questions is enough for most small organizations.

The four feedback survey examples below were written for this guide. They are not copied from any vendor's templates and have not been tested on real customers, so adapt the wording to your own business and try it on a few people first. Each uses a 1 to 5 satisfaction scale, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 5 is very satisfied, unless stated otherwise.

Service business and shop feedback survey examples

Example 1: a service business, such as a repair, cleaning or landscaping firm. Send one or two days after the job.

1. Overall, how satisfied are you with the work we did? (1 to 5)
2. Did we arrive when we said we would? (Yes, No, Not sure)
3. How clearly did we explain the work and the cost before starting? (1 to 5)
4. Is there anything we should have done differently? (Open comment)
5. May we contact you about your answers? If yes, please leave a phone number or email. (Optional)

Example 2: a shop or cafe. Offer it by QR code on the receipt or counter, to be answered the same day.

1. How satisfied were you with your visit today? (1 to 5)
2. Did you find what you came in for? (Yes, Partly, No)
3. How would you rate the help you got from our staff? (1 to 5, or "I did not need help")
4. What is one thing that would make your next visit better? (Open comment)

The shop example has no contact question, because a walk-in customer may prefer to stay anonymous.

SaaS product and event feedback survey examples

Example 3: a SaaS product. Send to active users after they have completed a main task several times, not during their first session.

1. How satisfied are you with [product] overall? (1 to 5)
2. How easy was it to do what you came to do today? (1 to 5, very difficult to very easy)
3. Which of these do you use [product] for most? (Multiple choice, with your main use cases and "Something else")
4. What is the one thing you would most like us to improve? (Open comment)
5. How likely are you to recommend [product] to a colleague? (0 to 10)

Example 4: an event, class or workshop. Send within a day of it ending.

1. Overall, how satisfied were you with [event]? (1 to 5)
2. How useful was the content for you? (1 to 5)
3. How would you rate the venue and organization? (1 to 5)
4. What was the most valuable part? (Open comment)
5. What should we change next time? (Open comment)
6. Would you come to a future event from us? (Yes, Maybe, No)

How the four example surveys compare

Each example pairs numbers with words. The ratings tell you how many people were happy, and the open comment tells you why. For help choosing between the two, see rating or comment. If you want the recommendation question on its own, use our NPS survey examples.

Common mistakes in customer feedback surveys

• Two questions in one. "How satisfied were you with our speed and price?" cannot be answered if the customer liked one and not the other. Split it.
• Leading wording. "How great was our service?" pushes toward a high answer. Ask how satisfied the customer was.
• Scales that change direction. If 5 is best in question one, keep 5 as best throughout.
• Making every question required. Require the overall rating at most. Forced comments risk producing filler.
• Asking for things you already know. Do not ask for the order date or the service booked if your records hold them.
• No plan for the answers. Decide who reads the responses and how fast low ratings get a reply before you send.

More detail on phrasing is in question wording.

Building these example surveys in a form tool

All four examples need only rating, multiple choice, yes or no and long text questions, the basic question types of a form builder. A free plan is enough to try one. Tally's pricing page lists unlimited forms and submissions at no charge under its fair use policy.

A paid tool starts to earn its fee when the open comments pile up or when you want low ratings routed to a person. Yay! Forms lists multiple choice, yes or no, long text and NPS question types, logic jumps, and automatic sentiment and keyword analysis on every plan. Its Starter plan was $19 a month billed monthly, or $9 billed yearly, for 200 submissions a month when read on 3 October 2026. It has a 7-day trial and no free plan, so compare it with the other customer feedback survey tools first.