Business surveys – 16 free questionnaire templates you can download

Surveys can help with a whole range of business questions and challenges, from designing a new product to checking on employee engagement. Here’s a run-down of the power of the survey and which kind to use when.

What is a business survey?

A business survey is a survey that’s used in business, which gives it a pretty wide definition. If you use a survey in a way that supports your business goals, it can be considered a business survey.

Another way to define business survey is it’s a survey about your business, i.e. one that reflects the state of a part of your company and can help you improve your ways of working or develop your strategy.

Types of business survey

Whether you’re a large multi-national or a small business just starting up, surveys are a cost-effective and accessible method for gaining vital insights to help you thrive.

In this article, we’ll run through the main categories of business surveys, how they work and what they’re for. We’ll also show you where to find survey questionnaire templates and example questions to get you started with your own business survey program.

Customer surveys

These surveys are all about finding out what your customers think and feel about their experiences with you, and learning about their expectations and values. Customer surveys should be run as a continuous program that keeps you in touch with your market and informs your decision-making.

1. CSAT

CSAT is short for customer satisfaction. A customer satisfaction survey tells you how satisfied a customer is with some aspect of your business. You can run a CSAT survey on something specific, like a purchase or store visit, or use it as a general barometer of how your customers feel about you.

Download your free CSAT survey template

2. NPS (Net Promoter Score)

NPS is a one-question metric that captures how willing a customer would be to recommend you to a friend or colleague. As with CSAT, NPS can be run in different contexts. There’s transactional NPS, which focuses on a specific purchase experience, and relationship NPS, which focuses on the customer’s feelings towards your brand as a whole.

Download your free NPS survey template

3. Website satisfaction survey

This one’s especially useful if you run an ecommerce site, although it’s good practice for any business with a web presence (which these days is pretty much every business) to check in with customers on how their site is performing.

Download your free website satisfaction survey template

4. Customer segmentation survey

Within your customer base you’ll have a number of different groups, each with different needs and priorities. Customer segmentation means you can target your marketing to reach each of these groups. Your customer survey program is a powerful tool for finding out who your customers are and what segments they belong to.

Learn more about customer segmentation

5. Event feedback survey

A big-ticket event such as a conference, summit, festival or pop-up deserves its own feedback loop. This will help you to assess the value and ROI of the event, and to plan for future events based on what you learn.

Download your free post-event feedback survey template

6. Customer service survey

Customer service is a major component of customer experience. Whether they’ve been in touch with your contact center, engaged with employees in a store or branch, or met your team in person at an event, getting feedback from customers about the service they’ve received is valuable for your employees and your business strategy.

Download your free customer service survey template

Employee surveys

Businesses are increasingly aware that employee experience is a foundational requirement for a successful business. It’s linked with all kinds of success factors, from employee retention to better customer experiences. A program of surveys and other forms of listening and feedback will help you to keep your employee experience strong.

7. Employee engagement survey

An employee engagement survey gives you experience data about what it’s like to work in your company. An annual survey used to be the standard approach, but nowadays more and more businesses are using shorter and more targeted surveys – aka pulse surveys – to keep their knowledge up to date.

Download your free employee engagement survey template

8. Exit survey

When an employee’s time with you comes to an end, use an exit survey to gather their thoughts about the business, their role, and what made them choose to leave. You can use the survey as a stand-alone tool or combine it with an exit interview to gain more context.

Download your free employee exit survey template

9. Onboarding survey

The onboarding period is highly influential on the employee experience as a whole. During an employee’s first days or weeks it’s valuable to gather feedback that will help make your onboarding program the best it can be for future hires.

Download your free employee onboarding survey template

10. Employee suggestion action survey

Taking feedback from employees is valuable, but it becomes so much more so if you tell them what you’re doing with their input. Consulting your employees on how to consolidate feedback and turn it into a plan gives them a sense of ownership and commitment to what you do in the future.

Download your free employee suggestion action planning survey

Product surveys

From initial concept to final packaging design iteration, so much of product design depends on knowing your customers’ needs and expectations. Along with focus groups, interviews and other research tools, surveys can help you shed light on the customer’s perspective throughout your design process.

11. Product research survey

A lot of thinking goes into designing or refining a product. Running consultative surveys gives you the chance to sense-check your plans with your intended audience and make sure you’re on course to please your customers with the finished product.

Download your free product research survey template 

12. Pricing survey

Setting the price point for a product is a real balancing act. Pricing studies help you find the sweet spot where you’re charging exactly what the customer is willing to pay, without overpricing your product or leaving money on the table.

Download your free pricing survey template

13. Package testing survey

How you package and present your products can make a big difference to the value your customer perceives. It can even change their relationship with your brand. A package testing survey will give you valuable data about your customers’ preferences and their expectations of your product packaging

Download your free package testing survey

14. Feature prioritization survey

Which features matter to your customers? Would they be willing to sacrifice one feature for another? Understanding your customers through feedback means you can select the right mix of features for your product and get the most value from your product development budget

Download your free feature prioritization survey

Brand surveys

Your brand exists in the hearts and minds of your customers. Surveys help you understand how you’re perceived relative to your competitors, what customers think you offer that nobody else can, and which values and characteristics people associate with your company.

15. Brand awareness survey

A brand awareness survey tells you much more than just whether people have heard of you. It’s a gauge of where you are in your market, what customers perceive and which channels they perceive it through, and how you should pitch your marketing and advertising to best connect with how customers see you.

Download your free brand awareness survey

16. Ad testing survey

Ad testing surveys help you understand whether your messaging and creative are hitting home with your customers – before you roll out the big budgets. It’s a valuable way to test out ideas and concepts so you can get your ads right the first time, every time.

Download your free ad testing survey

That’s just the beginning

These are just a few of the survey categories you can use to improve your business and get to know your customers and employees better.

For more free templates and other resources, visit our marketplace.