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5 examples of SMS feedback surveys

Do you know what your customers really think of you and your business? When was the last time you gave them the chance to give you a big thumbs up or, flip side, some constructive criticism?

Collecting feedback from customers is key to improving customer satisfaction. You can also use feedback as social proof, to help you win new business – 77% of consumers ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ read online reviews before buying.

Question is, what’s the best way to go about it?

Fast and simple, SMS is your ticket to survey success

As email inboxes explode with clutter and open rates continue to dwindle – hovering at around 20% across the major email platforms – email surveys are not the answer you’re looking for.

To help you cut through the noise and get a fast response, SMS messages are the way forward. 

The channel with the highest response rate turns out to be an SMS text code, with a response rate of around 40%.

Get your best SMS survey response rate with these top tips

1. Offer an incentive

To entice more people to respond, add a ‘sweetener’ – like a small reward or the chance to win a larger prize.

2. Send at the ‘happiest moment’

In our consumer trust webinar, online reviews expert Tom Goodwin gave some great advice. Send SMS survey questions in your customers’ happiest moments. Like, when they come home to a spotless house after paying for a cleaning service.

3. Brand your request

Use a dedicated mobile phone number for all your SMS messages, so your customers can see that your survey request is part of a thread from your business. If they know it’s you, you’ll get higher response rates.

4. Automate your response

Send an immediate thank-you or follow-up question when a customer responds. And don’t rely on humans to do this – your customers could respond at any time! Use automated responses instead.

5 templates to get you started with SMS feedback surveys

Simplicity is key with SMS. When you’re asking for feedback in 160 characters or less, you need to get straight to the point. To help you get started, we’ve created templates for common types of text surveys for you to use.

1. Product feedback

You could think laterally here – instead of just the standard, ‘on a scale of 1 to 10’ type question, consider asking how often they’re using the product. Here’s an example.

Hi #FirstName#, hope you’re loving your #PRODUCT#. We’d love to know how often you’re using it.
1- Always
2- Sometimes
3- Rarely
4- Never
Thanks, #COMPANY#

2. Service feedback

58% of customers will stop using a service if they have one bad experience. Putting together SMS-driven If yours is a service-based business, creating an SMS-driven satisfaction survey will help you continually improve the customer experience. It gives you the chance to listen to the voice of the customer, and respond.

Hi #FirstName#, how was your #SERVICE# experience with #REP1#? To help us make it even better next time, please leave a review here: [URL] Thanks!

3. Delivery feedback

In eCommerce, the delivery experience is all part of the service and it pays to know what your customers think. In this example, we’ve created a workflow path for customers who rate you at 5 out of 10 or less – so you can better understand what went wrong.

Hi #FirstName#, we hope you love your new #PRODUCT#. How was the delivery experience? Please rate on a scale of 1-10.

#FirstName#, we’re sorry it wasn’t up to scratch. In a few simple words, can you tell us what went wrong?

#FirstName#, thank you. We’ll be using your feedback to help us improve our delivery service.

Grab more ready-to-use SMS templates for eCommerce here.

4. Event feedback

To help you make your next event even better, ask your most recent attendees about their experience. Even better, ask why they wanted to attend, so you can work on giving them more of what they want next time.

Hi #FirstName#, we would love to know why you chose to attend #CONFERENCE#! Complete this 2-min survey to go in the draw to win a $100 gift voucher: [URL]

5. Support feedback

75% of customers answer 1 to 5 questions. When collecting support feedback, keep your surveys short and use SMS automation to space out the questions. In this example, the workflow presumes you’ve got a happy customer. You’d need to customise the responses for negative feedback.

Hi #FirstName# we’d like to ask you 3 questions about your recent service experience with #REP# on #DATE#. Reply Y, N or STOP to opt-out.

Thanks, #FirstName#! Did the support you receive solve your problem? Please reply Y or N.

Glad to hear it, #FirstName#! From 1-5, how likely is it that you will recommend our support service to friends and family?

Great! Please let us know what else we can do to improve our support experience.

Final thoughts and further reading

SMS feedback surveys make your life easier, and that of your customers. You can get started now with a Message Media free trial.

To learn more about sending great text messages, read these articles: