A customer pulse survey is a brief check-in that can help you identify and address the in-the-moment needs of your customers.

Pulse surveys can help you spot actions that require immediate care, assess the impact of an internal or external event, and track your performance over instant and brief moments.

In this article, we will examine what a customer pulse survey is, how it can benefit you, the right time to send it, and best practices for creating pulse surveys.

Overview of a customer pulse survey

• A customer pulse survey is a short questionnaire used to gather real-time insights and measure customer satisfaction levels.
• Three benefits of collecting feedback with pulse surveys include: they provide more accurate insights, they lead to higher response rates, and they address specific touchpoints in the customer journey.

The best times to send customer pulse surveys include after:

1. A user completes the onboarding process to measure customer experience.
2. A free trial ends to understand conversion drivers.
3. The user interacts with a customer support agent.
4. Product updates to determine how they affect customer sentiment.

Best practices for creating customer pulse surveys include:

1. Use different types of surveys at different touchpoints.
2. Use simple and clear questions that avoid bias.
3. Include open-ended questions for additional insights.
4. Opt for the right survey tool.

Book a Userpilot demo today to find out how you can create effective pulse surveys that address customer challenges at the right time.

What’s a customer pulse survey?

A customer pulse survey is a feedback tool that businesses use to measure customer satisfaction levels.

It comprises a set of easy questions that can be used frequently to identify areas that require the most improvement. Information captured from a customer pulse survey can also help you reduce churn and drive revenue.

Benefits of collecting feedback with a customer pulse survey

Customer pulse surveys provide timely feedback to help your organization stay on top of customer experiences and address their pain points.

Here are some of the benefits of collecting feedback with customer pulse surveys:

• More accurate insights since it’s collected right after the event: Since pulse surveys let you capture customer feedback in the moment, they provide reliable data. This data can help you make informed decisions and improve.
• Higher response rates since it’s short: Customer pulse surveys are short and specific, so they can be completed within a few minutes. This leads to higher engagement as customers are more willing to participate.
• Spot touchpoints that require immediate attention and act on the collected data to remove friction: Pulse surveys can be customized to target different stages or touchpoints of a customer journey. This means companies can gain insights into specific areas of interest and take immediate action.

When to send customer pulse surveys?

Frequent surveys can help organizations gauge the current satisfaction levels of their customers.

Here are some of the best moments to send customer pulse surveys:

After the user completes the onboarding process to measure customer experience

Sending a pulse survey shortly after a customer completes the onboarding process gives you a chance to receive accurate feedback as the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind.

An onboarding experience pulse survey can help you gauge whether your customers are getting along well.

This targeted survey strategy can provide valuable insights into different aspects of your onboarding, helping you improve.

After a free trial ends to understand conversion drivers

Send pulse surveys to leads who did not convert to understand the factors behind their decision not to become paid customers.

Did the price put them off? Was the interface not user-friendly? Or was the software unfit for their needs? Keep your questions aimed at finding which leads can be salvaged.

Ensure your questions are brief, so your leads can complete them within a few minutes.

After the user interacts with a customer support agent

Sending customer pulse surveys after customers interact with your support agent can help you evaluate the quality of the customer experience you offer.

Look out for any patterns in customer complaints, such as poor self-support and long resolution times.

Even if you think you have had a great interaction with a customer, send a pulse survey to show that you care about improving the quality of your service. It can help you identify customer pain points before they churn.

After product updates to determine how they affect customer sentiment

Customer pulse surveys can quickly help you identify problems or bugs introduced after a product update. This can help you promptly address issues and prevent potential churn.

A pulse survey can also help you determine whether the product update achieved its intended objective. It will let you know if the update made things easier and more enjoyable for your customers or if there are friction points.

Best practices for creating customer pulse surveys

A customer pulse survey can make a real difference in boosting customer satisfaction and experience.

Here are some of the best practices for creating effective pulse surveys:

Use different types of surveys at different touchpoints

Getting feedback on different critical points of customer contact can help you improve customer satisfaction levels.

The surveys that can help you achieve this are:

• CES: Customer effort score (CES) measures how much effort customers exert to use your product or service before achieving their desired goal. It can help you identify friction points and take specific actions to improve.
• CSAT: The Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey measures customer satisfaction levels after using your product or service. It is a 5-point or 7-point scale ranging from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied.
• NPS: The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey uses a 0 to 10 scale to measure customers’ likelihood of recommending your product to others. It provides insights into customer loyalty, satisfaction, and overall customer experience.

Use simple and clear survey questions that avoid bias

Avoid using technical jargon in your survey questions to ensure that each question helps you achieve your objectives.

It is also important to avoid using leading questions that influence respondents to favor one answer over others.

Poorly crafted pulse survey questions can lead to unreliable feedback and a missed chance to gauge the customer experience.

Include open-ended questions for additional insights

Open-ended questions can elicit detailed feedback from respondents, providing a deep understanding of their perspectives.

It reveals how respondents feel about specific topics, uncovering insights into why they provided a specific answer or score.

Using open-ended questions in your pulse survey also gives you an opportunity to address specific issues that require improvement.

Opt for the right survey tool

Using the right tool for your customer pulse surveys can make a big difference in your customer experience strategy. It is important that you use a survey tool that can analyze feedback results and generate insights.

Your survey tool should also have contextual trigger options to ensure customers are only asked questions relevant to their experience.

With Userpilot, you can trigger in-app surveys that can be customized for multiple question types. Userpilot also gives you access to customer satisfaction survey templates to make it easy for you to collect feedback.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, a pulse survey can act as an early warning system that helps you stay on top of customers’ choices and act quickly to resolve issues. From your initial survey question, aim to understand your customers better so you can continue improving their experience.

Userpilot can help you enrich your customer experience with effective pulse surveys. Book a demo today to learn how you can create surveys that account for unpredictable changes in the tastes of your customers.

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