Explore the difference Customer Experience Surveys and Customer Satisfaction Surveys and learn how to choose the right survey for your business.

Most business professionals across the globe often use the terms Customer Experience and Customer Satisfaction interchangeably as similar terms. Measuring any of these is a powerful way to measure the success of your company and leverage the valuable information to drive business growth. However, both these terms are different from each other.

As the terms are different from each other, the surveys used to gauge them are also different. Both Customer Experience Survey as well as Customer Satisfaction Survey are a tool to collect Customer Feedback, but in different measures.

In this article, we will explore what these two surveys are, how they are different from each other, and how to choose the right survey for your business. Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. What are Customer Experience Surveys?
2. Customer Experience Survey Template
3. What are Customer Satisfaction Surveys?
4. Customer Satisfaction Survey Template
5. Customer Experience Surveys Vs Customer Satisfaction Surveys
6. How to Choose the Right Survey for your Business?
7. Conclusion

What are Customer Experience Surveys?

Customer experience surveys are designed to gather feedback on the overall experience a customer has had with your business. They typically cover a broad range of touchpoints and interactions, such as browsing a website, interacting with customer service representatives, making purchases, and receiving post-purchase support.

The goal of a Customer Experience Survey is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and identify areas for improvement. These surveys are often conducted at various touchpoints along the customer journey, providing a complete picture of the customers’ experiences with your business.

Here are some common questions that are asked in a Customer Experience Survey.

• How was your overall experience with our business?
• Based on your recent experience with our customer support team, how likely are you to recommend our brand to your friends and colleagues?
• Were you able to easily find the product you were looking for on your website?
• Would you like to share any special experience you had with our business?
• How was your overall experience with our Onboarding process?

Customer Experience Survey Template

Here is a Customer Experience Survey Template that you can use straightaway or customize it as per your requirements to collect valuable CX insights of your customers.

What are Customer Satisfaction Surveys?

Customer satisfaction Surveys, on the other hand, are designed to measure a customers’ satisfaction with a specific product, service, or interaction. These surveys are typically more targeted and specific than Customer Experience Surveys, focusing on a particular touchpoint or transaction.

The goal of a Customer Satisfaction Survey is to understand how well a business is meeting the needs and expectations of its customers. These surveys are often conducted after a specific interaction or purchase, providing immediate feedback on the customers’ experiences.

Here are some questions asked in a Customer Satisfaction Survey.

• How satisfied are you with the product you purchased?
• How would you rate our customer support process?
• How would you rate the discounts and budget plans offered to you?
• How satisfied are you with the prices of our products?
• How satisfied are you with the features offered in the Pro plan?
• How satisfied are you with the overall interaction with our company?

Customer Satisfaction Survey Template

Here is a Customer Satisfaction Survey Template that you can use straightaway or customize it as per your requirements to measure your customers' satisfaction levels.

Let's study the difference between Customer Experience & CSAT Survey.

Here are the major differences between Customer Experience & CSAT Surveys.

1. Focus of the Surveys

Customer Experience Surveys focus on the overall customer journey, and interactions with the business and how customers feel about that journey and interaction. On the other hand, Customer Satisfaction Surveys focus on a specific product, service, or interaction and how well that is able to satisfy the needs and expectations of the customers.

2. Scope of the Surveys

Customer Experience Surveys have a broader scope. They cover a wider range of touchpoints and interactions with the business. On the other hand, Customer Satisfaction Surveys have a narrower scope which is focused on the measure of the satisfaction level of the customers with a specific product, service or interaction.

3. Timing of the Surveys

Customer Experience Surveys are conducted at any touchpoint of the customer journey to gauge the experience of the customers till that touchpoint. On the other hand, Customer Satisfaction Surveys are conducted usually after a specific transaction or event like a purchase, a bill payment, or a specific interaction.

4. Purpose of the Surveys

The purpose of Customer Experience Surveys is to understand the customer's overall experience with the business and identify areas for improvement. On the other hand, the purpose of Customer Satisfaction Surveys is to measure the customers’ levels of satisfaction with a specific product, service, or interaction. They help to ascertain whether your business is able to meet or exceed the customer’s expectations or not.

5. Metrics Measured in the Surveys

Customer Experience or CX can be measured in the form of various metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) , Customer Effort Score (CES) and more. Whereas, Customer Satisfaction is measured through CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Score.

Let’s understand how you should choose the right survey for your business.

How to Choose the Right Survey for your Business?

Both CX and CSAT are designed to collect Customer Feedback and take the required action to drive business growth. Both of them are crucial to understand your customers, their needs and expectations, fulfill them and create a loyal customer base, to eventually grow your business. 

To choose the right survey for your business, it's important to consider your goals and objectives as per your business requirements. Here are some steps to follow.

Define your Survey Objectives

Define your goals and objectives for conducting the survey. If your goal is to find customer loyalty, or showcase your company’s performance in terms of a popular CX metric, you can use Customer Experience Surveys like NPS Surveys to measure the Net Promoter Score of your company. On the other hand, if you want to measure the level of satisfaction you are able to provide to your customers with your products and services, you should measure CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) Score.

Understand your Target Audience and the Touchpoints

Understand your target audience and the touchpoints along their customer journey that you want to measure. For instance, if you have a regular customer and you want to ensure that your customers have gone through a smooth experience during a particular period like the last year  or  quarter, you should use Customer Experience Surveys. Whereas, if you want to measure the satisfaction level of a new customer with a particular event or transaction, you should use Customer Satisfaction Surveys as Transactional Surveys.

In general, Customer Experience Surveys are better suited for businesses that want to understand the overall customer journey and identify areas for improvement, while Customer Satisfaction Surveys are better suited for businesses that want to measure satisfaction with specific products, services, or interactions.

Conclusion

Both Customer Experience Surveys and Customer Satisfaction Surveys are important tools for gathering feedback from customers, taking action on it, and ultimately pleasing customers to grow your business. While there are some key differences between the two, both types of surveys can provide valuable insights into the customer’ perceptions and help businesses make data-driven decisions. By choosing the appropriate survey type for your business, you can gain a deeper understanding of your customers and drive business success.

For creating any of the surveys, you should use an effective Customer Feedback Software like Zonka Feedback. It not only helps you create surveys to measure Customer Satisfaction and experience, but also helps you take action on the feedback so collected to close the feedback loop effectively, improve Customer Experience and enhance satisfaction.

You can also try Zonka Feedback for free for 7 days and see how it works for your business.