How to Choose the Right Survey Questions for Your Auto Dealership Customer Satisfaction Survey

We’re diving deep into the topic of customer feedback in our latest series of articles for auto businesses. After outlining?why it’s important , we covered?9 ways to collect customer feedback ?and then looked at?customer satisfaction surveys . That last article aimed to give a high-level view of creating and executing customer surveys. Today we’re going to dig into the details by examining the types of customer satisfaction survey questions you may want to use and specific questions you may consider. Let’s do it!

6 Types of Customer Survey Questions

As you set out to create your survey and learn what customers think about your auto dealership or repair shop, it’s important to understand the various types of customer survey questions you may ask. Each type of survey question has its purpose and will help you gather different information from the customer.?So, what do you want to know??Keep that question in mind as you read the information below.?

1. Binary Scale Survey Questions

Binary scale customer survey questions are simple because they give customers two options: yes/no, thumbs up/thumbs down, a happy face/sad face, etc. The benefit of asking a question like this is the simplicity, but on the other hand, the answers don’t allow for any ‘shades of gray.’?

An example of this survey question would be, “Were you satisfied with the car buying experience at our dealership? (Yes/No)”

2. Scale Survey Questions

Sometimes you don’t want or need ‘shades of gray,’ so asking a binary question is ideal. But if you want to allow for ‘in between’ answers, you may consider using a scale survey question. A scale question asks people to rate their experience on a scale (for example, 1-5) or using labels (like strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree).?

For example, you may ask, “On a scale of 1-5, where 1 means you were highly dissatisfied, and 5 means you were highly satisfied, how would you rate your satisfaction with the car buying experience at our dealership?”?

3. Semantic Differential Survey Questions

Another alternative to asking a binary question is to use a semantic differential. This type of question identifies two poles (ends of a spectrum) and allows survey-takers to select a place anywhere in between.

For example, you may ask,?“Please rate the pricing at our dealership.”?The word ‘expensive’ could be at one end and ‘inexpensive’ at the other, with notches in between. Customers can then choose a place between the two poles representing their opinion.?

4. Ranking Survey Questions

Ranking survey questions are used when you want the survey respondent to rank a variety of answers based on what is most important to them. In ranking questions (depending on the survey software you choose), the survey taker can drag each answer into their desired order or put numbers next to each one to indicate rank.

For example, you may ask,?“Please rank what is most important to you when choosing a vehicle.”?The answer choices could include price, selection, location of the dealership, prior experience with the dealership, a recommendation from a loved one, etc. Customers would then drag the answers into their order of importance or place numbers beside each one, with 1 being the most important factor.

5. Multiple-Choice Survey Questions

Multiple-choice questions tend to be used for categories. For example, you could ask,?“What kind of car did you purchase?”?and give options like sedan, truck, SUV, etc.?

The example above demonstrates a ‘single-answer’ multiple-choice question, where the survey taker can only select one option from the list. However, you can also use multiple-answer questions in your survey.?

For example, you may ask,?“What kind of vehicle(s) were you considering during the buying process?”?The answers may also be a sedan, truck, SUV, etc., but, in this case, the customer can choose all that apply.

6. Open-Ended Survey Questions

A final type of customer survey question to consider is the open-ended survey question.?

So far, this list has focused on what are known as ‘close-ended questions.’ Binary, scale, semantic differential, ranking, and multiple-choice survey questions are all close-ended questions because the survey taker must choose from the limited answers you provide.?

In an open-ended survey question, the survey taker is free to elaborate and share whatever is on their mind. Open-ended questions are typically accompanied by an empty text box where the respondent can write an answer.

For example, you may ask,?“What could we do to improve the car-buying experience at our dealership?”?and leave a text box for customers to share their thoughts.

Choosing the Right Survey Question

You can choose from many different types of customer survey questions. So how do you select the right kind of questions for your survey? Here are four guiding principles:

• What Are Your Options??The same question can be asked in multiple formats. For example, you may ask about customer satisfaction in a binary (yes/no) question, a scale question (1-5), or an open-ended question where customers can write their answers.
• What Do You Want to Know??Make sure the question type will give you the information you want. For example, if you want to know the customer’s experience in their own words, you can only get at that information with an open-ended question.
• How Will You Use the Data??Qualitative data from open-ended questions can be hard to analyze. In contrast, close-ended questions can be expressed in numbers (for example, a binary question could be boiled down to a statistic, such as ‘95% of customers are happy with the car-buying experience).’
• How Long Will It Take??Each survey question will take a certain amount of time to answer, and your survey can only be so long. While you might prefer many open-ended questions, you may have to cut some out or balance them with simpler ones.

In the end, you’ll want to strategically use several types of customer survey questions to get the information you need. By mixing it up, you’ll avoid?survey fatigue . You can also combine questions to understand the customer’s experience fully. For example, you may ask the customer to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1-5 and then follow up with an open-ended question that asks them to explain the score they gave.?

10 Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions for Auto Dealerships

As you let the information about types of survey questions sink in, we want to share a few specific customer satisfaction survey questions that auto dealership owners may consider asking in their surveys.

1. How did you find us?
2. How did you initially reach out to our dealership?
3. What other dealerships did you consider before choosing ours?
4. Who was your primary sales associate?
5. How would you rate your sales associate on… (knowledge, friendliness, communication, etc.)
6. How satisfied are you with… (the selection of vehicles, price, knowledge of staff, friendliness of staff, overall satisfaction, etc.)
7. Did our car dealership meet your expectations?
8. How likely are you to recommend us to your friends and relatives?
9. What could we do to improve the car buying experience??
10. Is there anything else you want to share about your experience with our dealership?

Analyzing the Answers to Your Survey

Choosing the right survey questions for your customer satisfaction survey can be tricky, but this article will get you on the right path. Not only have you learned about the major types of survey questions you can ask, but you also have several specific examples of questions to use in your survey.?

But after the survey is live and the answers start streaming in, what next? Well, that’s the topic for our next article, where we will share advice on analyzing the responses you receive so you can make sense of the feedback and act on it. Until then, there’s plenty of work to create your survey! Refer to this article (and our general tips?here ) as you set up a customer survey, and we will be back with more next time.

To learn more about the author, visit https://clarityvoice.com/