Customer experience survey software can act as a powerful tool for gathering actionable customer feedback, as long as surveys are designed well and delivered at the right time. Poorly designed or ill-timed surveys are likelier to be abandoned or to collect information that is less useful.

Knowing when to use customer experience survey tools to deliver retail surveys is as important as knowing what to include on them. When brands get the content and the timing right, surveys can strengthen customers’ emotional investment in a brand. Generally speaking, the sooner you deliver a survey, the better the information your survey will collect.

The Best Day and Time to Send a Survey

You don’t necessarily have to wait for a customer transaction to be over to have the customer complete a survey. Easy, brief, mobile-friendly chat-based surveys, which are often delivered directly on retail or business chat apps, can gather customer insights while the customer experience is happening in real-time.

You can ask customer survey questions to begin the post-purchase evaluation process, such as whether retail associates greeted them in a friendly manner, answered their questions, or helped them find what they needed. Customers who complete these “undercover” surveys tend to feel valued and more loyal.

Surveying customers as soon as the transaction is completed is another way to gather information while the experience is fresh in the customer’s mind. Many ride-share apps use this technique, delivering instant, brief surveys via a retail app. Retail NPS surveys are examples of super-quick, easy surveys that work well immediately after transactions. Immediate post-transaction surveys can also be delivered by SMS or email.

Send A Survey within 24 Hours of the Transaction

If you wait longer than 24 hours after a customer transaction to deliver a survey, you can expect lower response rates. Furthermore, the longer after a transaction you wait, the less detail the customer is likely to remember. As more time passes, only certain aspects of the transaction are likely to be remembered.

However, if you aren’t using your customer experience survey software to send out real-time surveys during the customer experience or surveys delivered immediately after transaction completion, surveys delivered within 24 hours can still be delivered by SMS or email, which are primary channels customers expect to use for surveys.

The Bottom Line: Customer Satisfaction Surveys Help to Retain Customers

People are willing to answer retail surveys as long as they’re convenient, brief, and not overly intrusive, especially if the brand has a track record of genuinely listening to customer feedback. Utilize customer experience survey software to time your surveys with precision, and you’re more likely to gather honest, actionable information. The benefits of customer satisfaction to your business are endless. Download our ebook: How to Build Customer Surveys that Yield Actionable Feedback today to learn more.