Gathering valuable customer feedback doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. Google Forms offers a powerful, free, and flexible solution to collect insights that can help your business grow.

This guide will walk you through the simple steps to create, customize, and deploy effective feedback surveys using Google Forms.

Getting Started with Google Forms

To begin, all you need is a Google account. Once you have one, navigate to forms.google.com. From there, select “Blank form” to kickstart your new survey.

Building Your Feedback Form

1. Name and Description

Start by giving your form a clear and concise name, such as “Customer Feedback Request.” Add a brief description that explains the purpose of the survey and an estimated time for completion. This sets expectations for your respondents.

2. Adding Essential Questions

Crafting the right questions is crucial for gathering meaningful data. Here are some key question types to include:

Overall Satisfaction:

  • Use a “Linear scale” question for gauging satisfaction
  • Example: “How satisfied were you with your recent experience?” with a scale from 1 (“Not satisfied”) to 5 (“Very satisfied”)
  • Make this a required question to ensure you capture this vital metric

Areas for Improvement:

  • Implement a “Paragraph” question for open-ended feedback
  • Question example: “How could we improve our services/products?” allows customers to provide detailed insights
  • This should also be a required field

Recommendation Likelihood:

  • Utilize a “Dropdown” question for a quick measure of customer loyalty
  • Example: “Would you recommend us to others?” with “Yes” and “No” options
  • Mark this as required

Optional Contact Information:

  • Include a “Short answer” question for customers to provide their name and email if they wish to be contacted for follow-up
  • Crucially, make this question optional to encourage more responses and respect privacy

Adjusting Form Settings

Before publishing, fine-tune your form’s settings:

Responses Settings

  • Under the “Settings” tab, navigate to “Responses”
  • To ensure anonymity and encourage honest feedback, set “Collect email addresses” to “Do not collect”

Presentation Settings

  • In the “Presentation” section, customize the confirmation message respondents see after submitting their feedback
  • A simple “Thank you for your feedback. We truly appreciate it!” works well

Publishing and Sharing Your Form

Once your form is ready, click “Send” (often labeled as “Publish” in some contexts) in the top right corner. You’ll have several sharing options.

The most common and convenient is sharing via a link. Click the link icon to generate a unique URL for your form, and consider shortening it for easier sharing.

This link can be seamlessly integrated into your:

  • Email signatures
  • Messenger services
  • Newsletters
  • Social media posts
  • Printed materials

Viewing and Analyzing Responses

As responses roll in, you can view them directly within the “Responses” tab of your Google Form.

For more in-depth analysis and real-time tracking, link your form to a Google Sheet by clicking “Link to sheets.” This action creates a dedicated spreadsheet where each new submission appears as a fresh row, allowing you to easily sort, filter, and analyze the feedback.

Conclusion

Using Google Forms for customer feedback is an efficient and cost-effective way to stay connected with your audience, understand their needs, and continuously improve.

It’s a flexible tool that requires minimal effort to set up, providing valuable insights to help your business thrive.