Collecting Customer Feedback with Thumbs Up/Down Survey
Learn when to use a thumbs survey for customer feedback at your company. Boost satisfaction and get quick insights with simple, effective surveys.
Table of Contents
- What is a Thumbs Survey?
- Best Practices for Thumbs Surveys
- Free Thumbs Survey Tool
- Best Practices for Thumbs Surveys
- Why Use a Thumbs Up Survey Over a CSAT Survey
- Final Thoughts
Already familiar with Thumbs Surveys? Join Melrose and send 1,000 surveys for free every month. No credit card required. Get started for free here.
What is a Thumbs Survey?
A thumbs survey is a straightforward feedback tool that allows participants to rate experiences with a quick thumbs up or thumbs down response. This binary feedback captures someone’s immediate feedback about a specific interaction, product, or feature without requiring much effort.
The thumbs survey only collects two data points: thumbs up (positive experience) or thumbs down (negative experience). For example, if a new feature receives many thumbs down, it may not have met the expectations of your customers. This may be a signal to further investigate with a more in-depth survey and to look for potential product improvements.
Thumbs surveys are particularly useful for capturing real-time feedback. They can be integrated into various touchpoints, such as post-purchase, post-support, on renewal or cancellation, and more. While a thumbs up/down surveys provide a snapshot of customer sentiment, they are often complemented with follow-up questions or additional surveys to gain deeper insights into the reasons behind the feedback.
When to Use Thumbs Surveys
There are a few different situations when you would want to use a thumbs survey:
- Post-purchase feedback
- Customer support interactions
- New feature launch
- Event / webinar attendance
- Website / app redesign
- Subscription renewal / cancellation
We are going to dive into each of these topics in more detail below.
Post-Purchase Feedback
Using a thumbs survey for post-purchase feedback is a smart move. It's super quick and easy for customers. After buying something, nobody wants to fill out long surveys. A simple thumbs up or thumbs down lets them share their thoughts in seconds.
This survey captures immediate reactions. Right after a purchase, customers' impressions are fresh. Whether their experience was smooth or had some issues, you'll get real-time feedback.
Thumbs surveys also help spot trends fast. If you see many thumbs down, it’s a clear sign something’s off. You can dig deeper to fix issues quickly.
We suggest sending a quick thumbs up/down survey via email right after a purchase has been made. If you are noticing a large number of thumbs down, then you may want to follow-up with a deeper survey to understand what is causing that issue (e.g. confusion, price too high, too much friction, misleading marketing claims).
Customer Support Interactions
After dealing with support, customers don’t want to fill out long forms. A simple thumbs up or thumbs down lets them rate their experience in seconds and provide vital information if your support is as good as you think it is. Whether their issue was resolved smoothly or they had a frustrating experience, you get immediate insights. Thumbs surveys also make it easy to spot patterns. Are you having the same problems with the same customer support agents, same type of customers, etc.? This quick feedback loop helps you keep your support team on track and continuously improve customer satisfaction. Customers are unlikely to fill out long, complicated surveys after a support interaction so this is a good way to capture feedback without a heavy lift.
New Feature Launch
Launching a new feature is a big deal. Once that feature is published, it’s a great time to deploy a thumbs survey to make sure it meets customer expectations.
A thumbs survey will let you get directional information -- for example, do 70% like the feature or do 70% not like the feature. Based on this result, you can deploy a longer, more detailed survey or get on customer discovery calls to better understand the problem.
While you want to improve your product with each iteration, it is important to remember to stop and survey users so you make sure you are building what they want. We suggest keeping a tight feedback loop between shipping new features and surveying users.
Event / Webinar Attendance
People’s attention spans are short. That’s why it’s best to prompt them with a quick survey after an in-person event, virtual event, or webinar. Business and consumer brands use events to share business and product updates -- but did your attendees find it valuable?
We suggest a quick thumbs up/down survey immediately after the event has concluded (within a few hours for a digital event or webinar and within 1-2 days for a physical event). We have seen brands leverage thumbs up/down surveys in a follow-up email that thanks them for attending the event. This way you are capturing fresh impressions that your attendees have.
If the results are positive, consider turning that event into a framework for future events. If the results are lower than you were expecting, consider launching a deeper survey and trying to understand the pain points better.
Website / App Redesign
Your team has put a lot of effort into redesigning your website, app, or other digital experience. According to reputable reports, it can take between four and six months to properly redesign a website. So ask yourself, how are you ensuring usability and satisfaction?
A thumbs survey could be deployed to people who have used the new website or app as a jumping off point. Typically, these digital platforms are used by thousands or millions of people -- so make sure you use a platform that can support this volume of responses at an affordable cost.
We suggest a simple thumbs up/down icon in an email describing the redesign or embedded in a blog post about the redesign.
Subscription Renewal / Cancellation
Most businesses focus on their happy, paying customers. But it is equally as important to give attention to people who cancel their accounts or downgrade from a paid plan to a free plan.
A correctly timed thumbs survey works great here. Ask a user who has downgraded or canceled their plan to provide a thumbs up/down. You would expect that the results of this survey will be more negative than for other surveys (e.g. than an event attendee or mobile app redesign).
On the flip side, if someone renews or upgrades their plan, sending them a survey could be a good way to gauge their satisfaction in the moment. The data may surprise you, as everyone who cancels will not be unhappy and everyone who upgrades will not be thrilled.
Best Practices for Thumbs Surveys
Keep it Simple
We suggest keeping your thumbs survey to be simple and straightforward. It’s best to ask the thumbs up/down question then follow up with an open-ended question to provide more information.
For example:
- Thumbs up / down question
- Please share any other feedback you have about our product with us.
Prompt at the Right Moment
We highly recommend sending the survey as soon as possible. For example, if you have an event, send the survey within 24 hours. If you have redesigned your app or website, prompt users as soon as they see the new version.
Timing is critical and you want to send the survey while the experience is fresh in their mind. Asking how a business conference was 2 weeks after the fact is difficult. Much of the detail and nuance has been lost at that point.
You are also likely to see your completion rates decline the longer you wait to send the survey.
Make It Easy to Access
Use the right platform and make sure the survey is easy to access. You want to use a modern software tool that looks great and is accessible on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. You want your messaging to be clear and your brand to be front and center.
People get prompted all the time and you want to make sure that your survey stands out so it actually gets read and completed. Don’t send generic or vague messages, as they can be ignored or come across as spam to your recipients.
Follow Up if Necessary
Follow up is important -- in more ways than one.
First, if someone does not respond to the survey, consider messaging them a few days later. This will boost your response rates with very little effort from your team.
Second, when you are making your thumbs survey, consider asking follow-up questions to glean more information. It may also be helpful to provide a link or email address where a survey recipient can get in touch with you to resolve any issues.
Don’t leave bad experiences lingering! Provide a way for users to express their concerns and get issues resolved. Always look for ways to capture the right data to improve the customer experience.
Analyze and Act
It is important to regularly survey your customers. Send out surveys in a regular cadence (e.g. after an event or on a recurring basis like once a quarter) then carve out time to review the data.
Regularly reviewing the feedback will help identify trends. Get buy-in from other stakeholders to address common concerns if you see themes popping up -- like an online experience being confusing or people being misled by marketing statements.
Look to improve problem areas as well as areas that are performing well.
Free Thumbs Survey Tool
Melrose is a free thumbs survey tool that is easy to use. We offer a generous free plan with no credit card required to get started. Join Melrose and send 1,000 surveys for free every month.
All you need to do is create a free account, select the Thumbs Survey template, and share your survey link. Brands of all sizes use Melrose to collect customer feedback of all types. Even with thousands of responses, our powerful analytics dashboard will help turn your data into actionable insights and understand key trends as they happen.
Why Use a Thumbs Up Survey Over a CSAT Survey
Simplicity and Speed
Thumbs up surveys are super quick and easy for customers. They just need to click once, and they're done. This is a big plus because it makes it painless for them to give feedback.
On the other hand, CSAT surveys usually have multiple questions, which can be a bit of a drag and take more time.
When customers see a long survey, they might decide not to bother or start it and then give up halfway through.
With a thumbs up survey, there's hardly any friction, so more people actually finish it.
It's a no-brainer for getting quick and easy feedback without making customers feel like they're wasting their time.
Higher Response Rates
Thumbs up surveys tend to get more responses because they are straightforward. People are more likely to click a thumbs up or down since it only takes a second.
CSAT surveys, however, often scare people off with their length and detail. If customers are in a hurry, they might skip the survey altogether.
The simplicity of a thumbs up survey encourages more participation, which means you get a bigger and better sample of feedback. This is really helpful because it gives you a clearer picture of how all your customers feel, not just the ones with time to fill out a long survey.
Real-Time Feedback
One of the best things about thumbs up surveys is the real-time feedback. As soon as a customer clicks, you know how they feel.
If someone gives a thumbs down, you can jump on the issue right away and try to fix it. This instant feedback loop is great because you can address problems before they snowball.
With CSAT surveys, it takes longer to gather and analyze the responses, so there’s often a delay before you can act on the feedback.
By then, the issue might have gotten worse, and the customer might be even more unhappy.
Thumbs up surveys let you be more proactive, keeping customers happier in the long run.
By using thumbs up surveys, you can efficiently gather quick insights, ensuring a better understanding of customer satisfaction, and a faster response to their needs.
Why Not to Use a Thumbs Survey
Thumbs surveys are good, but they aren’t perfect. Here are a few reasons why you may not want to use a thumbs survey.
Lack of Detailed Feedback
Thumbs up/down responses don’t provide specific reasons for customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This limits your ability to understand the nuances behind their opinions and make targeted improvements.
For example, why did they have a bad experience? Was the text or icon confusing? Did the page take too long to load? They are a jumping off point but do not tell you more by themselves.
Oversimplified Insights
The binary nature of thumbs up/down can oversimplify customer sentiments, failing to capture the complexity of their experiences. This can result in a skewed understanding of customer satisfaction.
What do we mean by that? Let’s say 80% of people give you a thumbs up and 20% give you a thumbs down. On the surface, that may look good. But of that 80%, how many were thrilled, how many were happy, and how many were indifferent?
You may want to probe deeper to find if people truly had a great experience, or if the experience was merely satisfactory. Those are two different things.
Missed Improvement Opportunities
Without detailed feedback, you might miss out on valuable suggestions for improvement. A thumbs survey without an open-ended question for feedback could miss out on vital information.
Furthermore, we highly recommended pairing a thumbs survey with a detailed follow up. If someone gives you a thumbs up, you could ask them to review your app or refer a friend.
On the other hand, if someone gives you a rhumbs down, you may want to send them a 5-10 question survey and offer a reward for completing it.
In summary, while thumbs up surveys are great for quick feedback, they may not provide the depth of information needed for comprehensive customer insights and strategic improvements.
Final Thoughts
Surveys are useful ways to capture customer sentiment. A thumbs survey is particularly useful to collect data immediately after an event. They are simple to deploy, simple for participants to fill out, and typically have high response rates.
We suggest deploying a thumbs survey after an ecommerce checkout, a customer support interaction, or after attending an in-person or online event. Software companies can use them to capture insights about a new feature, app redesign, or when a customer renews their account. Pairing this survey type with an open ended question like “Please share any other feedback you have about our product with us” or “How can we improve our product/service?” can be powerful.
If the results of the survey deviate from your expectations, you may want to follow-up with a more in-depth survey -- like a CSAT, CES, or a custom survey that you craft yourself. This is why you will want to use an online survey tool like Melrose that allows you to access a library of templates and create your own custom survey, all in one platform.