Using Surveys in HubSpot: Complete Guide to Customer Feedback

Understanding what your customers think about your products, services, and overall experience is essential for business growth. HubSpot's survey functionality provides a powerful way to gather actionable customer feedback directly within your CRM. This comprehensive guide explores how to effectively use surveys in HubSpot to improve customer satisfaction and drive better business outcomes. 

What Are HubSpot Surveys? 

HubSpot surveys are built-in feedback collection tools available through Service Hub that allow businesses to gather customer insights through customizable questionnaires. These surveys support various question types and can be delivered through multiple channels. 

The survey feature integrates seamlessly with your HubSpot CRM, automatically linking responses to customer profiles and enabling you to take immediate action based on feedback. 

Types of Surveys You Can Create in HubSpot 

HubSpot offers four primary survey types, each designed for specific feedback collection goals: 

1. Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSAT)

• Measures how satisfied a customer is, tracking how customers feel about brand interactions 

• Use simple rating scales to gauge immediate satisfaction levels after specific touchpoints 

Best used for: 

• Post-purchase feedback 

• Product feature evaluations 

• Service interaction assessments 

• Website experience ratings 

2. Net Promoter Score Surveys (NPS)

• Tracks how likely customers are to recommend your company to other people 

• Use a 0-10 scale 

• Categorize respondents as detractors, passives, or promoters 

Best used for: 

• Measuring overall brand loyalty 

• Identifying brand advocates 

• Tracking customer sentiment over time 

• Benchmarking against industry standards 

3. Customer Effort Score Surveys (CES)

• Measures the ease of a customer support experience using a seven-point scale (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree) 

• Evaluate how much effort customers must expend to resolve issues or complete tasks 

Best used for: 

• Post-support ticket feedback 

• Onboarding experience assessment 

• Self-service portal evaluations 

• Process improvement initiatives 

4. Custom Surveys

• Maximum flexibility 

• Create targeted questionnaires with various question types tailored to your specific needs 

• Combine multiple question formats to gather both quantitative and qualitative insights 

Best used for: 

• Market research 

• Product development feedback 

• Event evaluations 

• Industry-specific data collection 

How to Create Surveys in HubSpot: Step-by-Step Guide 

Step 1: Navigate to Feedback Surveys 

In your HubSpot account, navigate to Service > Feedback Surveys, then click Create survey in the upper-right corner. 

Important note: You must have a Service Hub Professional or Enterprise seat to create, edit, and publish surveys. 

Step 2: Choose Your Survey Type and Delivery Method 

Select your survey type based on your goals, then choose how you'll deliver it: 

• Email: Surveys sent directly to customer inboxes 

• Shareable link: Standalone survey pages you can share anywhere 

• Web page: Surveys embedded on your website 

• Workflow: Surveys triggered by specific customer actions 

• Chat: Surveys delivered through chat conversations 

Step 3: Customize Your Survey Design 

Personalize your survey's appearance: 

• Upload featured images 

• Select brand colors using hex values or the color picker 

• Customize email subject lines with personalization tokens 

• Edit button text and messaging 

• Choose survey language from available options 

Step 4: Build Your Questions 

You can select question types from the left panel and drag them to build your survey, adding previously used questions or creating new ones. 

Step 5: Configure Thank You Messages 

Customize the message respondents see after submitting their survey. You can create different thank you messages based on response types to provide relevant next steps. 

Step 6: Set Up Targeting and Recipients 

Define who should receive your survey using: 

• Contact properties and filters 

• Static lists 

• Customer lifecycle stage 

• Time-based criteria (such as "became a customer more than 30 days ago") 

Step 7: Create Automation Workflows 

Set up automated follow-up actions based on survey responses: 

• Create support tickets for detractors 

• Send thank you emails to promoters 

• Assign tasks to team members 

• Trigger nurture sequences 

• Update contact properties 

Step 8: Review and Publish 

Preview your survey across different devices, test the user experience, and publish when ready. 

Best Practices for HubSpot Surveys 

• Keep Surveys Short and Focused 

Survey fatigue is real. Limit your surveys to essential questions that directly support your objectives. Aim for completion times under five minutes to maximize response rates. 

• Time Your Surveys Strategically 

Send surveys at moments when experiences are fresh in customers' minds, like 1-2 days after product delivery or immediately after support ticket resolution. 

• Personalize When Possible 

Use personalization tokens to include contact names and relevant details in survey emails and questions. This increases engagement and shows you value individual customers. 

• Balance Question Types 

Mix closed-ended questions (for quantitative data) with open-ended follow-ups (for qualitative insights). This provides both measurable metrics and context for understanding customer sentiment. 

• Test Before Launch 

Always test your surveys with internal team members or a small customer segment before full deployment. 

• Close the Feedback Loop 

The most critical best practice: act on the feedback you receive. 

Analyzing Survey Results in HubSpot 

Access Your Data 

Navigate to your published survey and click on it to access two key tabs: 

• Responses: Individual submission details with filtering capabilities 

• Analysis: Aggregated insights and metrics 

Create Custom Reports 

Survey response properties can be used in custom single-object or cross-object reports to track trends by segment, owner, lifecycle stage, or product line. 

Build Smart Lists 

Segment customers based on their survey responses: 

• Create lists of detractors for recovery campaigns 

• Identify promoters for case study opportunities 

• Group neutral respondents for targeted improvement efforts 

Monitor Key Metrics 

Track these essential KPIs: 

• Overall satisfaction scores 

• Response rates by channel 

• Trend analysis over time 

• Sentiment distribution 

• Common themes in qualitative feedback 

Common Use Cases for HubSpot Surveys 

• Post-Purchase Feedback 

Measure customer satisfaction immediately after purchase to identify fulfillment issues, product quality concerns, or delivery problems while you can still address them. 

• Support Ticket Follow-ups 

Automatically send CES surveys after ticket resolution to measure support quality and identify areas where your team excels or needs improvement. 

• Product Development Research 

Use custom surveys to gather specific feedback on features, pricing, or use cases that inform your product roadmap. 

• Event Feedback Collection 

After webinars, conferences, or training sessions, deploy surveys to measure event success and gather improvement suggestions. 

Effectively Use Surveys with Concept 

HubSpot surveys provide a powerful, integrated way to collect customer feedback that drives meaningful business improvements. By leveraging the right survey types, following best practices, and acting on the insights you gather, you can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

Ready to transform your customer feedback strategy? If you need help implementing surveys in HubSpot or want to optimize your existing feedback collection process, reach out to Concept today.