Customer feedback is always vital to improving service, but how should it be collected? Social media platforms typically offer a wealth of comments companies should heed, as do voice calls when customers explain their concerns or satisfaction with a brand. Still, taking an organized approach by sending customer feedback surveys is highly efficient when brands are looking to improve targeted areas, departments, or even the service of particular agents. Here are six golden rules for creating and sending customer feedback surveys.Match the survey channel to the customer’s preferred channel. It’s a good practice to recognize and use a customer’s preferred channel, often characterized by the most common one on which casual or formal service exchanges take place (casual could mean Facebook comments a customer leaves from time to time, whereas formal signifies a channel where the customer reached out for a specific service). The more popular the channel is with the customer, the more likely he will respond to the survey.Send surveys at different intervals for different purposes. Customer feedback surveys sent at varying intervals and for different purposes give a broader view of a brand’s performance. One such survey is the post-contact survey, which a customer may agree at the start or end of a customer service exchange to complete. This kind of survey enables a brand to follow the case history of a specific customer to improve personalized service. A periodic survey, on the other hand, may consist of reaching out to customers on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis as a check-in for general feedback. Such a survey is especially meaningful to marketing campaigns and future product or service developments.Send post-contact surveys as soon as possible. Timeliness always matters in customer service, and it’s especially relevant and critical when sending post-contact surveys. Companies should reach out to customers when opinions are still fresh and customers can recall accurately what their experience was like. Being prompt shows genuine appreciation for customer feedback, a proactive attitude that appeals to customers, and an effort to yield the most pertinent information possible for improving service.Collect surveys by department and agent. While a holistic view of a company’s performance is important, it’s also a good strategy to collect and analyze customer feedback surveys by department and agent. Observing the comments on a specific department can help streamline services across the teams concerned to provide better service. Similarly, analyzing feedback given on specific agents can help fine tune individual performance and determine if additional training is necessary for improved service.Reach out to customers with low satisfaction scores. All customer feedback has potential for improving brand performance, no matter how minor a comment appears to be. Even if a customer has an overall positive experience, every negative comment should be viewed as insight into making customer experiences better. If a customer gives an overall low score, outreach is definitely needed. Agents may once again reach out on the customer’s preferred channel or humanize the experience even further by making contact over the phone. Customers appreciate knowing that their feedback and the time devoted to such surveys are taken seriously.Make the surveys relevant but concise. Brands should consider customer feedback surveys a golden opportunity to ask specific questions for targeted improvements. However, keeping surveys fairly concise is also critical to making sure they are actually embraced by customers. Regardless of the channel used, keeping surveys limited to ten questions maximum is a good strategy, and non-voice channels may offer these surveys with easily clickable links. A consistent scale that is easy to understand is also important, such as a scale of one to ten ranking from poor to optimum service. Brands may also wish to give customers a chance for “free response” feedback so that they may offer insights on points that were not addressed in the questions.Customer feedback surveys are a critical tool for understanding what customers want and expect from a brand. By paying attention to even the simplest of comments, brands can gain valuable insight into the minds of their customers to provide truly exceptional and customer-centric experiences. Learn about Vocalcom contact center software solutions for satisfying customer needs.