Survey customers

Why This Is A Foundational Tactic

Customer surveys are the most direct way to get out of your own head. As a founder, you're too close to your product. You know how it's 'supposed' to work. Your customers don't. They have a problem they need to solve, and they 'hired' your product for that job. A simple survey helps you understand their real-world pain points, test your assumptions before you build, and uncover the exact language they use to describe their needs--which is pure gold for your marketing.

This isn't just about collecting data--it's about building relationships. When you personally reach out to a customer and ask for their opinion, you show them you value their input. It makes them feel heard and respected. Acting on their feedback and following up is even more powerful. This process turns passive users into loyal advocates who feel invested in your success. They become part of your journey, not just a number in your analytics.

Three real examples

Superhuman found that if over 40% of users would be 'very disappointed' to lose your product, you have a strong signal of product-market fit to start scaling growth.

The step-by-step playbook

1. 1

   1. Define Your Single Goal

   What is the single most important thing you need to learn right now? Are you trying to understand why users churn, what 'aha!' moment hooks them, or what feature to build next? Don't try to answer everything at once. A focused survey gets focused results.

2. 2

   2. Identify the Right Customer Segment

   Who is best equipped to answer your question? For feedback on onboarding, survey users who signed up 7-14 days ago. For long-term value, talk to power users. For churn reasons, survey users who just cancelled.

3. 3

   3. Choose Your Tool (Simple Is Best)

   Don't overcomplicate it. A plain-text email is often enough. For a slightly more structured approach, a free tool like Tally.so is perfect. The tool is less important than the questions.

4. 4

   4. Write 1-3 Open-Ended Questions

   Avoid yes/no or multiple-choice questions if you can. You want stories, not just data points. Focus on 'What', 'Why', and 'How' questions to get users talking.

5. 5

   5. Draft Your 'Ask' Email

   Write a short, personal email. Use their name, introduce yourself as the founder, and make it clear you're not a robot. Emphasize that their feedback is valuable and it will only take a minute.

6. 6

   6. Send a Test

   Before you email 100 people, send the survey to a colleague or a friendly customer. Check for typos, broken links, and confusing questions. This simple check can save you from a failed campaign.

7. 7

   7. Send and Analyze

   Send your email. As responses come in, don't just read them--categorize them. Create simple tags like 'Feature Request', 'Bug Report', or 'Pricing Issue'. Look for the patterns.

8. 8

   8. Follow Up and Act

   Thank every single person who responds. More importantly, when you build a feature they asked for or fix a bug they reported, send them a personal follow-up email to let them know. This closes the loop and creates a customer for life.

Copy-Paste: The 'Single Question' Email

A simple, plain-text email from a founder is incredibly effective. It cuts through the noise and shows you genuinely care. Keep it short and make the ask easy.

Subject: Quick question about {Your Product Name}?

Hi {CustomerName},

I'm {Your Name}, the founder of {CompanyName}.

I'm doing something that doesn't scale: personally emailing our users to make sure we're building the right thing. I have just one question for you:

{Your Single, Open-Ended Question}

Just hitting 'reply' with a sentence or two would be a massive help for us.

Thanks,
{Your Name}

Key Questions to Ask Your Customers

• How would you feel if you could no longer use our product?
• What is the main benefit you receive from using our product?
• What problem were you trying to solve when you found us?
• What's the one thing we could do to make the product 10x better for you?
• Was there anything that almost stopped you from signing up?

The 'How would you feel...' question is the most famous for a reason. It's the best single indicator of product-market fit. The answers 'very disappointed', 'somewhat disappointed', and 'not disappointed' are a powerful way to segment your user base.

Recommended tools

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Mistakes that kill this play

• ×Asking too many questions. Keep it brutally short. One to three questions is ideal. Respect your customers' time.
• ×Using leading questions. 'Don't you just love our new design?' is bad. 'What are your thoughts on the new design?' is good. Don't bias the answers.
• ×Surveying the wrong segment. Don't ask a brand new user about long-term value, and don't ask a power user about the onboarding flow.
• ×Using impersonal, automated emails. A plain-text email from 'dave@yourcompany.com' will always outperform a heavily branded email from 'marketing@yourcompany.com'.
• ×Forgetting to follow up. If a customer gives you their time, thank them. If you build their feature request, tell them you built it *for them*. This creates evangelists.
• ×Only using multiple choice. The most valuable insights are in the 'Other...' text box. Always include at least one open-ended question.
• ×Waiting for the perfect tool. A simple email sent today is infinitely better than a complex survey you plan to send next month.

Your First 5 Days

• Day 1: Decide on the #1 most important thing you need to learn. Write down one single question that will help you learn it.
• Day 2: Create a list of 25-50 customers to contact. Choose a specific segment (e.g., users active in the last 7 days) and export their names and emails.
• Day 3: Draft the personal email you will send. Use the template in this playbook and get a colleague to review it for clarity and tone.
• Day 4: Send the emails. Use a simple mail merge tool or even just copy-paste manually. Track who you've contacted in your spreadsheet.
• Day 5: As the first replies come in, thank each user immediately. Start a new document and begin copying/pasting the responses, looking for early patterns.

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