Voice of the customer survey, sent once a quarter
A VoC survey of 13 questions on one scale: how the relationship stands, and what customers need next.
- 13questions
- About 4 minto complete
The 13 voice of the customer survey questions
A voice of the customer survey asks the people who buy from you how the whole relationship is going and what they need next. It runs on a fixed schedule, not after one purchase. These 13 questions take about four minutes, and they open ready to send in our free online survey maker.
How the relationship stands
The pattern across the whole relationship, before any single purchase.
- Since I first became your customer, you have lived up to what I expected.
- The standard I get from you is the same every time.
- You have improved over the time I have been a customer.
- I trust you to do the right thing when something goes wrong.
What you sell
Whether it still does the job and still feels worth the money.
- What I buy from you does the main thing I need it to do.
- What I pay you feels fair for what I get.Value, not price: "expensive but worth it" still agrees.
Kept in the picture
Whether you talk to customers between purchases, and act on what they say.
- When something changes, I hear about it from you first.
- You act on what your customers tell you.
What they need next
The job they came to you for, and the one you do not do yet.
- What I first came to you for is still what I need most.
- There is something I need that you do not offer yet.Agreement is a to-do list: read question 12 from those who agreed.
In their words, then the close
Two optional open answers, then one closing rating.
- What keeps you buying from us?
- What is the one thing you need from us that you do not get yet?
- You are heading in a direction that works for me.Track this one wave by wave as your headline trend.
Swap in: internal customers
When your customers are other teams in your own company, use these four in place of questions 1 to 6.
- The team I rely on gives me what I need to do my own job.
- I know who to ask on that team when I need something.
- I hear about changes on their side before they affect my work.
- My requests to them are treated as real work, not as favors.
Send it in the same month every quarter
Send it to everyone who has been a customer for at least a full quarter, including anyone who complained. No name is asked, which keeps the written answers candid.
Read it item by item, and track question 13 as your trend. Customers often name a feature when they mean a need, so restate each written answer as a need before you count it.[1]
For one comparable number between waves, run the NPS survey on its own. The customer satisfaction survey rates one recent experience while it is fresh. The customer service survey follows each solved ticket. Anyone who cancels gets the cancellation survey that day.
Voice of the customer survey FAQ
How many questions should a voice of the customer survey have?
Thirteen covers the whole relationship in about four minutes on one scale. For a shorter wave, keep questions 1, 10, 12 and 13: how things stand, what is missing, their own words and where you are heading.
How often should you send a voice of the customer survey?
Once a quarter, in the same month each time. A fixed month means every wave compares cleanly with the one before, and a customer is asked four times a year at most.
Is a customer needs survey the same thing?
Close. Questions 9, 10 and 12 work as a customer needs survey on their own: what they came for, what you do not offer yet, and the one thing they want from you. Add question 1 and send those four.
Michael Hodge, survey methodology · Updated 26 September 2026 · How templates are reviewed
Sources (1)
- American Society for Quality. Voice of the Customer. ASQ Quality Resources. asq.org, read on 26 September 2026.
Ready for this quarter's wave
Thirteen questions, about four minutes, one 5-point agree scale. Open it in the editor, pick your month and send the first wave.
Use this template