Customer Service Quiz and Questionnaire: Sample Questions

Q: What is a customer service quiz?

A customer service quiz is a short set of questions, often based on real situations, that checks whether your team knows your service standards and how to handle common customer moments. It works best as a coaching tool, either as a group discussion or one-on-one.

A customer service quiz checks what your team knows about your service standards, and a customer service questionnaire asks your customers how well your team delivered. Used together, they show you where to coach, and this page gives you a sample of each.

customer service quiz hero: a clipboard with checked boxes

Most businesses survey their customers, but far fewer quiz their own team, even though a short quiz is one of the easiest ways to find out whether everyone knows what good service looks like in your business.

A quiz doesn't have to feel like a test. Many leaders work through the questions as a group in a team meeting, talk about each answer and use what they hear to decide what to focus on for improvement.

A customer service questionnaire works best when it's brief and sent while the visit is still fresh, usually within a day. Five to seven questions is enough to spot trends, and customers are much more likely to finish it when the questions are clearand easy to answer.

Jump To: Sample Quiz | Sample Questionnaire | Example | FAQ

Sample Customer Service Quiz With Answers

This sample customer service quiz uses everyday situations your team is likely to face. You can give it one-on-one to see where each person stands, or work through it as a group, which takes the pressure off and gets people talking about why one answer works better than another.

The same questions can be part of your interview process for service roles, as long as every candidate for the job gets the same quiz. Hiring the Right Person covers the rest of the interview, and question 2 ties to Dealing With Angry Customers if your team wants to go deeper.

Each question has one best answer, shown below the choices with the reason. Change the situations to fit your own business.

SAMPLE CUSTOMER SERVICE QUIZ

1. A customer walks in while you're on the phone with another customer. What should you do?

AFinish the call, then greet the customer who walked in

BMake eye contact and give a quick nod or wave so they know you've seen them, then finish the call

CPut the caller on hold to help the person in front of you

Best answer: B. Both customers matter. A quick acknowledgment tells the person waiting that they've been seen, and the caller isn't cut off.

2. A customer is upset about a mistake your company made. What's the best first step?

AExplain the policy that caused the problem

BListen without interrupting, then apologize for the problem

CTransfer them to a manager right away

Best answer: B. An upset customer wants to be heard first. Explaining or transferring before you listen usually makes it worse.

3. A customer asks a question you can't answer. What do you say?

AGive your best guess so they aren't kept waiting

BTell them you'll find out and give them a time you'll get back to them

CSuggest they check the website

Best answer: B. A wrong answer causes more trouble than a short wait, and a specific time shows you'll follow through.

4. A customer asks for something your policy doesn't allow. How do you respond?

ATell them it's against policy

BExplain what you can do and offer the closest option

CMake an exception without checking with anyone

Best answer: B. Leading with what you can do keeps the conversation moving toward a solution.

5. You promised a customer a callback by 3 p.m., but you still don't have an answer. What do you do?

AWait until you have the answer, then call

BCall by 3 p.m. with an update and a new time

CSend an email at the end of the day

Best answer: B. Keeping the promise matters as much as the answer. A call on time builds trust even when the news is "not yet."

6. A regular customer comes in. What's the best greeting?

AGreet them by name

BUse your standard greeting

CWait for them to come to the counter

Best answer: A. Using a customer's name tells them they're known and valued.

7. While helping a customer, you notice a different product might save them money. What do you do?

ASay nothing, since they didn't ask

BAsk a couple of questions about their needs, then mention it if it fits

CRecommend your most popular product

Best answer: B. Asking first makes the suggestion about the customer's needs.

8. A customer compliments one of your coworkers. What do you do?

AThank them

BThank them, then pass the compliment on to your coworker and your manager

CLet your coworker know later if you remember

Best answer: B. Passing it on right away recognizes your coworker and lets your manager reinforce what good service looks like.

How to read the results:

7 or 8 best answers: The person knows your standards well. Ask them to help lead the group discussion next time.
5 or 6: A good foundation. Go over the questions they missed in your next one-on-one.
4 or fewer: Walk through each missed question together, then watch a few of their customer interactions over the next two weeks.

When you give the quiz to a group, note which questions most people missed. Those are the topics to cover in your next team huddle.

"Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you."

- Heather Williams

Sample Customer Service Questionnaire

A good customer service questionnaire is short, asks about the moments that matter most to your customers and ends with one open question. Send it within a day of the visit or call, by email, text or a card at the counter, and keep it under two minutes.

SAMPLE CUSTOMER SERVICE QUESTIONNAIRE

For rated questions, 1 is poor and 5 is excellent.

1. How quickly were you greeted or helped?1 to 5

2. How well did our team member understand what you needed?1 to 5

3. Did we resolve your question or problem?Yes, Partly, No

4. How courteous and professional was our team member?1 to 5

5. How easy was it to do business with us today?1 to 5

6. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or family member?0 to 10

7. What's one thing we could do better?Open answer

Read the comments as closely as the scores, because they usually tell you why a number is low. Track the results month to month, share them with your team and use them for both coaching and recognition. Tracking Customer Service shows how to set up a simple report, and the Customer Service Tips page covers how surveys fit with mystery shops and complaint logs.

Customer Service Quiz and Questionnaire Example

Raj manages the front desk at a 140-room hotel, with a team of 12 agents. His guest scores had slipped, and he wasn't sure whether his team needed more training or something else was going on, so he used both the customer service quiz and the questionnaire.

RAJ'S FRONT DESK

The quiz: His 12 agents took the eight-question quiz together, and the team averaged 5.7 correct out of 8, or 71%. For the next month, he covered two questions in each weekly huddle, and when the team retook the quiz, the average was 7.3 out of 8, or 91%.

The questionnaire: Every guest got the seven-question questionnaire by email at checkout. Out of about 1,200 guests a month, 15% answered, which gave him about 180 responses a month.

What it showed: The lowest score was "How quickly were you greeted or helped?" at 3.6 out of 5, and most of the comments mentioned the line at check-in between 3 and 6 p.m. Raj moved a second agent to the desk during those hours.

Measure	Before	One month later
Team quiz average	71%	91%
"How quickly were you greeted?"	3.6	4.4

The quiz and the huddles raised what his team knew, but it was the guest questionnaire that pointed him to the check-in line.

Customer Service Quiz FAQ

The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about customer service quizzes and questionnaires.

Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.

What is a customer service quiz?

A customer service quiz is a small set of questions, often based on real situations, that checks whether your team knows your service standards and how to handle common customer moments. It works best as a coaching tool, either as a group discussion or one-on-one.

What questions should a customer service questionnaire include?

Ask how quickly the customer was helped, whether their need was understood and resolved, how courteous your team member was, how easy you are to do business with and how likely they are to recommend you. End with one open question about what you could do better.

How many questions should a customer survey have?

Keep it to about five to seven questions that take less than two minutes. Shorter surveys get more responses, and every question should tell you something you'll act on.

How often should I quiz my team on customer service?

Many leaders run a full quiz when someone is new and again once or twice a year, and cover one or two questions in weekly team huddles in between.

Can I use a customer service quiz when hiring?

Yes, as long as the questions are tied to the job and every candidate for the same role gets the same quiz. Use the answers to start a conversation in the interview, along with the rest of your hiring process.