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Customer Needs Discovery & Prioritization Survey

Uncovers what customers are actually trying to accomplish, which needs matter most, and where your product or service currently falls short — with an AI follow-up that digs into the single biggest unmet need instead of settling for a generic complaint. Built for product, CX, and research teams planning roadmaps around real customer priorities.

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Sample questions

A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.

13 questions · ~7 min
Q01
Message

Thanks for taking a few minutes to help us understand what you need most from us. There are no right or wrong answers — we just want the honest picture. This should take about 5-6 minutes.

Q02
Multiple ChoiceRequired

Which best describes what you're mainly trying to accomplish when you use (Replace with your product/service name)? (Template note: replace with your top 4-6 primary use cases before launching.)

  • (Replace with use case A)
  • (Replace with use case B)
  • (Replace with use case C)
  • (Replace with use case D)
  • Something else
Q03
Best–Worst Trade-off (MaxDiff)Required

For each set, tell us which need matters most to you and which matters least when choosing a solution like ours.

  • (Replace with need 1, e.g. Fast turnaround/response time)
  • (Replace with need 2, e.g. Reliable, error-free results)
  • (Replace with need 3, e.g. Affordable pricing)
  • (Replace with need 4, e.g. Easy to learn and use)
  • (Replace with need 5, e.g. Flexible/customizable to my situation)
  • (Replace with need 6, e.g. Responsive human support)
  • (Replace with need 7, e.g. Integrates with my other tools)
Pick best & worst per setBest:Matters mostWorst:Matters least
Q04
MatrixRequired

How well does (Replace with your product/service name) currently meet each of these needs?

7 rows × 4 columns
  • (Replace with need 1)
  • (Replace with need 2)
  • (Replace with need 3)
  • (Replace with need 4)
  • (Replace with need 5)
  • +2 more
Columns: Not met at all · Somewhat met · Mostly met · Fully met
Q05
Opinion ScaleRequired

Overall, how well does what we offer today match what you actually need?

Scale: 0 – 10
Min:Doesn't match at allMax:Matches perfectly
Q06
Multiple ChoiceRequired

In the last 30 days, has there been a need related to (Replace with your category, e.g. this type of product/service) that went unmet by any solution you tried, including ours?

  • Yes, more than once
  • Yes, once
  • No, not that I noticed
Q07
AI Interview

Identify the single biggest unmet or partially-met need from this respondent's answers (prioritize anything they rated 'Not met at all' or 'Somewhat met' on a need they said matters most, or the 30-day unmet-need incident if mentioned). Ask them to walk through a specific recent moment where that need showed up, what they tried instead, what it cost them (time, money, frustration), and what a truly satisfying fix would look like. If they say everything is fine, probe what would make them switch to a competitor anyway.

Q08
Ranking

If you were choosing a solution again today, rank these options in the order you'd consider them. (Template note: replace with your product and 2-4 real alternatives, including 'build it myself' or 'do nothing' if relevant.)

  1. (Replace with your product/service)
  2. (Replace with competitor A)
  3. (Replace with competitor B)
  4. Do nothing / handle it manually
Drag to rank
Q09
Long Text

Is there a need you have today that no solution — ours or anyone else's — fully addresses? Describe it in your own words.

Q10
Message

Just a couple of quick optional questions to help us understand who's answering.

Q11
Multiple Choice

Which best describes your role?

  • Individual contributor / end user
  • Team lead / manager
  • Director / senior leadership
  • Owner / executive
  • Prefer not to say
Q12
Multiple Choice

How long have you been a customer?

  • Less than 3 months
  • 3-12 months
  • 1-3 years
  • More than 3 years
  • Prefer not to say
Q13
Message

That's everything — thank you for the thoughtful answers. Your responses feed directly into our roadmap so we can prioritize the needs that matter most and close the gaps you flagged.

What’s included

  • AI follow-ups

    Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.

  • Attention checks

    Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.

  • AI-drafted copy

    Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.

  • Auto report

    Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.

How it compares

We reviewed the closest templates from other survey tools. Here’s what they do well — and where this template goes further.

Why this template

  • Includes an AI follow-up interview that automatically probes the single biggest unmet or partially-met need surfaced by each respondent's answers, instead of stopping at a generic satisfaction score
  • Combines quantitative prioritization (MaxDiff trade-offs, a needs-fit matrix, an overall opinion scale, and a re-choice ranking exercise) with open-ended and adaptive follow-up questions in one flow
  • Segments responses by role and tenure so product, CX, and research teams can see which needs matter most to which customer groups
  • Auto-generates a report from the responses, including the AI-identified unmet need, so roadmap prioritization doesn't require manual coding of open-text answers

Jotform

Customer Needs Survey Form Template

A fielding-ready static form covering general customer needs questions, built on Jotform's drag-and-drop form builder. It's easy to customize and embed but relies on fixed question sets rather than any adaptive logic. Good for quick, low-cost data collection rather than deep prioritization analysis.

What it does well

  • Simple drag-and-drop customization
  • Easy embedding/sharing via Jotform's form infrastructure
  • Low barrier to entry for quick deployment

Where it falls short

  • Static question set with no adaptive AI follow-up to dig into unmet needs
  • No built-in prioritization method like MaxDiff or ranking trade-offs
  • No automated per-response quality scoring or AI-generated analysis

SurveySparrow

Customer Needs Survey Template

A conversational-style survey template that presents questions one at a time for a chat-like feel. It's a ready-to-field template aimed at marketing teams, but the conversational format is scripted rather than truly adaptive to each respondent's answers.

What it does well

  • Conversational one-question-at-a-time UI improves completion feel
  • Positioned for marketing teams gathering customer input
  • Ready-to-use template requiring minimal setup

Where it falls short

  • No adaptive AI interviewing that branches based on the specific unmet need mentioned
  • No voice interview option or guided screen-share tasks
  • No transparent, published prompt methodology or automated quality scoring

Typeform

Customer Needs Survey Template

A polished, fielding-ready form using Typeform's signature conversational single-question layout. It's well suited for basic needs capture but, like other form builders, uses pre-set question logic rather than AI-driven follow-up.

What it does well

  • Clean, high-completion conversational form design
  • Established template library and branding polish
  • Simple logic-jump customization for basic branching

Where it falls short

  • No AI-driven follow-up interview to isolate the single biggest unmet need
  • No structured trade-off prioritization method (e.g., MaxDiff) included by default
  • No automated report generation tied to response quality scoring

QuestionPro

Service Evaluation Survey Questions + Sample Questionnaire Template

This is primarily a service-evaluation questionnaire and sample-question guide rather than a dedicated needs-discovery-and-prioritization template, so it's a partial comparison at best. It offers a static, comprehensive question bank but isn't structured around uncovering and ranking unmet needs.

What it does well

  • Broad library of pre-written service evaluation questions
  • Established survey platform with reporting/analytics tools
  • Useful as a reference guide for question wording

Where it falls short

  • Focused on service evaluation, not needs discovery or prioritization trade-offs
  • No adaptive AI follow-up or voice interview capability
  • No transparent prompt methodology or automated per-response quality scoring

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