Customer surveys that really work.

Surveys that ask customers to rate only a company's performance are usually worthless because they fail to ask the right questions.

What are the right questions? The two keys ones are: Where does the company need to improve, and how can it accomplish that goal?

Suggestion: Don't try to conduct the survey yourself. Instead, hire an experienced interviewer to poll past, present and prospective customers. That way, you'll get a wide variety of perspectives, making the survey more useful.