Multi-step surveys let you ask more than one question and route visitors to different follow-up questions based on what they answered. Use them for feature discovery surveys, post-onboarding feedback, churn exit surveys, and any other research that needs more depth than a single NPS score.
Question types
Each step in a multi-step survey uses one of these question types:
| Type | What it renders | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Rating scale | A number scale (1–5 or 0–10). You set the low and high labels. | Satisfaction, effort, NPS. |
| Free text | An open text field. One sentence or a longer paragraph. | Open feedback, qualitative reasons, feature requests. |
| Single choice | A list of options — visitor picks exactly one. | Reason for cancellation, how they heard about you, primary use case. |
| Multiple choice | A list of options — visitor can pick any number. | Which features they use, what problems they have. |
1. Create the survey
Go to Outreach → Surveys → New survey and choose Custom survey as the type.
2. Add questions
Click Add question. Choose the type, write the question text, and (for choice questions) add the answer options. Mark the question as Required if the visitor must answer before proceeding.
Repeat until you've added all your questions.
3. Add branching logic
Branching lets you skip to a different question (or end the survey) based on a previous answer. To add a branch:
- Open the question that should trigger the branch.
- Click Add branch.
- Set the condition — "If answer equals X" or "If rating is less than Y".
- Choose the target — jump to a specific question or end the survey.
Example: for a churn survey, if the visitor picks "Price too high" as the cancellation reason, branch to a question asking which competitor they're switching to. If they pick "Missing features", branch to a question asking which features they need.
4. Set the trigger and frequency
Multi-step surveys use the same trigger engine as all other outreach. Common patterns for research surveys:
- Trigger: Custom event after a specific in-app action (project completed, feature first used).
- Frequency: Show once per visitor — research surveys should not repeat.
See Trigger rules for all trigger options.
5. Publish and collect responses
Publish the survey. Responses appear in the Responses tab immediately as visitors submit answers. See Read survey responses for how to analyse and export them.
Survey length guidelines
- Keep it under 5 questions. Completion rates drop sharply after 5.
- Put your most important question first — some visitors will drop off before the end.
- Free-text questions at the end get the richest answers because the visitor has already invested time answering earlier questions.
What's next?
For automatic CSAT after a support chat, see Run CSAT after a conversation closes. To read and export responses, see Read survey responses.