NPS survey configuration: 5 checks before launch

• Apply custom branding in Vitally to make Custom Surveys look and feel more like your brands and less like Vitally's, maintaining brand consistency in customer experiences Vitally.
• Avoid the temptation to only survey your happiest clients, as advised by Planhat to ensure representative feedback Planhat.
• Note that only 1 NPS® question can be added to a survey in Gainsight Gainsight.
• Configure short text fields in Gainsight with a default character limit of 50, adjustable to a range of 30-130 characters Gainsight.
• Trigger Vitally NPS surveys by calling Vitally.nps('survey') after installing Vitally.js and identifying the logged-in user and Account or Organization Vitally.

Audience selection is a frequent source of bias in customer feedback programs. Planhat advises you to avoid the temptation to only survey your happiest clients, as this limits your ability to understand broader account health trends Planhat. By defining your audience carefully, you ensure the data you collect represents the full spectrum of your customer relationships. Pair that audience check with onboarding tools when the survey follows a new project plan.

Branding ensures your survey feels like a natural extension of your product, not an external interruption. Consistent visual identity builds trust among your user base.

Applying your visual identity to NPS surveys prevents recipients from seeing generic platform examples instead of your company’s branding. Two major customer success platforms offer specific controls for this: Vitally and Planhat.

In Vitally, you can adjust Custom Surveys to reflect your own visual identity. According to Vitally, applying these settings makes Custom Surveys look and feel more like your brands and less like Vitally's, helping to maintain brand consistency in the experiences that you create for your customers. This step ensures that the survey interface aligns with the rest of your customer-facing materials.

Planhat provides a specific workflow for displaying your logo in NPS emails. According to Planhat, if you have previously uploaded your logo to your Planhat tenant, you can enable the toggle switch, and your logo will appear in the right side panel. Alternatively, you can upload a new logo using the "Upload new logo" option. This gives you the flexibility to use an existing asset or introduce a new one directly within the survey configuration.

A critical technical constraint exists for logos used in Planhat emails. According to Planhat, make sure your logo does not have white text on a transparent background as the text will be lost against the email body.

To verify your setup, check the following:

1. Vitally: Confirm that your Custom Surveys display your brand elements rather than the default platform look.
2. Planhat: Ensure the logo toggle is enabled if you have a tenant-level logo.
3. Planhat: Inspect your logo file to confirm it does not use white text on a transparent background.

If you are using a different platform, verify that your logo and color palette are applied correctly in the preview mode before sending the survey. This final check prevents the need to recall or resend surveys due to visual errors.

Conditional logic controls which questions appear to respondents based on their previous answers. Understanding these rules prevents survey fatigue and ensures data integrity.

In Vitally, conditional questions operate strictly within the survey's internal flow. According to Vitally, conditional questions only control whether a question is shown, based on the respondent's own earlier answers in that survey. The system does not pre-fill, auto-submit, or attach any external data, such as an Account, Organization, or Custom Object value, to the response. This limitation means you cannot use logic to pull in CRM data automatically. If you need to correlate survey responses with account details, you must handle that mapping outside the survey tool or through separate integration steps. When designing your Vitally survey, map out every branch where a question depends on a prior answer. Verify that each conditional path leads to a valid endpoint, such as the end of the survey or a subsequent question. Do not assume that selecting a low score will automatically trigger an internal alert or populate a field in your CRM; the logic only governs visibility.

According to Gainsight, display is limited to the participants who selected any one of 0 thru 6 answer options in the scale.

Choosing the right channel and setting the correct triggers ensures your NPS survey reaches the intended audience without unnecessary friction. Different platforms offer distinct mechanisms for distributing these surveys, ranging from embedded web widgets to direct email campaigns. Understanding these specific delivery rules is critical for aligning your survey strategy with your customer success workflow.

In Vitally, the documentation identifies embedding a Custom Survey in a conversation as the best way to share with your customers, according to Vitally. This approach integrates the feedback request directly into the existing communication flow. For web-based delivery, Vitally provides a specific JavaScript integration. Once you have installed Vitally.js and have identified the logged-in user and Account or Organization, you can call Vitally.nps('survey') to potentially show the survey to the logged-in user, according to Vitally. The system handles the visibility logic automatically. The Vitally.nps('survey') function displays a survey to users only if your configuration says we should, according to Vitally. This conditional display prevents unwanted interruptions for users who do not meet your defined criteria.

HubSpot offers broader delivery options for customer loyalty surveys. You can send this type of survey through email, or display it on any webpage that has your HubSpot tracking code installed, according to HubSpot. A common concern for customer success managers is whether contact status affects survey delivery. HubSpot clarifies that contacts do not need to be set as marketing contacts in order to receive a survey by email, according to HubSpot.

Planhat focuses on precise audience segmentation before delivery. To start, click on the "Audience" tab and you can create any group of End Users with filters, according to Planhat. This filter-based approach ensures that your survey is targeted to specific segments of your user base. By defining the audience first, you control who receives the survey invitation. This method complements the other delivery channels by providing a structured way to manage recipient lists.

When configuring your delivery settings, verify that your chosen channel aligns with your customer's preferred communication style. For web-based tools, ensure your JavaScript is correctly installed and configured to identify users. For filter-based tools, test your audience filters to ensure they capture the correct group of end users.

When building your NPS survey, the specific question types and text limits vary significantly between platforms. Understanding these constraints prevents data loss and ensures respondents can provide the feedback you need.

According to Vitally, you'll be able to select from 3 options in addition to the original emoji capability. This allows you to choose a presentation style that aligns with your brand voice.

Gainsight imposes stricter rules on the number of NPS questions you can include. According to Gainsight, only 1 NPS® question can be added to a survey. If your strategy requires multiple NPS measurements, you must structure them as separate surveys or rely on other question types for additional insights.

For more complex feedback, Gainsight offers the Matrix question type. According to Gainsight, the Matrix question type is a 2-dimensional version of the Multiple Choice question type. This format is useful when you need respondents to rate multiple items against the same scale, reducing the number of individual questions while capturing detailed data.

Text-based answers have specific character limits that affect how much detail respondents can provide. According to Gainsight, short text has a default character limit of 50, but you can select an option to configure 30-130 characters. Adjusting this setting allows you to balance the need for detailed feedback with the practical constraints of data entry and analysis.

Review your survey design in your chosen tool to ensure these format constraints align with your data collection goals.

You walk through 5 checks on one survey before you send it today. Branding: reject a logo with white text on a transparent background, because that text is lost against the email body. Logic: show an extra question only to people who selected any one of 0 through 6. Delivery: send email to a group of 20 people. Format: keep 1 score question, and allow 50 characters on each short text answer, inside the 30 to 130 range. Audience: include 10 quieter accounts and 10 happier accounts, not only the happiest 5.

Review your current NPS survey in your CS tool today and verify that your logo and brand colors are applied correctly before sending the next campaign.

Can I add more than one NPS question to a survey in Gainsight?

No, Gainsight restricts survey design to a single NPS® question. You cannot include additional NPS® questions within the same survey structure.

How do I ensure my logo displays correctly in Planhat emails?

If you have previously uploaded your logo to your Planhat tenant, enable the toggle switch to make it appear in the right side panel.

Does Vitally allow external data attachment on conditional questions?

No, conditional questions in Vitally do not attach external data to the response. They do not pre-fill, auto-submit, or attach any external data, such as an Account, Organization, or Custom Object value.

Can I send HubSpot surveys to contacts who are not marketing contacts?

Yes, contacts do not need to be set as marketing contacts to receive a survey by email, according to HubSpot.

What is the character limit for short text answers in Gainsight?

The default character limit for short text in Gainsight is 50 characters. According to Gainsight, you can select an option to configure the limit between 30 and 130 characters. Adjust this setting if you need more or less space for respondent input.

This post is general operational information, not legal advice about notice periods or renewal clauses. It does not promise that any method keeps a customer. A review model checked the facts once, and that check can miss errors, so open the sources before you act.