Exit Survey Questions (Employee & Customer Templates)

When someone leaves — an employee resigning or a customer canceling — an exit survey is your last, best chance to learn why. Done well, it surfaces patterns you can fix before more people follow. This guide gives you exit survey questions for both situations, ready templates, and tips to get honest answers.

Employee exit survey questions

Ask about the real reasons and the experience, not just logistics.

• What is the main reason you are leaving?
• How long have you been considering leaving?
• What did you enjoy most about working here?
• What could have been better about your role or team?
• Did you feel supported by your manager? (Likert)
• Were your contributions recognized? (Likert)
• How would you rate work-life balance? (Likert)
• Would you recommend this company as a place to work? (Likert)
• What one change would have made you stay?
• Any additional feedback?

Keep it confidential and make clear the responses inform improvements, so people answer honestly.

Build an exit survey free with FormMaker

Customer exit / cancellation survey questions

Keep it short — someone canceling will not fill out a long form.

• What is the main reason you are canceling? (multiple choice)
• Which best describes your situation? (too expensive, missing feature, switched tools, no longer needed, other)
• What could we have done to keep you?
• How likely are you to return in the future? (Likert)
• Would you recommend us to others? (Likert)
• Anything else you would like us to know?

A single, well-designed multiple-choice question plus one open field often beats a long survey here.

Tips for exit surveys

• Keep it short. People on their way out have little patience. Prioritize your most important questions.
• Mix scale and open-ended. Rating questions give you trends; open fields give you the "why."
• Ask the reason first. Lead with the one question you most need answered in case they stop early.
• Make it anonymous where possible. Especially for employees, anonymity encourages candor.
• Close the loop. Aggregate responses and actually act on the patterns you see.

Turn exit feedback into retention

The point of an exit survey is not the exit — it is everyone who has not left yet. Track the top reasons over time. If "too expensive" or "missing feature" or "poor manager support" keeps appearing, you have found a retention problem worth fixing at the source.

Build your exit survey in minutes

In FormMaker, add a required "main reason" question, a few Likert ratings, and an open comment field. Publish it, then trigger it in your offboarding flow or cancellation page. Responses land in your dashboard where you can spot the recurring reasons and act before more people leave.

Create your exit survey free with FormMaker

FAQ

What should an exit survey include?

The main reason for leaving, a few rating questions on key aspects of the experience, and an open field for anything else. Lead with the reason in case people stop early.

Should exit surveys be anonymous?

For employees, anonymity usually produces more honest answers. For customer cancellations, keeping it short matters more than anonymity.

How long should an exit survey be?

Short. Five to ten focused questions for employees, and just two or three for customer cancellations, so people actually finish.

How do I use exit survey results?

Aggregate responses and watch for recurring reasons. Persistent themes point to problems you can fix to retain the people who have not left yet.