Survey
A Survey in Salesforce is a standard object that represents a single survey definition: its name, status, default language, and the metadata that drives the survey-taking experience.
Definition
A Survey in Salesforce is a standard object that represents a single survey definition: its name, status, default language, and the metadata that drives the survey-taking experience. It is the central record in Salesforce Surveys, the click-based feedback tool included with the platform, and in the paid Salesforce Feedback Management add-on. Each Survey record is the parent of a related data model that captures everything from questions to individual answers.
In the API the object is simply named Survey. One Survey owns its versions, pages, questions, and choices, while related objects track who was invited, who responded, and what each person answered. Because every channel writes back to the same records, an admin can analyze email, web, QR-code, and Flow-triggered responses together. Surveys are available in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
How the Survey object anchors the feedback data model
Salesforce Surveys versus Feedback Management
Salesforce Surveys is the entry-level capability included with the platform. It lets you build and send surveys, but the number of external responses you can collect is capped. Salesforce Feedback Management is the paid upgrade, sold through licenses such as the Survey Response Pack, Feedback Management Starter, and Feedback Management Growth. It removes the response cap and adds advanced features: merge fields for personalization, data maps that create or update records from answers, multi-language translation, and sentiment analysis on free-text responses. Most basic CSAT and NPS programs run fine on the included tier. High-volume or sophisticated programs need a Feedback Management license. The advanced features are gated behind a permission, often surfaced as Salesforce Surveys Advanced Features in a permission set. A good early step is to audit your expected annual external-response volume. Overages on the included tier can surprise procurement late in a project, so size the license before you design the program rather than after responses start flowing in.
The related objects under a Survey
A Survey rarely lives alone. SurveyVersion records track changes over time, so editing a live survey creates a new version instead of corrupting collected data. SurveyPage records group questions into sections, and SurveyQuestion records define each prompt. SurveyQuestionChoice records hold the selectable options for choice-style questions. On the response side, SurveyInvitation records who was asked and through which channel, SurveyResponse represents one participant's overall submission with status and completion time, and SurveyQuestionResponse stores each individual answer. SurveySubject links a survey or a response to another record, such as a Case or an Account, so feedback has business context. This relational shape is powerful but not casual to query. A single completed survey can span a Survey, a SurveyVersion, several SurveyQuestion rows, one SurveyResponse, and many SurveyQuestionResponse rows. Plan your reports and data model around that fan-out before you promise stakeholders a simple dashboard.
Question types you can build
The Survey Builder supports a wide range of question types so you can match the prompt to the answer you need. Common ones include single-select and multi-select choice, free-text short and long answer, rating, ranking, slider, and Net Promoter Score. NPS is a first-class type, which matters because it standardizes the zero-to-ten scale and the promoter, passive, and detractor grouping that programs report on. Score questions and matrix-style layouts let you collect structured numeric feedback. Feedback Management adds richer options, including image-based questions for visual choices. Each question type maps to fields on the SurveyQuestion record and stores answers in a consistent way on SurveyQuestionResponse. Picking the right type early avoids painful migrations later. A free-text box feels flexible, but it cannot be charted without sentiment analysis or manual tagging. A rating or NPS question gives you clean numeric data from day one. Reserve open text for the one or two moments where the verbatim comment genuinely adds value beyond a score.
Distribution channels and how responses unify
One reason teams standardize on Salesforce Surveys is that every distribution channel writes back to the same records. You can email an invitation to a person or a list, share a public link or a QR code, embed the survey in an Experience Cloud site or a web page, attach it to a post-chat or digital-engagement flow, or send it automatically with Flow. A Flow can fire a survey invitation when a Case closes for CSAT, or after a renewal for relationship NPS, without anyone remembering to click send. Whatever the channel, the resulting SurveyInvitation and SurveyResponse rows roll up under the same Survey definition. That unification is the real payoff. Instead of three disconnected tools for email, web, and in-app feedback, you get one queryable model. The practical tip is to design distribution as part of the survey, not as an afterthought. Merge fields and invitation context only populate correctly when the sending channel passes the right participant and subject data.
Branching and conditional logic
Surveys support branching and conditional logic so respondents only see questions that apply to them. A page can be shown or skipped based on an earlier answer. Someone who rates a service interaction Very Dissatisfied can branch straight to a What went wrong page, while a five-out-of-five respondent skips the follow-up entirely. This is configured in the Survey Builder rather than through direct field edits, and the underlying rules live on the survey metadata, including SurveyQuestionChoice records. Branching does more than tidy the experience. Shorter, relevant surveys finish at higher rates, and the data you collect is cleaner because people are not forced to answer questions that do not fit their situation. Merge fields pair well with branching. You can greet a respondent by name and reference the specific Case or product they are giving feedback on, which raises trust and completion. Test every branch path before launch. A misrouted condition can trap respondents on a dead-end page or hide a question you needed answered.
Analyzing and acting on survey data
Survey responses are queryable through standard reports and SOQL, but the relational structure makes ad-hoc analysis harder than a flat custom object. For operational views, today's CSAT or this quarter's NPS, native reports and dashboards work well, especially with a custom report type built over the survey objects. For longitudinal trends across many surveys, most mature programs build CRM Analytics dashboards or export data to a business intelligence tool. Feedback Management adds sentiment analysis, which scores free-text answers as positive, neutral, or negative and even generates summaries, turning verbatims into something you can chart. Data maps close the loop by creating or updating records from responses, for example logging a follow-up task when a detractor leaves a comment. The lesson is that collecting feedback is the easy half. The value comes from routing it back into the CRM where agents and managers already work. Decide up front what action each answer should trigger, then build the maps, reports, and alerts that make the feedback impossible to ignore.
Create a survey in the Survey Builder
You build a survey in the Survey Builder after enabling Surveys in Setup. Here is the path from an empty org to a sendable survey.
- Enable Surveys in Setup
In Setup, use Quick Find to open Survey Settings and toggle Surveys to Enabled. Choose a default Experience Cloud site to host the survey runtime if prompted. This one-time step turns on the Surveys app and the underlying objects.
- Grant the right permissions
Create or assign a permission set that lets users create, send, and respond to surveys. For paid capabilities, enable Salesforce Surveys Advanced Features so merge fields, data maps, and translation become available to those users.
- Create the Survey and add questions
Open the Surveys app, click New, and name the survey. In the Survey Builder, add pages and questions, choosing the type that fits each prompt, such as NPS, rating, single-select, or free text. Set the default language for the first version.
- Add logic and personalization
Configure branching so respondents skip irrelevant pages, and insert merge fields to reference the participant or related record. Optionally build a data map so answers create or update records like Cases or follow-up tasks.
- Activate and distribute
Activate the survey to lock a version, then choose a channel: email invitation, public link, QR code, Experience Cloud embed, or a Flow-triggered invitation. Send a test to yourself before going live.
The label that identifies the Survey record and appears in the Surveys list. Pick a name that signals the program and audience, such as Post-Case CSAT.
The base language for the first survey version. Additional languages are added as translated versions under Feedback Management.
A survey needs one or more SurveyQuestion records before it can be activated and sent. The builder will not let you distribute an empty survey.
- Surveys require a default Experience Cloud site to serve the survey runtime, so enable a site before you expect public links to work.
- The included tier caps external responses. Confirm your license covers expected volume before launching a high-traffic survey.
- Editing a live survey creates a new SurveyVersion rather than changing old responses, so historical answers stay tied to the version that collected them.
- Merge fields and subject context only populate when the sending channel passes the right participant and record, so test each distribution path.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Survey.
- Salesforce Feedback ManagementSalesforce
- Set Up Salesforce Feedback ManagementSalesforce
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Survey.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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