Best questions for saas customer survey about upgrade intent

Here are some of the best questions for a SaaS customer survey about upgrade intent, plus tips on how to create them. If you want to build a survey like this, you can generate one with Specific in seconds—it’s fast and easy, even for these tricky questions.

Best open-ended questions for SaaS customer survey about upgrade intent

Open-ended questions let people describe their upgrade motivations, blockers, and ideas in their own words. We use these when we want context, stories, and nuance—the kinds of details you won’t get from a checkbox. Given that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience and that granular insight helps shape that experience, these questions are essential for surfacing why your SaaS customers consider (or don’t consider) upgrading. [1]

1. What would make you consider upgrading your current plan?

2. Can you describe a situation where you needed features not available in your current plan?

3. If you’re hesitating to upgrade, what are your main reasons?

4. How does our product fit into your workflow right now—and how could it fit even better?

5. Have any recent product changes influenced your interest in upgrading? Please explain.

6. What value do you expect to get from upgrading to a higher plan?

7. Are there features you wish we offered on higher tiers that would motivate you to upgrade?

8. Is there anything about the pricing or upgrade process that you find confusing or discouraging?

9. In your opinion, what are the biggest gaps between our plans?

10. What alternatives did you consider before thinking about upgrading with us?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for SaaS customer survey about upgrade intent

We turn to single-select multiple-choice questions when we want to quantify how many users share the same motivation or blocker, or when we want to gently “nudge” the conversation with a few digestible options. Sometimes, it’s less intimidating for SaaS customers to choose from a list rather than type a full answer—plus, it warms them up for deeper feedback if you follow up.

Question: What’s the main reason you are considering upgrading your plan?

• Need access to advanced features

• Require higher usage limits

• Better support or SLAs

• Integration with other tools

• Other

Question: Which current limitation is most likely to prompt you to upgrade?

• Data/storage caps

• Team collaboration restrictions

• Lack of automation/customization

• Customer support speed

• Other

Question: Are you satisfied with your current plan’s value for price?

• Very satisfied

• Somewhat satisfied

• Neutral

• Not very satisfied

• Not at all satisfied

When to follow up with "why?" After a customer picks an option, always follow up with “why?” or “Can you elaborate?” if you want to get the story behind their choice. For example, if someone selects “Lack of automation/customization,” asking why brings you specific pain points that help shape your roadmap.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include “Other” to let SaaS customers surface motivations or blockers that you haven’t anticipated—follow-up questions can then uncover new themes you’d otherwise miss.

NPS question: is it relevant for SaaS customer upgrade intent?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for overall satisfaction—it’s very powerful for understanding how likely existing customers are to recommend your product (and by extension, how enthusiastic they might be about upgrading). By layering an NPS-type question into your upgrade intent survey, you can spot not only potential churners but also your super-fans who might be primed for an upsell. If you want a tailored NPS survey for SaaS customer upgrade intent, use this Specific survey builder—it’s preset to ask the right questions for this situation.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are a game changer for uncovering nuanced insights—learn more in our feature overview of automated AI followups. In real SaaS customer interviews, we often get surface-level answers at first, but smart AI-powered follow-ups can quickly drill down on specifics, making your data 10x more useful.

Specific’s AI prompts those follow-ups in real time based on context, mimicking a great moderator. This is enormous for survey creators: you capture relevant details without having to chase respondents by email. Ultimately, it means your customer insights become richer, and respondents actually enjoy the process—one reason why AI-powered surveys see completion rates of 70-80%, compared to 45-50% for traditional surveys. [2]

• SaaS Customer: “Needed more features.”

• AI follow-up: “Which features are currently missing from your plan that you need most?”

How many followups to ask? Typically, 2-3 follow-up questions are enough to get meaningful insights, but you can set Specific to skip to the next section once all key information is collected. This helps avoid survey fatigue and keeps the conversation moving.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of cold forms, you’re having a back-and-forth. It puts your users at ease—and you get clarity, context, and actionable knowledge.

AI survey response analysis: Analyzing open-ended data is no longer a slog. Thanks to AI, even walls of unstructured customer text are distilled into themes, top blockers, trends and more—check out our guide to AI analysis of survey responses if you want to dive in.

AI-powered follow-up questions are a new way to survey—try creating a survey and see how much easier and more insightful the experience is.

Prompting GPT for great SaaS customer upgrade intent survey questions

Want to brainstorm your own list? Start with a broad prompt like this for ChatGPT or any GPT-based tool:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for SaaS customer survey about upgrade intent.

For even better results, always give the AI more context. Specify your role, describe your product, mention your target customer, and the purpose of your survey:

I’m a product manager for a SaaS analytics platform serving SMBs. Our customers can upgrade for advanced analytics features. Suggest 10 open-ended survey questions to discover what motivates users to upgrade, what blockers they face, and how we can encourage higher-tier adoption.

Once you have a draft, ask the AI to organize and refine:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Then go deeper—pick the categories that matter for your business, and ask for specifics:

Generate 10 questions for categories Feature Needs and Pricing Concerns.

This iterative process refines and targets your upgrade intent questions. For best results, try our guided AI survey maker—it walks you through every step.

What is a conversational survey, and why AI survey examples matter

A conversational survey isn’t just a digital form—it’s a dynamic, chat-like experience that adapts to each user. With AI survey examples, you simulate a real conversation: ask a question, get an answer, probe further if needed, and move on when the context is clear. Because the AI interprets and responds in real time, you can go much deeper than a standard form. That’s why AI-driven conversational surveys can improve response rates by up to 25% and completion rates by up to 30%—it feels like talking to a product expert, not filling out a census. [3]

Here's a quick comparison:

Why use AI for SaaS customer surveys? The AI survey generator intelligently curates each question, tailors follow-ups on the fly, and helps you focus on analysis (not wrangling data or managing templates). It’s more efficient, extracts richer insights, and it meets today’s user expectations—73% of consumers say customer experience shapes their choices. [1]

Specific doesn’t just offer an AI survey generator—it’s purpose-built for a best-in-class conversational survey experience, making it seamless for both you and your SaaS customers to give and get feedback. If you’re curious about building your own, check out our step-by-step guide on how to create a SaaS customer upgrade intent survey.

See this upgrade intent survey example now

Experience an upgrade intent survey built for real SaaS customers—see how AI follow-ups, frictionless UX, and deep insights come together to unlock conversion opportunities. Start your survey now to capture the upgrade intent that drives your growth.