“How’s my driving?”
You’ve seen that sticker on the big rigs that lumber along with you on the highway. Ever wonder why? That is more spot checking, but the information matters to the transportation company. (At least, one hopes.)
You may think you know what your members think and feel about your space, but unless you ask, it’s all a hunch. An educated guess. But now it’s the end of the year, it’s a perfect moment to pause and ask:
How did we really do?
Net promoter scores (NPS) can be helpful and informative for this. The NPS is a useful metric for businesses to assess customer loyalty and satisfaction, and it can range from -100 to +100, with a higher score indicating a more favorable result.
But as the team at SparkToro noted, it’s not always a full representation.
“NPS doesn’t always correlate with what actually drives revenue. A "9" promoter won’t guarantee expansion, and a "6" detractor might still renew if your product is indispensable. (And let's not forget the perfect happy customers who reflexively click on "8" when you know in your heart they wanted to give you a "10.") When teams optimize for NPS, they risk chasing sentiment instead of substance — nudging customers for survey responses instead of solving the problems that impact retention, referrals, or upsells.”
That is why you ask in multiple ways across multiple channels. And an end‑of‑year member survey gives you detailed insight. Here’s what it can unlock:
Retention intelligence. A robust survey gives you early warning of dissatisfaction and churn‑risk. As one source notes: “Organizations that regularly conduct satisfaction surveys report renewal rates 8 to 10 percentage points higher than those that don’t.” (Glue Up)
Programming alignment. Instead of assuming which benefits or events hit home, you ask your members. As one guide puts it: a satisfaction survey “is a structured tool built to plan, execute, and measure your programs, benefits, and engagement efforts and align them with what members expect.” (Glue Up)
Strategic planning input. A survey becomes your baseline for next year: what to scale, drop, tweak. Surveys stop you reacting and start you planning with data.
Community trust and advocacy. When you follow up on survey feedback (with real change), members feel heard, seen, valued… which in turn builds loyalty and referrals.
What you can learn from a member survey
It's all about asking the right questions in more than one way, but not overdoing it so answering them is onerous. Here are key areas you can uncover with the right questions:
Overall satisfaction
How do members feel about their membership with your space? How likely are they to renew, recommend, upgrade? These are core “score‑card” questions. In member‑organisation circles, the three steady‑state questions include: overall satisfaction, likelihood to renew, and likelihood to recommend. (ASAE)
Value and benefits usage
Which of your benefits, amenities, events, services are being used—and which are under‑utilised? The truth may surprise you. (Jotform)
Engagement and community
How connected do members feel? Do they network, collaborate, feel part of something bigger? Research shows member‑needs in coworking spaces include “to meet people that can lead to business opportunities” and “to cooperate/collaborate with relevant actors”. (research.chalmers.se)
Where are the friction points?
On the space, the WiFi, the event schedule, the membership tiers? Where do members feel we fall short?
Segmented insight
You might find that longtime members have different needs than new ones, or private‑office members differ from hot‑desk members. One source warns: averaging across all members hides differences. (Glue Up)
Predictive signals
Survey data isn’t just descriptive — it’s predictive. If someone says low likelihood to renew, you can intervene early.
How to design your member survey
- Keep it concise and focused. Long, generic surveys lose respondents and give shallow insights. One guide warns: “Long surveys filled with vague questions dilute response quality.” (Glue Up)
- Ask the right mix of quantitative + qualitative:
- Quantitative: e.g., “On a scale of 1‑5 how satisfied are you with your membership experience?”
- Qualitative: “What one improvement would make your membership more valuable in the coming year?”
- Use proven question templates. For example, the Jotform blog lists membership survey questions like: “How long have you been a member?”, “Would you recommend our organization to someone you know?”, “Which benefit do you like least and why?” (Jotform)
- Segment your respondents. Break out by membership tier, usage type, length of membership, etc. The Glue Up article emphasises: “Without segmentation means leaders make decisions on incomplete data”. (Glue Up)
- Communicate purpose and follow‑up. Tell your members why you’re asking, how you’ll use their feedback—and then show them results. One source warns: “Nothing erodes credibility faster than asking for input and then doing nothing with it.” (Glue Up)
- Time the survey well. Since you’re at year‑end, now is ideal. But also ensure you’re not bombarding members with other asks.
- Close the loop. After you collect responses, pick key findings, communicate them to your community, and act on them. Then use next year’s survey to track improvement.
What to do with the results of your member survey
Identify at‑risk segments (e.g., scores low on renewal likelihood) → initiate outreach (check‑in call, special offer, member quote). Then adjust your benefit mix: boost what is valued, deprioritise what isn’t.
Feed data into next year’s budget/programming: which events to expand, which amenities to refresh. Build member communication: e.g., “Here’s what you told us, and here’s what we’ll change.” Then you can track progress over time: make next‑year survey a benchmark for year‑over‑year improvement
Integrate with your space management system (for example, tie survey responses with usage data from your coworking software) so you get both perception + actual behaviour. As one article states: “A survey measures what members think they do, but looking at the transactional data shows us what they actually do.” (ASAE)
5 easy‑to‑use survey tools for your coworking space
Here are five solid survey platforms you can spin up quickly for your end‑of‑year member survey:
Google Forms: Free, simple, easy to embed or link.
Typeform: Visually friendly, mobile‑first, good for engagement.
SurveyMonkey: Established survey tool, robust analytics, good for segmentation.
Jotform: Highly customizable, drag‑and‑drop builder. As their blog says: “You need a platform that … allows you to create surveys from scratch or fully customize form templates.” (Jotform)
Microsoft Forms: Especially if you’re in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem; easy for internal staff, automatic reporting.
📄 And as a jumping off point, here is a template you can customize.
Running an end‑of‑year survey is a strategic move for your coworking business. It gives you a mirror on what your members really think, how you performed, and where next year’s wins will happen.
When you keep the survey concise, targeted, segmented, and you act on the results, you’ll build deeper loyalty, stronger community, and better retention. Just what your space needs.
