Category: Customer Surveys

1. Audience:  Consider the audience for your survey.  Are you striving for opinions from all customers and target markets?  Or would you like to hone in on a particular age segment, such as young adults?  Once you select your audience, define your objectives with your target in mind, then craft the survey questions.  For a survey that pins down the most valuable data, companies customize question wording, selection, and survey length to best fit the audience.
    
2. Approach:   Based on your target audience, choose the appropriate survey delivery method, including mail, email, phone, online, or a combination. Older respondents may prefer mail surveys, and may be more willing to complete a longer survey. Busy professionals, on the other hand, may prefer to respond to a five-question survey via mobile device. If you want to reach all segments, offer the survey through different mediums.
    

1. A concise survey invitation increases response rates. Basics such as good grammar and correct spelling are obvious, but companies also need to consider brief wording.  Companies should partner with the survey provider to develop a unique invitation that will capture customer’s attention and encourage them to respond.
    
2. Communicate how long it will take to complete the survey– and deliver as promised.  Differing opinions exist about survey length, and it can be challenging for companies to balance the need for customer feedback in many areas while offering a survey that is not too lengthy.  Many times the invitation asks customers to complete a “short” survey, however, when customers dial in or access the link to the survey, they discover that survey completion takes longer than expected.  With a long survey, customers may abandon the survey before completion.  And worse, they probably will not participate in a future survey based on this one experience.

   Our experience shows that surveys with a maximum of 10 questions receive the best response rates.  Conduct trials internally and make note of how long the IVR or web survey takes to complete. After completing the internal tests, include how long it will take customers to complete the survey on the invitation.
    

As Chase LeBlanc, author of "High Impact Hospitality, Upgrade Your Purpose, Performance and Profits" points out in his recent Fastcasual.com article, employee involvement is one of the top ten ways to motivate managers.