Surveys are a critical tool for gathering valuable feedback from customers, but one of the most significant challenges that organizations face is getting a high response rate. In this blog, I’ll share effective strategies we've used with our customers to design purposeful, engaging surveys as well as offer some tips to help boost your response rates.
1. Define the Purpose of the Survey
The first step is that when designing your survey, you should begin by clearly defining your survey’s purpose to make sure that every question aligns with your overall goal and drives actionable insights. You can do this by thinking about your objectives, audience and follow up actions by:
Clarifying Your Objective: Before you start designing your survey, clearly define what you are asking, who you are asking, and how you will use the responses. This foundational step ensures that every question serves a specific purpose.
Targeting the Right Audience: Identify the right audience for each survey. Are you targeting executives, economic buyers, end-users, or administrators? Tailoring your questions to the right group is crucial for obtaining relevant and actionable feedback.
Planning for Follow-up Action: Understand how you will use the data to drive improvements. For example, if an onboarding survey asks, "Do you feel prepared to start implementation?" determine the actions you will take based on different responses. This will help in crafting questions that are both meaningful and actionable.
2. Focus on Survey Design
Once you have clearly defined the purpose of your survey, it's important to create a concise, well-structured survey that aligns with the customer journey and balances both quantitative and qualitative questions. To do this, keep the following in mind:
Keep it Concise and Focused: Research from SurveyMonkey indicates that survey abandonment rates increase for surveys that take longer than 7-8 minutes. Aim to keep your survey short and focused, ideally within 2-5 minutes with approximately 3-10 questions.
Data Triggers and Timing: Ensure your survey is triggered by relevant data points and timed appropriately in the customer journey. The survey should be designed to ask them about a specific experience or point in their customer journey, and sending a survey too long after an event can result in lower engagement as respondents may not recall the details accurately.
Match Questions to Appropriate Scales: Ensure your questions align with the appropriate scales. For instance, use a satisfaction scale (e.g., Very Satisfied to Very Unsatisfied) for questions about customer satisfaction, and an agreement scale (e.g., Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) for statements about levels of agreement. Make sure answer options are mutually exclusive and provide clear examples to guide respondents.
Balance Qualitative and Quantitative Questions: Quantitative questions are numerical and allow for statistical analysis such as rating satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. Qualitative questions provide deeper insights through open-ended responses. While they require more effort to analyze, qualitative questions can uncover the reasons behind quantitative scores, offering richer information.
3. Clearly Communicate Survey Length
Let respondents know how long the survey will take upfront and be accurate about the time. For example, state that the survey will take 3-5 minutes to complete. This transparency can encourage participation by setting clear expectations.
4. Emphasize the “What's In It For Me”
Inform respondents how their feedback will be used. For example, explain that their input will help shape the product roadmap or improve customer service. Also, after collecting responses, share the survey results and any actions taken based on the feedback. This demonstrates that their input is valued and acted upon, encouraging future participation. It is also good to follow up with specific types of responders. If they are promoters, maybe you want to ask them to be a reference, or if they are detractors, someone on your executive team could follow up to address any concerns or issues.
5. Optimize Survey Timing
In our practice, we have suggested that Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are good times to send surveys. Another approach is to send surveys around 4 PM when many professionals are winding down their day. However, consider your specific audience's schedule and time zones when determining the best time to send.
6. Craft Compelling Subject Lines
Make sure your customer receives the survey in the first place. You can avoid spam triggers by ensuring your subject lines do not contain words or phrases that would trigger spam filters such as $$$, 100% Free, or Guaranteed. Before sending your email, use something like ChatGPT or another similar resource to make sure your subject line won’t stop your email from getting to your contact. Also you want a subject line that encourages your customers to open the email and conveys the importance of their feedback. For example, "Your Feedback Matters - Quick Survey Inside" emphasizes the value of their participation and the importance of the survey.
7. Offer Incentives
Instead of offering a chance to win a prize, provide something for everyone who completes the survey. Options include gift cards for the first respondents, charity donations, exclusive access to products or events, discounts on future purchases, or early access to product roadmaps. For example, one organization offered a 40% discount on a future conference ticket, increasing the likelihood of my attendance.
In summary, surveys are a powerful tool for gathering valuable feedback, but maximizing response rates requires thoughtful design and strategy. By defining a clear purpose, targeting the right audience, creating engaging and concise surveys, optimizing timing, crafting compelling subject lines, and offering meaningful incentives, you can boost participation and turn your surveys into actionable insights. Implement these strategies to elevate your survey efforts and gain a deeper understanding of your customers' needs.
The author, Kate Griffin, is VP of Professional Services at nCloud Integrators, an industry leader in helping customers drive impactful business outcomes using customer success, professional services and people analytic solutions and strategies.
Follow us on LinkedIn
Kommentare