Customer satisfaction surveys and market research surveys often have response rates in the 10% - 30% range. But regardless of the type of survey you are conducting, you can have a major effect on the number of respondents who complete your survey.
Eliminate the guesswork and follow these recommended design principles:
1. Inform respondents of the what, why, who, and how. Tell respondents as much information possible about: what your survey is asking, why you are asking it, who will see the results, and how you will use the results. Discuss how respondents will benefit from the results and how you will put the findings into action (and then be sure to follow through on your promises).
2. Ask overall satisfaction at the start of the survey. This will allow you to measure customers' overall impressions of your company, product or service before they start thinking of specific aspects of those relationships. Also, if they stop during the survey, you have already had a major question answered.
3. Address confidentiality and anonymity. Transparency is key here. If the survey results will be confidential and/or anonymous, make sure respondents know this (both in the introductory letter and start page of the survey). If respondents know their answers will not be linked to them in any way, they will be more likely to respond and more likely to provide truthful responses.
4. Use a 5-point satisfaction scale (not too long, not too short). Question scales should be easy to understand, descriptive and have balanced labels associated with the numbers.
5. Set a deadline. When you send out the initial survey notice, be sure to include a date by which people must respond. Ideally, your survey should be available from 7 - 10 days. If it is less than 7 days, people might not find the time to respond. If it is longer than 10 - 14 days, your request will get forgotten in their inbox.
6. Be consistent with your question wording. Consistency is critical in customer satisfaction research. Question scales should be consistent within a particular questionnaire as well as over time. The key measures of customer satisfaction, including the overall satisfaction question and those asking about specific aspects of the relationship, should all use the same scale.
7. Send reminders. Send a reminder email to respondents a few days before the survey is set to end. Be sure to re-state the what, why, who, and how in the reminder email.
8. Keep the survey short and focused. Focus on getting a read on your customers' relationship with you. Avoid the temptation to ask everything you've ever wanted to know. The more ground you try to cover, the more likely it is that respondents will abandon the survey due to fatigue. Also, tell people how much time the survey will take to complete so they know what to expect.
9. Ask demographic questions. Inquiring about demographics enables you to analyse the data by different subgroups - such as gender, age, income etc. Consider hypotheses about customer profiles that may affect satisfaction and include questions that capture that data.
10. Follow up. After the survey is complete, be sure to thank the respondents and follow up with them if you told them you would do so. Consider this an investment in the future. If you let people know that their time was not wasted, they will be more willing to respond to your surveys in the future.
Eliminate the guesswork and follow these recommended design principles:
1. Inform respondents of the what, why, who, and how. Tell respondents as much information possible about: what your survey is asking, why you are asking it, who will see the results, and how you will use the results. Discuss how respondents will benefit from the results and how you will put the findings into action (and then be sure to follow through on your promises).
2. Ask overall satisfaction at the start of the survey. This will allow you to measure customers' overall impressions of your company, product or service before they start thinking of specific aspects of those relationships. Also, if they stop during the survey, you have already had a major question answered.
3. Address confidentiality and anonymity. Transparency is key here. If the survey results will be confidential and/or anonymous, make sure respondents know this (both in the introductory letter and start page of the survey). If respondents know their answers will not be linked to them in any way, they will be more likely to respond and more likely to provide truthful responses.
4. Use a 5-point satisfaction scale (not too long, not too short). Question scales should be easy to understand, descriptive and have balanced labels associated with the numbers.
5. Set a deadline. When you send out the initial survey notice, be sure to include a date by which people must respond. Ideally, your survey should be available from 7 - 10 days. If it is less than 7 days, people might not find the time to respond. If it is longer than 10 - 14 days, your request will get forgotten in their inbox.
6. Be consistent with your question wording. Consistency is critical in customer satisfaction research. Question scales should be consistent within a particular questionnaire as well as over time. The key measures of customer satisfaction, including the overall satisfaction question and those asking about specific aspects of the relationship, should all use the same scale.
7. Send reminders. Send a reminder email to respondents a few days before the survey is set to end. Be sure to re-state the what, why, who, and how in the reminder email.
8. Keep the survey short and focused. Focus on getting a read on your customers' relationship with you. Avoid the temptation to ask everything you've ever wanted to know. The more ground you try to cover, the more likely it is that respondents will abandon the survey due to fatigue. Also, tell people how much time the survey will take to complete so they know what to expect.
9. Ask demographic questions. Inquiring about demographics enables you to analyse the data by different subgroups - such as gender, age, income etc. Consider hypotheses about customer profiles that may affect satisfaction and include questions that capture that data.
10. Follow up. After the survey is complete, be sure to thank the respondents and follow up with them if you told them you would do so. Consider this an investment in the future. If you let people know that their time was not wasted, they will be more willing to respond to your surveys in the future.
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