Cvent Survey Blog

From packaging of products to the millions spent on advertisements annually, organizations continuously take steps to gain mind share and have their brand be the first on consumers minds. Differentiating your organization, products and services is becoming increasingly more important to marketing teams.

Online surveys are an excellent way to increase brand awareness. You’re probably already conduct surveys to collect feedback and opinions from employees, customers, clients and members. Why not remind them who's asking? By branding your surveys, not only are you finding another cost effective way to get your brand in front of consumers, but you’re collecting valuable data. If you're smart (and you must be if you're reading this), you are using the data collected to make improvements to your business and keep clients and customers coming back.

Time after time, aesthetically appealing web surveys have been proven to increase response rates. You spend time and thought writing survey questions and creating the surveys in an online survey software tool. It's important to always add your finishing touch: your signature, if you will. Incorporating your brand directly into your surveys is an excellent way many Cvent Web Surveys' clients have demonstrated professionalism, care for their customers and generate more awareness. Branding your online survey doesn't just mean adding your organization's logo in the header, you can change the colors to match the color scheme you use throughout your marketing collateral and website. The next time you decide to send your email survey to customers, take advantage of their attention and remind them you care about their opinions and meeting their needs by branding your online survey and email invitations.

Using online surveys to gather business intelligence may not be always be an automatic instinct for your organization. However, customer survey questionnaires are in fact a great way to evaluate your competition and gather insights about the business value propositions your clients rate high.

If you employ surveys to prospects and leads who leave the sales funnel, you can discover even more valuable information about why prospects chose another product or service. Were their features better? Did they they prefer the competition's follow up during the sales process?

When creating a questionnaire for competitive research, it's important to set goals. As with all surveys, whether it's a business survey, customer service questionnaire, employee evaluation or course evaluation survey, you should always "begin at the end." Define what the organization wants to get out of the project. Setting a goal before beginning the questionnaire design will better guide you through the survey creation process.

Our colleagues at Cvent's Meetings & Events blog recently posted some valuable tips on localizing event marketing. We think these ideas can easily transfer to other forms of international marketing initiatives, including web surveys and email marketing (to solicit survey responses of course!). In fact, followers of the blog may remember our past posts about how market research can help you expand globally and how existing survey results, such as the TNS Global survey on e-commerce, can help guide discussions about international plans.

Some key take-aways from the Meetings & Events post include:

• Consider expanding into international countries that speak your language. Cvent chose to expand into English-speaking countries because we were already doing business in English. With product marketing, changes beyond messaging need to be made once you start expanding outside of your language, and those could get costly.

• Speak their language. Even though you are expanding into a country whose language you speak, there may be subtle differences: "utilize" vs. "utilise," "theater" vs. "theatre," or "two weeks" vs. "fortnight." Do your research to uncover these subtle nuances.

If you already have international customers, you can still gather feedback on product and service enhancements with customer surveys. You can also launch additional product and global market research surveys to discover other needs of the market. While the world is shrinking as communication and technology improves, we still need to keep in mind cultural differences when marketing across country borders.

When creating a web based survey, always consider the respondent experience. As MR Heretic at Market Research Deathwatch believes, "Instead of trying to find people to survey, build a worthwhile experience and they will find you."

MR Heretic recommends three ways to create an engaging web experience:

1. Make it relevant
2. Make it easy
3. Give the user control

If you use web survey software to create online surveys, these three tasks become less daunting. Cvent's Web Survey software gives you total control over the graphical templates, the survey questions, and, most importantly, the total respondent experience. The first step to increasing survey response rates and reducing survey abandonment is to keep your survey questions relevant and easy to answer.

To read the rest of MR Heretic's thoughts, visit Market Research Deathwatch.

A recent 2009 survey by Mintel revealed the percentage of Americans who "almost always" or "regularly" purchase green products has remained the same over the past year at 36 percent. The percentage of American consumers who almost always or regularly purchase green products tripled last year from 12 percent in 2007 to 36 percent in 2008.

The survey also discovered 54 percent of respondents would purchase more sustainable, green products if their price point wasn’t so much higher than non-green products. The response skyrocketed to 74 percent when respondents were asked if they would purchase more organic food if it were less expensive.

If part of your business plan is to become more environmentally conscious and begin—or continue—selling green products, surveys such as this one can reveal a lot. For example, perhaps your survey also uncovers that one of the barriers you need to overcome in the marketplace is cost. Your marketing department can share that feedback with the supply chain and production departments, who can then take steps to decrease costs without decreasing margins.

At the Cvent Survey blog, we enjoy sharing some of our best tips, tricks and tools of the online survey trade. As one of our blog readers, we can only assume you enjoy getting them too!

So, we want to invite you to join Cvent for one of our brand-new best practices webinars. In just 45 minutes, we cover topics such as the five fundamentals of effective web surveys:

• Defining survey goals and strategies
• Designing surveys for usability
• Crafting meaningful questions and insightful responses
• Increasing survey delivery and response rates
• Using survey results to make effective decisions

We also share case studies about how clients have improved their surveys—and the data they receive—by following these fundamentals.

Cvent hosts a number of these free webinars each week. Visit our online calendar to sign up for one today!

A recent customer satisfaction, complaints and loyalty study in the UK discovered over half of respondents would rather take their business elsewhere than complain. A similar number of respondents expressed their desire to make a complaint but said it was too involved and time consuming.

Do you want the first sign of a problem to come from customers walking away? Of course not. With the growth of online channels (social networking sites, blogs, YouTube, etc.) to give feedback, it's even more important to take the time to listen. Customer frustration is no longer an individual struggle, but rather a shared conversation across members of online channels.

Surveys such as the UK customer loyalty online survey should tell you something: surveying customers and taking action based on the gathered data is essential. Online or Internet surveys are a great channel to gather feedback from customers and clients. If you're not asking if there is a problem, chances are they're not going to tell you first—they're just going to leave.

With high customer acquisition costs and the current state of the global economy, customer retention should be at the forefront of every organization's business objectives. It's not as difficult as you might think to get a customer survey program in place. With a web based customer survey software such as Cvent, getting an online survey launched can take mere minutes. Why wouldn't you put a customer survey program in place when it could increase revenue in the long term?

If you've never conducted a survey before, you're likely looking for some sample survey questions to get started. Cvent offers a wealth of survey templates to jumpstart any survey project, whether it's a customer feedback, market research or employee satisfaction survey.

All our sample surveys follow our own advice: keep it simple and easy to understand. If you want to customize questions to fit organizational and survey goals, we encourage you to do that. All of our web survey templates are a great resource for examples of survey questions.

Take a peek at a couple of customer satisfaction survey questions in our customer satisfaction survey template:





To learn more about Cvent's survey templates, sign up for one of our free webinars.

When it comes to market research surveys, it’s virtually impossible to reach your entire population. Don’t panic and think you need to survey everyone—you don’t. There are several sampling survey methods you’ll need to consider, keeping in mind practical factors such as accessibility and affordability. A carefully selected sample will reflect the same data as the entire population.

There are two types of sampling: random and non-random.

Random, or probability, sampling method. This type of sampling method gives all members of a known population an equal chance of being selected for the market research study. Several statistical techniques that you’ll use to evaluate the data and confirm or reject hypotheses assume survey samples were selected at random.

There are four main types of random sampling methods:

1. Simple random sampling
2. Systematic sampling
3. Stratified sampling
4. Clustered sampling

Non-random, or non-probability, sampling method. This sampling method, by default, results in some kind of sampling biased and is less desirable than random sampling. Always try to adopt a random sampling method first. Only if you deem that random sampling is not possible should you select a non-random sampling method. The most common form of non-probability sampling is quota sampling.

If you’re conducting a client survey or a customer satisfaction survey, these survey sampling methods can apply to you as well. It’s not necessary to always survey your entire client base. In fact, it's often best to spread out your survey projects so that you’re not always asking the same customers to complete your surveys.

If you've never conducted a survey before, you're likely looking for some sample survey questions to get started. Cvent offers a wealth of survey templates to jumpstart any survey project, whether it's a customer feedback, market research or employee satisfaction survey.

All our sample surveys follow our own advice: keep it simple and easy to understand. If you want to customize questions to fit organizational and survey goals, we encourage you to do that. All of our web survey templates are a great resource for examples of survey questions.

Take a peek at a couple of customer satisfaction survey questions in our customer satisfaction survey template:




Customer Satisfaction Sample Question

To learn more about Cvent's survey templates, sign up for one of our free webinars.

Last week, we blogged about how conducting a survey creates expectations, whether it's a staff opinion survey or a customer service feedback form. Regarding this topic, Seth Godin's recent Direct from Consumer Marketing post caught our eye. 

In this post, Godin asks if organizations really want to hear from customers and clients—particularly if they're unhappy. If you're in the business of selling something, we assume you would respond the way Godin anticipates: of course you want to hear from them!

Still, actions speak louder than words. If you conduct a survey and ignore the responses, you send the message that you're not interested in what customers have to say.

Beginning a conversation with a client is sometimes the hardest part. Online surveys to measure customer satisfaction or gather product feedback are an ideal way to open the lines of communication and learn more about your customers. But you have to analyze the data; you have to act. You have to listen. Meet the expectations you create through a survey campaign and listen to your customers, and you'll increase customer loyalty and customer retention. 

Our colleagues at the Cvent Meetings & Events blog unveiled some big news about Cvent last week: the addition of our brand new sign on the Cvent headquarters building in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Having long been recognized as a leading provider of web survey software in the industry, we're excited to make our company more familiar to the local public in general.

Thousands of people will see our sign every day as they shop, dine and drive through Tysons Corner. After all, it's the 7th largest business district in the country; over 150,000 peole live and work in the area.

During the day, the 75-square-foot sign displays our standard blue and black Cvent logo. At night, energy-efficient LED lights shine through the vinyl surface, illuminating the logo in blue and white. With each letter nearly four feet in height, the Cvent sign is among the clearest and brightest in the area.

Recently one of our Cvent staffers was asked to take a survey on the housing market. She was shocked by some of the questions, due to the insufficient answer choices. Take the sample survey question below:



Reading that question, you can likely understand the cognitive dissonance respondents may feel while completing the survey. Our first thought was, "How are we even supposed to answer that?"

As we've mentioned before, you need to keep in mind the respondent's time when designing survey questions. Questions should be simple, straightforward, and easy to answer without minutes of debate. The more thought the questionnaire requires, the more likely you’ll face high abandonment rates.

The biggest takeaway from this question, though, is PROOFREAD! PROOFREAD! PROOFREAD! If you're the survey designer, make sure someone else reads over the survey a few time before launching—and always remember to test! There's a reason Cvent's software lets you preview surveys and test launch them. Make the most of these features to ensure a logical, error-free online survey.

The organization who sent their survey out will have to throw out this question and won't gain any value from it. Don't let your questions meet the same fate.

Think about the last time a company asked you about your last purchase or visit. Did you expect your opinion to resonate and influence a change (particularly if you were dissatisfied)? Or, consider the last time you were asked to fill out an employee survey. Did you expect management and HR to consider your thoughts when moving forward with a decision? Of course you did, otherwise you wouldn't have taken the time to complete the questionnaire.

When conducting surveys of clients, customers or employees, you're setting expectations that the organization is going to consider the survey responses before moving forward. If customers have a terrible experience with your brand, product or service and they complete your customer satisfaction survey, they're going to expect steps be taken to ensure their next experience is much better. If their next experience is the same, or worse, it's going to hurt any loyalty they feel towards the organization.

The same concept rings true for employee surveys. And, as we discussed in an earlier post, employee satisfaction has a direct impact on customer satisfaction.

If you're going to conduct surveys—and we clearly suggest you do, as they're a vital part of any organization— make sure you act on the responses. Surveys aren't just an exercise to forget about after launching. Ignoring responses can cause real damage to your perceived trustworthiness and your brand.

If you’re considering doing employee surveys, whether they’re staff opinion surveys or job satisfaction surveys, consider conducting them online. Cvent clients who switched from the paper-and-pencil survey method to web based surveys saw a dramatic increase in survey responses. Using an online survey software company such as Cvent has a number of benefits, including:

• Reducing concerns about anonymity
• Using email reminders to decrease survey abandonment
• Gaining more insight into employee opinions due to longer responses
• Collecting data quickly and conveniently via the web
• Detecting “ballot box stuffing” by limiting the number of responses

If you're part of a high-tech company or a small firm, you’re likely to see the highest response rates from using Internet surveys. Surveyors conducting employee surveys should aim for a 75 percent response rate. Following best practices could yield response rates as high as 80 percent to 90 percent.

If you’re currently surveying employees and getting less than a 65 percent rate of response, sign up for one of our product demonstrations to learn more about how you can increase response rates for your HR surveys.

We recently came across an article in Customer Service Magazine that pointed out that your customers are not just comparing their experience with you to your competitors, but to any outstanding experience they've had with any company. This should prompt you to wonder, How does your customer experience stack up to organizations such as L.L. Bean, which recently ranked number one in retail customer service?

Customer service should be important to every organization because it links back to customer retention and customer satisfaction. Using customer satisfaction surveys is a great way to find out how your customers feel about your service and their experience. To find out how measuring customer satisfaction can lead to increased customer satisfaction and retention, sign up for one of our best practice webinars.

When it comes to customer service in retail, L.L. Bean is number one, according to the fourth annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers' Choice survey. Joining L.L.Bean on the top 10 list for best customer service are, from number 2 to number 10: Overstock.com, Zappos.com, Amazon.com, Lands' End, Newegg, JC Penney, QVC, Coldwater Creek, and Nordstrom.

In today's economy, staying committed to excellent customer service can be a challenge, but it's an important one to meet. As Glenda McNeal, senior vice president for Retail and Emerging Industries at American Express Merchant Services, said, "Particularly in a challenging economic environment, retailers who distinguish themselves through service are rewarded with increased customer loyalty and spending."

What do your latest online surveys say about your organization's customer service?

If you're using email as part of your marketing strategy or to gather online survey responses, there are a couple of email marketing design tips you may want to keep in mind:

• It's not all about the graphics. By default, many email clients, such as Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook 2007, block images. Each of them handle the blocked images differently. Gmail, for example, will display the Alt image tags, so readers can at least understand what they're not seeing.

When Outlook 2007 blocks images, though, it also blocks the Alt tag as well. The reader doesn't know what it the picture is or why it's important, just the fact that they can't see it.

• Don't fill the top of your email with a graphic. Because many email clients utilize a preview pane, the area at the top of your email may be the only part of the email that recipients see. If you just have a graphic (that may be being blocked anyway), it's hard to convince readers to continue reading to your message. If they are not scrolling through the email, they wont know you want them to complete a survey.

• Put your call to action in writing. As we explained in the first tip, some clients are blocking images by default. So, if you put a call to action hidden within a graphic, it won’t be seen by recipients with blocked images. If they can't see your "Complete our survey" button, they're certainly not going to do it.

If the information is critical to your message, do not put it in an image. Instead, use fancy text and colors to draw attention to your call to action.

• Never use cascading style sheets or CSS in an HTML email. Email clients, particularly Outlook, ignore them. If you use a cascading style sheet to define how your email will look, the result won't look anything like what you intended. Stick to inline styles.

Also, when designing emails, do not rely on new HTML rules. Though it's become more sophisticated over the years, email clients have not kept up.

We recommend HTML emails and use them in our own email marketing, but we also suggest testing your messaging to ensure it's getting the click-throughs you want (and need). You may want to consider using survey reminders and fewer graphics to ensure your message isn't being blocked multiple times by email clients. This will help boost your responses rate as well!

Increased email deliverability means increased survey responses, which allows for better customer analysis or marketing research data. We recently posted a couple of tips to help improve the deliverability of your email marketing, and now we're sharing even more:

• Compelling content. ISPs monitor click-throughs and open rates, too. What does this mean? If you aren't delivering compelling content resulting in click-throughs to your online survey, your next email may be marked as spam and might never make it to the recipient’s inbox.

Deliver gripping subject lines and emails every time to help boost your response rates. This helps your current and future surveys.

• Respect respondent’s time. We cannot stress this enough. Emailing your contacts too often can trigger excess spam complaints. This does not apply to just those using email marketing for surveys, it applies to the whole organization.

If your customer service department is sending out customer service feedback forms and your marketing department is sending our promotional emails to the same contacts too often, you could be hurting your email reputation without even realizing it.

Your respondents are busy people, if they begin to hear from you too often and feel you're wasting their time, they will report you. To avoid this potential deliverability nightmare, experts recommend centralizing email lists so every email is logged and tracked.

• Use real email addresses. If you have bounces going to an email address that doesn’t exist, it's going to damage your deliverability. Including "Do not reply to this message" in your email shouldn't hurt as long as the email address you're sending from is real. But as we suggested previously, you want those replies and bounce backs to help you cleanse your list and boost deliverability.

Make sure to file these tips in your email marketing best practices folder and start using them today. You may be surprised at how a few changes could boost your response numbers.

If you run web surveys and use email marketing to solicit responses, you may encounter deliverability issues. The common myth surrounding "Undeliverable" is that ISPs and organizations block messaging at the server level. We're not suggesting ISPs and organizations aren’t the cause for some of your undeliverables, but they can’t shoulder all the blame.

There are some things marketers should be doing to boost deliverability, especially when your customer research, training evaluation or employee satisfaction surveys rely on it. Here are a couple quick tips to improve email deliverability:

• Clean your lists. Following best practices to increase open rates and survey responses through email marketing doesn't matter if you ignore bounce backs. Using a web based survey company such as Cvent helps keep contact lists clean by automatically cleansing your database. It marks undeliverables so that those contacts never receive another email. Beyond that, you should have a monitored email address for bounce backs.

• Monitor results in real time. As a best practice, we suggest testing any survey before launching it to your entire list. This should include message testing to a segment of the list you plan to use. If you have the wrong messaging go out to your contacts, you're going to be hurt by spam complaints. Monitoring results in real time helps you identify and fix small problems before they ruin the integrity of your entire set of contacts.