Survey Company

With many survey companies offering web based survey tools, it's easier than ever to gather customer feedback. But are you going about it in the right way?

Often times organizations who solicit customer feedback with web surveys fail to gather true, honest opinions by using questionnaires that back respondents into a corner or don't afford them the opportunity to voice their opinion. A common mistake with a lot of customer satisfaction surveys is asking too many irrelevant questions. For example, did you really need to know the last time a customer visited your website if they are discussing a purchase from the store?

Check out a few tips for creating a customer satisfaction survey when you want to know if a customer or client would recommend your organization:

• Start off by asking respondents if they would recommend your organization, product or service based on their most recent experience; make "Yes," "No," and "I don't know" possible answers;

• Use advanced logic to find out more about why they picked the previous answer, providing either a pre-determined list of reasons or a comment box;

• Ask the respondent to describe how he or she would recommend (or recommend against) your organization, product or service; this will help you understand a lot about your offering and where customers see value;

• Finally, ask how you could improve. Respondents have a different frame of reference than you do—their ideas may be so-so, or they may be the most innovative you've ever heard.

Of course, you may need to use additional logic to ask other appropriate questions, but the main idea is to keep it short and always allow respondents to answer “I don’t know.” If you force them to pick an answer, you skew your own data and ultimately learn very little. Use a short, relevant question approach to gain valuable information without frustrating respondents with long surveys and questions for which they have no opinion.