7 Costly Mistakes that Will Mess Up Your Customer Surveys
Recently, we published a piece on Horrible Customer Intercept Interviews Mistakes most companies make. Today, we’re shifting our focus to some of the equally horrible mistakes that can impact the effectiveness of your organization’s customer survey efforts.
Both intercept interviews and customer surveys are two of the most effective strategies for market research. The feedback generated can prove very valuable in helping to improve customer experience significantly. Here are seven (7) major impediments to the success of most surveys;
1. Improper survey introduction
We always recommend keeping your surveys short and straight to the point. However, we also don’t recommend bombarding your audience with a survey without setting the stage right for the process. Every effective survey begins with informing the respondents and setting their expectations.
The key goals and objectives of that research must be made known to respondents. Helping them grasp the real purpose of the survey can also impact how seriously they take it, which in turn helps improve the accuracy and integrity of the survey.
2. Not incentivizing the survey
The human attention span is eight (8) measly seconds.
Isn’t it bold of you to automatically assume that these inattentive creatures would sacrifice a few seconds or minutes of their time to answer those questions you’ve compiled?
While not everyone will likely respond to your survey, it’s easier to get as much as possible to respond when you can demonstrate that there’s value in it for them. Discount codes, coupons, or even something as little as $10 gift cards can easily do the trick.
3. Not asking the right questions
You probably have clear goals and objectives for the survey.
There are answers you need that demand that you craft the right questions to get the right responses. Failing to ask the right questions renders the whole process useless even before it has begun. Along with crafting your questions the right way, it’s also very important you leave no room for respondents to give wrong responses or inaccurate answers.
4. Asking the wrong people
So much for asking the right questions, but it won’t matter if the audience is not right. It’s like giving bread to a thirsty man - it’s hardly going to yield meaningful results. Once you’ve committed your time to develop the right survey questions, then it’s also important to ensure that the right audience is targeted so you can ensure higher response rates and greater response accuracy.
5. Asking vague or complex questions
Ask most people who have participated in surveys some of the things they hate and most will tell you two things. The first cause of annoyance is when your survey is incredibly long that it bores them. The other gripe is when the questions are too complex.
If you’ve gained the attention of a respondent, either of these two things can make you lose it as quickly as possible. Ensure questions are clear and concise enough to not confuse or distract the respondents. Keep them short and on point!
6. Stressing your audience with too frequent surveys
Is your agency the type that sends out surveys as frequently as possible?
This bad tactic can wear on your audience. It’s similar to the mythical story of the boy that cried wolf. If your company develops a reputation for conducting surveys too frequently, you can trust that over time, your customers will also develop an attitude of not responding to your surveys
7. Not testing your survey before the actual surveying
There are a lot of benefits that come with testing your survey before actually surveying your audience. Not only does it help you put yourself in the shoes of your customers to ensure you’re asking the right questions, but it also help you uncover errors, typos, and mistakes lurking within your survey.
Conclusion
Customer survey works when it’s not poorly constructed. To ensure maximum returns on your market research dollars, you want to ensure mistakes are eliminated to improve response rates as well as the accuracy of the responses generated. Because of these, you want to avoid any of the seven mistakes above as they can negatively impact the success of your surveys.
At DSG Associates, we’re experts at intercept interviews, customer surveys, mystery shopping, and a variety of other effective market research and survey services.
If you’re keen on exploring how any of these can benefit your business, our experts at DSG Associates will be more than happy to help you get started. Contact us today at DSG Associates. We’re just a message or phone call away!