Two survey personal experiences I had recently point out some good – and bad – practices. You may have had similar experiences.
In the first, I was asked to take a survey by
my local grocery store through a notice on a receipt. I was offered a chance to win $100. The survey took less than 10 minutes. All of the questions were logical and directly related to my actual experiences in the store. In addition, I felt my answers would be valuable as I had both positive and negative feedback to give. I left my email (so that I could get my prize if I won) and was surprised that within 12 hours I got an email from the store manager with some specific ideas about how they were going to use the feedback!
In the second, I fit the demographic needed for a survey and possible focus group being advertised through a local magazine; participants would get a small thank-you prize for the survey and $200 if selected for the focus group. What happened next was confusing; I emailed and scheduled a 20-minute phone-based survey for later in the week. Then, I got a follow-up call right away. The caller said she only needed a few minutes, but after a bit of introduction about the study, she launched into what seemed like survey questions. They ranged from my age and demographics to the open ended “What do you think about banks?” I stopped the conversation after a few minutes. I ended up confused – was that the survey, or not? Was I going to be included in the focus group? Why did I get a call two days earlier than expected? I did not receive any follow-up or a thank you, and ended up reaching out to clarify that I had in fact participated in the survey.
What can we learn from these experiences?
- Be explicit about what you are asking. If you want someone to take a survey, give them a simple way to do so.
- If there is a prize involved, be honest – it was quite clear that I only had a chance of winning the gift card in the first survey, so I wasn’t disappointed that I did not ultimately win.
- Keep the questions short and relevant. In the first example, my questions were directly related to my experience and easy to answer. In the second, the questions were so big and vague that I wasn’t sure how to respond or what their intended use was.
- If possible, follow-up after you receive the response to your survey. You can do so individually, or give people a link to results when available, including a few comments about how results will be used.
These practices will insure a better reaction to your surveys, both now and in the future if you intend to go back to the same group to do any follow-up or comparison surveys.
Two survey personal experiences I had recently point out some good – and bad – practices. You may have had similar experiences.
In the first, I was asked to take a survey by my local grocery store through a notice on a receipt. I was offered a chance to win $100. The survey took less than 10 minutes. All of the questions were logical and directly related to my actual experiences in the store. In addition, I felt my answers would be valuable as I had both positive and negative feedback to give. I left my email (so that I could get my prize if I won) and was surprised that within 12 hours I got an email from the store manager with some specific ideas about how they were going to use the feedback!
In the second, I fit the demographic needed for a survey and possible focus group being advertised through a local magazine; participants would get a small thank-you prize for the survey and $200 if selected for the focus group. What happened next was confusing; I emailed and scheduled a 20-minute phone-based survey for later in the week. Then, I got a follow-up call right away. The caller said she only needed a few minutes, but after a bit of introduction about the study, she launched into what seemed like survey questions. They ranged from my age and demographics to the open ended “What do you think about banks?” I stopped the conversation after a few minutes. I ended up confused – was that the survey, or not? Was I going to be included in the focus group? Why did I get a call two days earlier than expected? I did not receive any follow-up or a thank you, and ended up reaching out to clarify that I had in fact participated in the survey.
What can we learn from these experiences?