What are Customer Survey Best Practices?

Customer survey best practices are fundamental approaches to build effective surveys to understand your customers.

Customer surveys can be one of the prime ways to collect feedback from your target audience – provided you can work around the two biggest survey problems. The first problem is the small minority of respondents who are going to lie no matter what. This most frequently applies to questions about a person’s beliefs, behavior or belonging. The second issue is respondents who give inaccurate answers without intending to, typically when it comes to predicting their future behavior.Keeping the two survey problems at a minimum, while maximizing your results, is possible with 11 best practices we've outlined below.

‍Keep it Short...Unless

‍Survey brevity is key to ensuring people actually complete your questionnaire. Not only should the overall survey length be manageable, but the questions themselves should be as to-the-point as possible. Eliminate unnecessary verbiage, using the least amount of words while still retaining the question’s overall intent. Unless you are a professional market research firm that has expertise on pulling sample and writing surveys, we do suggest you keep it short.

‍Keep it Focused

‍Good surveys always have an end goal in mind, and the best surveys only feature questions that serve to fulfill that goal. Kill off any and all questions that do not have an obvious purpose and substantial reason for being included. Even seemingly harmless questions can be bothersome, adding to the overall survey length that can make people flee. For instance, you may not need to know how respondents first heard about your company. And you may not even need to know their names.

‍Use Strategically-Placed, Open-Ended Questions

‍Open-ended questions can provide some of the most insightful feedback, information you’d never glean from a straight-up multiple choice or rating inquiry. Use open questions wisely, and never as the first few questions on the list. Start with shorter, quicker questions to establish a sense of progress, using open-ended questions near the finale to let respondents elaborate on their thoughts. Open questions work well when coupled with a rating question like initially asking people to rate a specific attribute and then asking why they feel that way.

‍Take Advantage of the Simple Yes or No

‍When you have a question that requires a simple response, try to frame it with a Yes or No response option. These simple, closed-ended questions work well at the beginning of a survey to get the ball rolling. They also cut to the chase quickly while eliminating an ego bias. Asking people if they're considered an expert in a certain field, for instance, takes away the ego that comes with asking them to rate their expertise in that same field.

‍Stick to One Point at a Time

‍People need to time to digest and respond to each question, which means you want to stick to one point – and one question – at a time. A rapid succession of questions rolled into one, or questions with multiple many points to consider, are surefire ways to receive half-hearted responses from people looking to escape your question quagmire as quickly as possible. That is, of course, if your bombardment didn’t scare off them off entirely.

‍Keep Rating Scales Consistent

‍This may be a small point, but it has a huge impact on the level of confusion your survey can create. When using rating scales, make sure you keep the positive and negative ends of the scales consistent. If you ask someone to rate an attribute from 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, keep the same framework for other rating questions.In this case, the low end of the scale should always be the least likely, the least important and the number that indicates the respondent strongly disagrees. The high end of the scale should indicate the most likely, the most important, and the number that indicates strong agreement.

‍Steer Clear of Loaded and Leading Questions

‍Loaded questions are packed with emotionally charged language and assumptions, such as asking if people are planning to buy a foreign-made car that takes away American jobs. Here they may be afraid to say “yes” since the question points out the negative impact on the US economy.Leading questions push respondents toward a certain answer, like asking people their thoughts on your new powerful, cutting-edge website. Here they’re led to respond in a positive manner, lest they disagree that your new site is powerful and cutting-edge.Both types of questions can lead to inaccurate answers and skewed results.

‍Avoid All Types of Assumptions

‍Assuming that all your respondents are in-the-know with the latest industry lingo and buzzwords is another faux pas. Skip the acronyms in favor of full terminology. For example, replace the acronym SaaS in favor of Software as a Service.Assuming your respondents will instantly answer questions with detailed specifics is another false belief. Telling them you're interested in their specific, detailed feedback increases the chances you'll actually get it.

‍Pay Attention to Timing

‍The highest open and click-through rates for surveys happen on Monday, Friday and Sunday, with the quality of responses comparable on all three days. Launching your survey at the beginning of the week or the weekend can net you the greatest number of responses.

‍Reward Respondents

‍Giving people some type of freebie or bonus for taking your survey can increase response rates by 5 to 20 percent. Giveaways don’t tend to bring down the quality of responses. Just make sure the bonus is something you can easily afford if the tactic works all too well and you end up with thousands of completed surveys.

‍Give Thanks

‍Even if you can't give respondents a freebie, thank them and let them know you value their time and feedback. More importantly, let them know their responses will be used to improve your product, service, or offering - that they made a difference today.Arming yourself with these 11 strategies can help ensure your customer survey is one that provides high accuracy, response rates and overall success – while keeping incorrect responses and false answers at a minimum.

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