How to Create Surveys

Although surveys are at the bottom of the to-do list because of so many other critical deadlines, surveys are one of the most important things a business can do. Not only does it provide valuable feedback from the customer which can directly improve your product or service if implemented correctly, it reminds the customer that their opinion matters and that they have a stake in what they are purchasing.

Ok, now that you are convinced you need to create a survey, how do you go about it?

When creating a survey, DO:
-Keep it brief. Your customer's time is valuable just as yours is and no one wants to spend hours answering question, after question, after question...
-Consider offering the survey online. If your customer is computer savvy, they may be able to whip through your survey quicker than a survey on paper. Plus as an added bonus, most online survey software tallies the results for you and provides tables and charts with interpretations of the data.

-Provide clear instructions at the top of the survey. Really brainstorm and consider all things you are asking of the customer and include that in the instructions. What one person thinks is self explanatory can mean something completely different to some one else so make it clear what you are looking for.
-Provide incentive. I am more likely to fill out a survey if there is something in it for me like a free cup of coffee or a gift card.

When creating a survey, DON'T:
-Ask leading leading questions. You want honest answers from your customer to help improve your business.
-Ask two part questions. Customers may get confused or lazy and not answer both questions which won't be helpful in the long run.
-Ask something you already know. It is a waste of space and the customers time, plus it doesn't yield anything useful.
-If your survey has been created online, make sure you require that at least a few of the critical questions be answered. Otherwise, if they are all left optional, your customer can skip the entire survey. It may seem obvious, but that survey will be useless, so don't overlook setting some of the questions to "required."

To create online surveys, consider using http://www.surveymonkey.com