Use an online survey provider:The chances of clients responding to your survey increase when it comes in an easy-to-use format. Quality online service providers facilitate your ability to provide such surveys, so engage the services of one that works best for you. Providers to consider include SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com), SurveyGizmo (www.surveygizmo.com), QuestionPro (www.questionpro.com), Polldaddy (www.polldaddy.com) and Toluna QuickSurveys (www.quicksurveys.com).

Brevity matters: In surveys, long questions that are phrased clunkily might elicit an eye-roll and a click away. Therefore, keep questions short and to the point. Use as few words as possible in your questions. Make sure, also, to avoid corporate speak and verbose verbiage. Plain English is best.

Only ask essential questions: People tend to abandon longer surveys. To keep would-be respondents engaged, determine exactly what it is you most need to find out from customers and then formulate questions based on this. Strive to ask as few questions as possible to help you gain the crucial knowledge you desire.

Be specific and ask questions in a neutral tone: There’s an inherent temptation to ask leading questions that nudge survey takers toward responding in a certain way. But by manipulating queries, you negate the whole point of a customer service survey. So instead of “What do you think of the great customer service we provide?” go with something more focused like,  “Does our responsiveness meet your service expectations?”

Proceed one step at a time: You’ll get better quality responses and more people will finish your survey if you ask one question at a time. “What do you think of our responsiveness, creativity and pricing?” asks too much. Break it into different questions. “What do you think of our responsiveness?” And so on from there.

Pace the survey appropriately: The initial questions in the survey should be easy and engaging. Starting with simpler multiple-choice and rating questions (“1” strongly disagree; “5” strongly agree) can prove more effective than leading with open-ended questions, which at the outset might intimidate people. Throughout the survey, ensure questions pertaining to particular topics are grouped together.

Ask good open-ended questions: While avoiding open-ended questions at the beginning is wise, you should nonetheless include such queries in your survey. Open-ended questions empower participants to more thoroughly articulate their precise feelings about you and your company. Such feedback is highly valuable in helping you determine how you can evolve into a better promotional consultant. Consider slipping open-ended questions in after a related multiple-choice query. “How would you describe our responsiveness: A. Poor. B. Average. C. Good. D. Great.” Then the subsequent question can be: “Why do you feel the way you do about the responsiveness we provide?”

Action Items

• Evaluate online survey providers to see which is best for you.
• Determine specific information you’d like to gain about how clients’ perceive you. Then, formulate questions that will yield the desired insights.

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