by PKMitchell

Created on: February 12, 2009

Online surveys are extremely effective in gathering information about customer experiences and opinions. Your customers enjoy the convenience of taking the survey on their schedule, without having to bother with interruptive phone calls or preparing a written survey to be placed in the regular mail. A link to your online survey can be printed on receipts, directly on your product, on your website, or in print and broadcast advertisements.

To ensure the success of your online customer survey, you should follow some guidelines that will make it easier for your customer and give you the most benefit from the results. Primarily, an online survey cannot be extensive, to the point where the customer gives up or decides he or she does not have the time to deal with it. Ideally, an online survey will take no more than 5 or 10 minutes to complete and be no longer than 3-5 web pages.

A mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions work well, to provide quantifiable information as well as encourage additional comments from the customer. An open-ended question, such as "please tell us about your experiences with your server," can follow several multiple-choice questions on the quality of the service and food at a restaurant.

Incentives for the customer are also extremely effective in enticing the customer to participate in an online survey. A printable coupon at the completion of the survey, either available on the final page or via an email response, is enough of a carrot for your customer to spend 10 minutes answering your survey questions.

There are a number of survey services that can assist you in designing your survey and even host it online for you. Research the costs of these services, based on your needs and desired results. For example, whether you want statistical reports generated from the results or simply want to see the results as they are generated through the surveys themselves, will determine how much a service will charge. For smaller companies with limited staff and budget, these online survey services are worth the investment.

A survey can also be posted on your company's website if you have the capabilities to enter the correct codes for multiple choice as well as open-ended questions. The results can be tabulated into a report or be sent directly to a designated email address.

Before posting survey questions, using a service or on your own website, test the questions on a small group to determine the average length of time the entire survey will take, and whether the incentive to complete the survey is sufficient. Your customers will be happy to take a survey giving you the customer service and market research data that will prove invaluable to you as you plan for the future of your business but the time invested and the reward they receive at the end has to be worth it to them!

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