why your survey sucks. and how to fix it
TRANSCRIPT
Why your survey sucks. And How to fix it.
Traditional market research methods lead to paralysis or
irrelevant business decisions.
Long surveys, brainstorming focus groups, social media conversations … all these
methods are costly, slow and often disappointing when it comes to interpret data
properly.
There is a quantitative data overload. Plus, little clarity on what customers really want
can be made.
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Remember what happened to your last survey?
OMG, yes ! Survey results of the market research you bought from that supposedly famous
consulting firm were (multiple choice possible):
a) self-validating what you already knew.
b) leading to suboptimal business decisions.
c) pushing away the “truth questions”, dissolved by diplomatics.
d) not mentioning any first-hand crisp users verbatim.
You plan to launch a survey? Think twice on how you will do it.
Boring. Too many. Too long. Inaccurate.
Surveys are an established method of collecting quantitative data. Customers are prompted to
express their opinions through multiple-choice questionnaires and scripted interviews.
But the ease of creating and distributing online surveys with tools such as SurveyMonkey,
Vizir, Google Form have a few downsides.
We get too many surveys in our mailbox. They are too time-consuming for the respondent.
And increasingly ignored or viewed as spam. How many people take anyway the time to
notice your email ? To open it, to read it? And to, give authentic answers, till the end?
In the absence of human interaction, there is no assurance that your respondents are
answering sensibly and truthfully.
You would like a quick fix for your survey ?
Rewards for completing the survey may provide the wrong incentive and attract the wrong
profiles. How can you guarantee that the answers are sincere enough?
Scoring a shopping experience or policy action on a 1-to-10 ladder scale offers no insight
about your customer’s context, wishes and behaviors.
Even when conducted by telephone or in person, the accuracy of opinion polls has recently
been cast in doubt. Yes, it happened in 2016. Massive failure. By incorrectly forecasting the
outcome of votes such as the Brexit referendum and the US elections results.
So, how to collect better qualitative and quantitative insights ?
Asking questions is just not enough anymore.
Your organisation must notably engage their most valuable audience or customers in a
genuine two-way conversation. Your organisation must value their feedback. And offer them
a high quality experience.
Symantra helps companies, NGOs and public organisations collect and synthesize better
insights. From user stories, voices, experiences, pain points. Meaning better qualitative and
quantitative data for better decision-making.
Citizens and customers are considered as trusted partners. Throughout the product or service
life-cycle. Not just at the beginning or end of it.
Want to know more about our socialnext technology and methodology ?
Want to know how we recently reached a completion rate above 50% from busy
entrepreneurs and creative people in Belgium, for one of our loyal clients? (surveys
have usually a 10% max. completion rate).
Drop me an email.
Anne Magnus is the Director at Symantra. And the Business Development Director of
Socialnext for online insights communities for better market research.