Surveys we all know are a great way to know how the business is performing, but in reality the survey results are not that reliable as only a few percentages of customers participate in them.
If you are taking out surveys based on traditional method then there are chances that you will be getting around 10% response maximum, but if it is online survey then you cannot expect more than 5%.
In order to retain customers, companies are putting in all kinds of efforts, but if they do not get proper feedback, then they are not sure whether they are on the right track or not.
Some companies try to get response from the customers by paying them for their effort, but that also falls short as online people tend to avoid questionnaires presented before them by the company.
It is a company’s belief that when you are sending out survey forms through emails, then you must be getting more than 50% reverted back to you in order to count your survey as successful.
People avoid the questionnaire sometimes because either they are too technical or too lengthy.
Today we will be discussing 20 ways to increase survey response rate.
20 Best Tips to Increase Online Survey Response Rates:
1. Target audience is very important for a Survey:
When you are carrying out your survey then it is very important that you decide your target audience first and then go for the kill.
When you know which group you are targeting then it becomes very easy for you to set the question accordingly and get a response out of them.
2. Short invitation email:
Short and simple sentences always works wonders, so if you keep your introduction of the survey short and simple then even the customers will have the urge to go through it.
Just place one link along with the text explaining the purpose of the survey and how the customer will be benefited if he participates in the survey.
3. Do not be so formal:
Try and be personal instead of being formal because they are your customer whom you want to know well on a personal level so that you can serve them better in the future with your services.
4. Short and sweet survey:
Ensure that your survey doesn’t take more than 5 minutes. In today’s fast moving life, nobody has the time to spare even 2-3 minutes of their life for something like this.
So it is better that you keep it short in order to get people interested in going through the survey.
5. Ask simple questions:
Do not ask your customers any complex question instead try and make things personal by asking them about their preferences in a simple language.
6. Respect privacy:
In the very first page provide the disclaimer stating that you will not disclose any personal information to anybody else.
Once they are sure about your privacy policy, then they will be providing you with exact figures.
7. Personalize the email:
When you are sending in any invitation to the customer so that they participate in the survey you can personalize your message by addressing them by their last name.
8. Cut short of instructions:
Do not start explaining each rule of the survey instead just cut it short. Once a person decides to take the survey then they are more interested in getting down with the survey rather than going through your instructions.
9. Impressive questions in subject line:
Try innovative subject line and start your email with a question that will grab the attention quickly
10. More than one way to complete the survey:
People love options and if you provide your customers with more than one option to complete the survey, then they will be more interested in taking the survey.
11. Send Reminder emails:
Keep reminding your customers about the survey that they need to take so that they don’t forget to submit it within the time frame.
Just make sure you do not send reminder emails to customers who have already submitted their surveys.
12. Offer gifts:
Allure your customers to take part in the survey. Provide them with gifts or incentives upon completing the survey.
13. Updated contact list:
When you are sending out an email invitation to the customers, make sure that you have the right list in your hand otherwise you will lose out on response.
14. Let the customers know beforehand:
It is always better to prepare your customer for the survey by informing them beforehand.
You can make use of newsletter to notify people about the upcoming survey in order to help your company grow.
15. Ask Logical questions:
Keep your questions logical and relevant to the business you do and which will help your business grow.
Don’t start asking anything under the sun, which is totally irrelevant.
16. Set the best launch time:
You need to calculate when is the best time to launch the survey in order to get maximum response. So do your research first, then take the plunge.
17. Ask for help:
If you are not sure about how to prepare a questionnaire that will help you in getting proper feedback, then it becomes very crucial that you take the help of some expert third party who will be helping you with the questionnaires.
You can also go online and look for the questionnaire sample and customize the questions to prepare a list of survey questions that you want to ask your customers.
18. Do not play tricks:
Tricks might attract customer on the first hand, but when they come to know that they have been tricked then it will create a negative impact on your company only.
So do not give away any wrong information to attract customer’s attention towards the survey.
19. Respond to the survey result:
Make your customer know that their views are being valued by the company by working on the survey result else customers will soon turn their back on the surveys of your company as they know it doesn’t matter to you what they thought about your services.
20. Present the results online
Whoever is participating finds it interesting to see what the outcome of the survey has been, so it is better if you publish the result online for everybody to view it.