Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
One of the best ways to engage with your customers is through surveys. Surveys allow you to know what your customers want and need in products and services so you can better cater your offerings, and they also provide insights on the ways customers want to engage with your company. Here, we share four best practices for crafting compelling surveys your customers will actually answer.
Utilize professional survey platforms. Numerous companies and platforms exist to help you craft and send customer surveys, including several that have free options. Some of the most popular options include:
Keep it short. When writing surveys, keep in mind the amount of time your customer will need to answer the questions and err on the side of short and simple. Some survey platforms even show you how long a survey you’re creating will take a customer to complete. Remove unnecessary phrasing and use multiple choice questions whenever possible to make it easier and quicker for customers to answer.
Ask one question at a time. Along with keeping questions short, you should keep your questions simple, only asking one question at a time. It’s okay to follow up a yes or no question like “do you utilize our website” with a “why or why not” question, but in general stick to one question per number. Too many questions all at once can get confusing and may cause the survey taker to just skip the question.
Explain the why of the survey. At the beginning of the survey, explain what you hope to achieve with the survey answers and how you will use the data. If people understand why the survey is important, they may be more likely to want to help out. It also doesn’t hurt to offer an incentive for completing the survey, such as an entry into a drawing for a gift card.
Learn how customer surveys can boost your business here.
