Client Surveys That Work Wonders

Knowing what your ideal clients expect from you is one of the best ways to ensure you keep existing clients and add happy new ones. You want to deliver the programs and services that your clients want and need from you. So it seems obvious then, that you would elicit feedback from them to keep your finger on the pulse of what's important. However, often you may find yourself stuck, not knowing how to write or conduct a written survey. Here are some things to remember when you conduct your next survey.

Get Clear

Decide what you want to know and why you want to know it. This will help you design clear questions that will help you make solid business decisions from the results you receive.

Timing

Conducting a survey at least once a year is ideal. Twice is even better. A general survey is great to do once a year to make sure you're covering all the hot issues that your clients are dealing with, and if you're lucky, you'll uncover something new. You can also do a very specific survey from time to time. For example, let's say you want to know what your ezine readers like and dislike about your ezine publication. You can design a survey that is specific about your ezine. Or let's just say that you want to check in with your audience about one specific question. You can do that almost any time throughout the year.

Survey Length

You want your survey to be complete, but not a chore for people to complete. If you can keep your survey to around ten simple questions, that is ideal. By keeping your survey short, you are forced to make sure that you are only asking the questions that are most relevant and will provide you with the information that will be most useful to you.

Type of Questions

Multiple-choice questions are great to use because they take less time to complete for the respondent. It also can help the person understand more about what you are asking. If you use a rating scale, for example 1-10 with 10 being the highest level of agreement, use the same scale throughout your survey. If you mix it up with different scales and numbers, people will get confused and not complete the survey. Avoid leading questions or statements. For example, "How much do love the introduction music in the audio program you purchased," leads the respondent in one way and makes an assumption on behalf of the respondent. Change that to, "Did the music in the audio program add to your enjoyment of the program?"

Structure

Design your survey in a logical progression if possible. For example, if you have general questions start with those and then lead into more specific questions. Or, if you have questions about using your web site, start with questions about your home page, your opt-in process and so forth.

Offer a Thank You Gift

Even if your survey only takes 3-5 minutes for a person to take, you'll get a lot more people to respond if you offer a valuable gift to each person who completes the survey. Offer a bonus audio, report or 15 minute consultation to each person, and make sure they know about the special gift when you ask them to respond. Make it enticing enough so they'll want to fill out your survey right away!

There are many ways to collect information from your clients and potential clients, but remember these tips when you do your next written survey. Remember, make it as simple as possible for people to complete and then take action on what you uncover.