Surveys can be an extremely important and informative tool to use when your company wants to gather information about what consumers think of your products or services. These surveys can ask many questions or they can ask just one open-ended question. Although the structure of these feedback surveys can generally be as flexible as the writer wants, there are a few specific guidelines that companies should use when writing them.
Specific language is key when asking the consumer to give feedback about your product. You must ensure that the consumer knows exactly what they are being asked. All nouns should be given and not implied.
For example, when asking if the consumer liked your brand of toaster, the question should be stated like so:
Did you enjoy using the super heating feature of the X9ZT Toaster?
The incorrect way to put this very information would be as follows:
Did you enjoy using the super heating feature of it?
This language should be avoided even when the name of the product is used previously. Not only does this get rid of any confusion the consumer may have, but it exposes the consumer to the brand name many times.
Another thing that should be taken into consideration when creating and administering feedback surveys is whether to use open-ended questions or to use radial bubbles. Radial bubbles can be very useful when there are only a few data points that can be tested. Extremely accurate data can be taken from surveys such as this and these easy to read bubbles can lead to less confusion by the consumer. Open-ended questions should be used when there is a multitude of answers possible. One way to avoid using open-ended questions could be to use a radial bubble question and leave one radial that says “other”, allowing the survey taker to fill in a blank when they select that choice.
In order to get all of the information needed, it must be decided which medium to use when administering the survey. Most surveys are now administered online, which can be extremely useful. People often feel more comfortable and are more apt to answer how they truly feel when they are in their own homes and are not being watched as they take the survey. Clinical environments and face-to-face surveys can cause takers to feel judged as they answer questions, and many are less likely to answer the questions truthfully.
All of these scenarios must be taken into consideration before administering a survey to ensure that all information that is needed is obtained.