Identifying topics to be explored is the tip of the iceberg when writing a survey. The most difficult step comes in the phrasing of questions.
Online survey producer Survey Monkey says good survey questions are simple and unbiased.
No customer should be required to fill out a survey, which means every second they spend doing so is time they’re not spending on their business. It also means they are unlikely to complete with a survey that asks questions they can’t easily understand or answer.
Combining multiple queries into one question is one common mistake that can doom a customer survey, because it makes it “impossible for you to interpret [customers’] answers,” Survey Monkey says.
A company that wants to gauge its sales team’s response to customers via phone, email and text should ask different questions specific to each communication tool. This ensures a responder doesn’t merge its thoughts on the three tools to one response, and gives the surveyor insights on each method if overall customer opinion is different.
Simplicity also means avoiding excessive caveats or stipulations to questions every responder is expected to answer. Asking a customer a yes or no question and following with a direct secondary question can be valuable; but should not be overused. A good survey also should be written to allow customers to clearly pass over a secondary question if it does not apply to them.
And when a survey is updated to ask better questions, positive results are seen immediately, says Liz Macpherson, customer service manager at Haldex.
