In Part 1 of this two-part blog series, we discussed the importance of recruiting the support necessary for your survey programs to succeed. The first part focused on recruiting executive buy-in and a project owner. The final type of support you need is from your survey respondents. Here is how you get it:
Recruiting Respondents: The best way to recruit the support of respondents is by raising awareness for the survey, and making sure it’s designed in a respondent-friendly way.
If you’re conducting an employee engagement survey, you can raise awareness by sending out email notifications with a link to the survey and an explanation of why it’s important for employees to provide their feedback. Sophisticated survey software even allows you to automate reminder emails to non-responders. In addition to emails, you should encourage participation during staff meetings, and internal company communication materials. To raise awareness for a customer satisfaction survey, you should use multiple channels to reach your intended audience. Take advantage of targeted emails, social media, and your company website to promote participation. As with employee engagement surveys, be sure to state the purpose of the survey, so respondents know that you value their time and that they will ultimately benefit from participating.
When it comes to survey design, you can take some simple steps to increase your response rates. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:
- Use an online survey solution – Online surveys are easier for organizations to administer. Emailing respondents with a link to your survey is cheaper and quicker than mailing paper surveys and waiting for the responses to trickle in. Online surveys are also easier for your respondents to complete. Advanced survey software automatically tracks who has and hasn’t responded, so you can follow up with reminder emails.
- Keep it as short as possible – Both your customers and employees are busy. Avoid survey fatigue by making every effort to keep your survey brief. If it’s too long, respondents won’t finish it or the quality of their answers will diminish as the survey wears on. Try to give respondents an estimation of how long it will take to complete before they start, so they know what to expect.
- Make your survey visually appealing – Design your survey so that it stays consistent with your brand. Don’t confuse participants with a look that is unprofessional or that completely deviates from the look and tone of your company website and communications.
- Employ survey logic – Survey software with advanced logic features are important. This allows you to direct respondents down a certain path based on their previous answers. By doing so, you can avoid making them answer questions that are redundant or irrelevant, decreasing the likelihood they’ll abandon the process mid-survey.
- Consider your timing - You need to be mindful of your employees’ time constraints and workflow and your customers’ busy schedules, specifically when it comes to establishing survey send times and deadlines. Typically, sending out surveys mid-week during the middle of the day drives up participation rates.
Surveys are necessary when it comes to collecting useful feedback; however, before you launch your program make sure you consider your respondents when you design it. For more information on web survey software and feedback programs, sign up for an Inquisium online demo.
Written by Alli Whalen
