{"id":514,"date":"2019-07-17T16:49:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T13:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chatra.io\/blog\/?p=514"},"modified":"2019-11-20T17:16:06","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T14:16:06","slug":"how-to-use-surveys-to-collect-actionable-customer-feedback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/how-to-use-surveys-to-collect-actionable-customer-feedback\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use surveys to collect actionable customer feedback"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from\u00a0Tufan Erdogan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Most people spend a few minutes writing a quick customer feedback survey, blast it out, and get just a handful of replies. This is the wrong way to go about collecting customer feedback. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Survey overload is real. If you want customers to take time out of their day to give you feedback, you need to make it easy and provide a compelling reason for them to do so.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019re sharing eight tips for how you can collect more actionable customer feedback using surveys.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Identify the type of feedback you\u2019re looking for at the start<\/span><\/h2>\n

This seems obvious, but it\u2019s easy for companies to write a few questions without really thinking about what they want to know. You need to think about the end goal and what type of feedback you want to collect. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Is this a <\/span>Net Promoter Score (i.e., NPS) survey<\/span><\/a>? Or a <\/span>customer satisfaction<\/span><\/a> survey? Or are you looking for feedback on a new product? Something else? <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>All of these surveys require different types of questions. For example, if you ask a customer how likely they are to recommend you to their friends (i.e., an NPS question) when you want to know if the customer will use your new product feature, there\u2019s an obvious mismatch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get rid of any questions that don\u2019t fulfill your goal\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Once you know what type of survey you\u2019re creating, you need to be ruthless about cutting any questions that don\u2019t tie back to this goal. The shorter and more cohesive the survey, the more likely customers will fill it out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why great surveys are hard to write and can take days to perfect. You\u2019re going to cut many questions and rewrite others over and over again.\u00a0\u00a0Basically, you need to learn more about\u00a0form design<\/a>\u00a0and how it affects the reader.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure your survey is mobile-friendly\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

In addition to limiting the number of questions you ask, your survey should work on any device \u2014 be it a laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Most people read their emails on their smartphones. If they click on a link to your survey, and it goes to a page that doesn\u2019t display nicely, they won\u2019t fill it out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, back in 2015, <\/span>27 percent of people completed a Pew Research survey from a smartphone.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

You can use a tool like <\/span>JotForm Mobile Forms<\/span><\/a> to build and collect customer feedback on the go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Make sure all questions use the same rating system<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

Consistency is key. If you have questions on a 1 (terrible) to 10 (excellent) rating scale, you should stick with that format for all questions. If you switch it up midway through to a 1\u20135 rating system or ask people to rate things as \u201cterrible, OK, and excellent,\u201d you\u2019re liable to confuse people. As a result, you\u2019ll wind up with more inconsistencies in your data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Write more open-ended questions<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re looking for detailed, honest feedback, it\u2019s best to include lots of open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are great at helping you spot your weaknesses, identify where you can improve, and find future growth opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are some examples of great open-ended questions:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n