Plan.Business, What Makes A Good Survey
by James C. Hernandez November 22, 2017

Too many surveys ask obvious questions where the question is known or doesn’t really derive into any useful action. Good surveys ask questions that lead to new business decisions or actions.

First let’s talk about what a bad survey is. In the past surveys were paper based, expensive to print, there was no Internet or Web so it people had to gather large groups into rooms which tended to get hot and uncomfortable.  This gave surveys a bad reputation for years and still lingers a bit today. Additionally, people taking the surveys had no idea how the information was being used, and only received money for taking the survey. These surveys are bad because they are not client focused and the client feels like they are part of the herd and their individual responses are ignored. There is no correlation between individual survey responses and business actions – so people feel ignored.

A good survey is a survey that has a direct correlation between individuals and business actions. People like taking surveys where they feel like their answers make a difference and see results shortly after the survey. A good survey engages and empowers customers to help the business serve them better. This is a win win for both the customer and business. Building this customer relationship builds brand loyalty and word of mouth free advertising. Getting to know your customers is not only good for them, but good for your business too.

  • Answers something you don’t already know – The most important factor of a survey is to find out something you don’t already know so you can use the new knowledge to make educated business decisions instead of just guessing.
  • Anonymous - Good surveys are ‘anonymous’ and hassle free. People generally do not give honest answers if they think they are being monitored, reported, or having their contact information sold to strangers.  Plan.Business uses anonymous and hassle free to surveys to get real honest answers and never sells your contact information – heck, we don’t even ask for your name or email to fill out a free survey.
  • Customer Centric - Good surveys are ‘customer centric’. It is not about how they can help you, but rather about how you can help them better. You need to speak to the ‘What’s in it for me’ part of their egos to make it the most effective.
  • Easy to Share with Friends - Good surveys can be shared, with a simple cut and paste of a web link into an Facebook, Twitter, group email contacts, or any other kind of post including web page button. A survey coming from a friendly source or liked Facebook page is much more likely to get a response –especially if it is ‘customer centric’ about how to help the customers better.
  • Short – Good surveys are short and to the point. If it takes more than one minute to fill out or is ‘not fun’ they will probably not respond to your survey. Ask the big question on top and progress to the details in the next questions. Fewer than ten questions are good, but fewer than 5 questions are better.



Plan.Business Surveys do all of this (and more) today. Get started today for free

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Plan.Business was created to help small and medium sized businesses grow by using some of the same technologies larger companies are using now to keep satisfied customers.  There is so much competition today, and if people look hard enough they can always find something cheaper.  However, cheaper price does not win against trust, convenience, and customized service. The economy is still tight and so is money, so it is more important than ever to work smarter and not just harder - You can win if you do! We want to do more for you. Our site allows you to generate customer surveys and send out links just as easy as sending out an email. All they have to do is click the survey link in the email. Better yet, Twitter and Facebook surveys can be shared again and again to expand your reach (just ask friends to share you survey with their friends).
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