Web Surveys Buyer's Guide: Key Questions to Identify the Right Solution

| White Papers

Web Surveys Buyer’s Guide
If you are searching for a technology solution to manage
your feedback initiatives, you are not alone. Given the
complexity and infrastructure needed, it makes good
business sense to work with a technology provider
for your online survey, enterprise feedback, and
marketing system, instead of shouldering the expense
of building a system in house.

Web Surveys Buyer’s Guide
If you are searching for a technology solution to manage your feedback initiatives, you are not alone. Given the complexity
and infrastructure needed, it makes good business sense to work with a technology provider for your online survey, enterprise
feedback, and marketing system, instead of shouldering the expense of building a system in house. Most organizations have
found it is not just the expense of building a custom system that is prohibitive, but also the cost and resources needed to
maintain the technology over the long term. In addition, custom-built systems are designed by people with limited expertise.
Consequently, the features and support cannot compare to established provider whose systems have been proven to increase
participation, eliminate redundant tools and facilitate reporting and analysis out-of-the-box. There are several technology
solutions to help organizations collect feedback from key constituents. When choosing a provider, there are a number of key
questions to identify the right solution for your needs.

There are several technology solutions to
help organizations collect feedback from
key constituents. When choosing a provider,
there are a number of key questions to
identify right solution for your needs.

SURVEY

sales@cvent.com
US: 866.318.4358 | UK: 0808.234.4540 | Australia: 1800.502.529 www.cvent.com
2

Feature Factors

How does the provider compare to systems on
the market?
Not all software is created equal. There are many online survey and enterprise feedback
management solutions out there: basic solutions, mid grade solutions, and high end
solutions. Low cost tools don’t offer the flexibility, customization, or level of automation
required to create effective feedback campaigns. On the other hand, high end solutions often
have too many features, are difficult to use, and are costly, even for Fortune 500 organizations.

Many providers offer all three or a combination, so when you searching for a solution
make sure you have a clear understanding of your needs and your provider’s capabilities.
The right online survey and feedback management solution for your organization is
dependent on the complexity of your feedback program – from a design and reporting
perspective, the internal importance of the initiative, and amount of flexibility and
customization you require. Being able to automate processes is key even if it’s a small
change such as email reminders sent automatically to increase responses or improved
report dissemination and quick access to data, the time savings across the feedback
program can be significant.

Low cost tools don’t offer the flexibility,
customization, or level of automation required
to create effective feedback campaigns.

Does the provider allow for targeted and
personalized communication?
Nothing tells customers you don’t care more than sending an email communication with
the greeting “Dear valued customer/client. Email marketing is one of the easiest and
”
most effective ways to collect survey responses. However, with the increase of SPAM
and email abuse, it’s harder to capture your respondent’s attention. Personalizing and
targeting your message helps separate your email from the unwanted ones.

In addition to sending personalized messages (“Dear John, Thanks for your recent
purchase of XYZ product…”), you should take the time to create engaging, personalized
survey experiences. This is easy by employing various survey logics so respondents only
see questions relevant to them either based on prior responses or contact information,
as well as adding customized messages within the questionnaire. Make sure your
provider has the capability to tap into your contact database and pull information into the
survey. Personalizing both the communication and respondent experience dramatically
increases survey participation.

sales@cvent.com
3

Does the provider offer a comprehensive contact
management system?
Address book management is the life blood of successful feedback program. Without
correct contact information for customers, employees, or panel members, survey
response rates suffer. With a systematically managed contact database, survey authors
can keep contact information updated, automatically cleanse bad data, comply with CAN
SPAM laws, and implement segmented, personalized email campaigns. It’s critical your
web survey and feedback management solution is fully automated. Surprisingly, many
feedback systems lack basic contact management functionality to properly segment and
target your database.

If you already have a customer relationship management (CRM) system in place you’d
like to use, investigate integration options that will tie into your CRM. Many enterprise
feedback management solutions have integrations with major CRM solutions, such as
Salesforce.com, or they offer an application programming interface (API) to enable two-
way data transmission. By integrating your systems, you’ll spend less time moving data
between systems giving you more time to focus on analyzing data to make informed
business decisions.

Does the provider allow you to brand your
surveys and survey communication?
Surveys are an extension of your brand. As such, you should demand a system which
Professional looking
allows you to fully customize the look and feel of your survey, as well as any survey surveys have proven
communication. Settling for a solution without the flexibility to customize the look
and feel of emails and surveys to match your brand could seriously damage your to increase survey
respondent’s opinion of your organization. Furthermore, customizing each touch point
signals to your respondent the survey request is legitimate. Professional looking surveys participation rates.
have proven to increase survey participation rates.

Employee Survey Employee Survey

Employee Survey Employee Survey

sales@cvent.com
4

Does the provider have sophisticated email
marketing capabilities and deliverability
reporting?
Email has been proven as the most cost effective means of customer and employee
communication. However, not all survey systems include robust email marketing.
In addition to promoting immediate responses, email is the best way to manage
communications and track delivery. In addition to personalization, attractive emails can
have a huge impact on participation rates. A business-grade technology solution will
provide survey authors with the tools to create compelling survey invitation. This should
include not only professionally designed invitation templates, but also a robust HTML
editor allowing the author to create their own invitations without HTML knowledge.

A professional grade survey and feedback management solution will come equipped with
sophisticated features like automated email scheduling, ability to send HTML or plain
text, delivery and open-rate tracking, reporting, and automatic address book updates.
Survey performance will suffer without these basic features, making it harder to have
confidence in the collected data.

Does the provider have a breadth of question 1.

types?
2.
When crafting a survey, it’s important to utilize multiple question types to keep the
survey engaging and reduce respondent bias. No one wants to fill out a boring 15
question multiple choice survey. We’ve been seeing that format since kindergarten 3.
when we took our first test. Make sure your provider can offer a multitude of question
types so you can make the survey more interesting. Some of the must have question
types include single choice, multiple select, matrix (single and multiple choice,
4.
spreadsheet, and side-by-side), rank order, constant sum, open text box, and data
lists. If the provider provides interactive question types, such as sliding scales or drag
and drop, including these questions will increase the respondent engagement when
completing the survey, thereby reducing abandonment.

Does the provider enhance your feedback collection
through survey logic? 4a 5a
Survey authors are able to drill deeper and collect more detailed feedback by utilizing
survey logic. While there are a variety of logic types, the must haves include sub- 2a 3a
questions, skip and branch logic, pipe logic, and advanced logic based on contact and
response filters. A survey employing logic tailors the respondent experience by skipping
past irrelevant questions and exposing additional questions to better understand
1 4 5
responses. Using logic in the survey design decreases respondent abandonment and
gives the survey author more actionable feedback to share within the organization. 2b 3b

sales@cvent.com
5

Can the provider alert you when questions are
answered a specific way? Customer Survey

The key to surveys is to make sure your audience knows you are listening. Imagine you
were reviewing customer feedback and a customer had a truly negative experience with
your support center. After their call, they completed your customer satisfaction survey.
You need to solve this problem immediately! Ensuring your survey software provider
can send you automatic alerts after someone completes a survey is essential. Make
sure the survey provider supports various versions of this feature allowing notification
for a specific question answer or contact field, based on a respondent’s score, or all
completed surveys. If you have different people in charge of various departments or
products, you may even want to make sure the provider supports multiple alerts on the
same survey. Utilizing survey alerts allows you to notify the correct parties and respond
quickly when necessary.

How robust is the provider’s reporting engine?
This is by far the most important survey feature. This is why you started surveying in the
first place. It’s important to select a feedback management provider that’s going to give
you more than just the raw data. If you accept just the raw data, you’re going to spend
hours tabulating and analyzing data to draw conclusions, create professional reports, and
disseminate findings throughout the organization. Look for a survey provider that has
pre-built reports so you can spend more time on strategic decisions and less time trying
to create the report.

In addition to looking for a provider with pre-built reports, it’s helpful if the provider
allows you to customize the reports to slice and compare the data the way you need to
see it. Good technology providers will give you the ability to “park” the reports to easily
disseminate the information on demand, and even make it eyes-only if the information
is sensitive. Instead of having to re-run reports every time someone asks, you can run
the report once, park it, and allow others to view the report on demand. Parking reports
makes it simple to share results, in real time, with anyone in your organization.

Parking reports makes it simple
to share results, in real time, with
anyone in your organization.

sales@cvent.com
6

Does the provider offer integration with your
CRM system?
Not all survey solutions will allow you to integrate with your customer relationship
management (CRM) system. It may seem like a little thing, but streamlining the flow of
data between your CRM and survey system impacts the entire organization. If you’re
conducting a customer survey of any kind, it’s critical to have that information in your
CRM system for the customer history.

Is the provider’s system user-friendly?
The balance between functionality and accessibility of your chosen technology solution
is important. Again, the right fit is a crucial component here. Many providers claim their
system is easy to use but their limited functionality cannot satisfy the most common
survey and feedback management needs. Although more sophisticated systems require
an initial investment to learn about the range of features, the accumulated time saved on
automating administrative tasks can be staggering when you know how to use a capable
system. In addition, the best providers offer survey building support, taking you and your
team through the process for the best results possible.

Many providers claim their system is easy
to use but their limited functionality cannot
satisfy the most common survey and
feedback management needs.

Will the provider go the extra mile to make sure
your feedback initiatives are successful?
Your web survey and feedback management technology provider should offer assistance
in a wide variety of areas such as building surveys for you, proposing effective survey
marketing plans, designing impressive survey invitations, and general consultation on
how to make your feedback program successful. Look for a system provider that wants
to work with you to ensure improvement and long term success.

sales@cvent.com
7

Company Factors

How long has the provider been in business and To safeguard your
are they profitable? success, hard-earned
If you trust your feedback management to a third party, it is essential to make sure the dollars, and survey data,
provider has a stable business model. A few critical questions to ask the prospective
provider: how many full time employees are on staff, what is their credit rating and be sure your system of
most importantly, are they profitable? Most survey programs are ongoing, with projects
happening every year and sometimes multiple times per year. To safeguard your success, choice will be around in
hard-earned dollars, and survey data, be sure your system of choice will be around in the
years to come.
the years to come.

Does the provider have enough support staff
and training to ensure your success?
When selecting a technology provider you need to find a provider who can work with
you long-term. It is vital to understand the capacity in which the provider can and will
support your organization. Do they have a skilled service team to answer the phone and
provide assistance in a timely manner? How do they plan to improve their technology
solution over time? It’s important to know what an organization has done in the past
and determine whether they have the aptitude to maintain their product and provide the
assistance you need. Ask your provider how many people they have on their support
staff, what is their ratio of support staff to number of customers, and if they charge extra
for customer support.

In addition to ensuring there is enough live support staff if you have a question, you
should ask about training. Do they provide training? If they do, is it mandatory and is
there an extra cost? Even if you choose a user-friendly tool, it’s important to make sure
there’s training available to help you refine your process overtime and learn how to utilize
new features.

It is vital to understand the capacity
in which the provider can and will
support your organization.

Will the provider offer a dedicated account manager?
An important ingredient of the client-provider relationship is service. It is essential to be
a valued client and not just a number in the support queue. The buyer should be given
a single point of contact and/or an account executive to work with to achieve long term
strategic initiatives. It is frustrating to have to explain who you are, the nature of your
program, and the issue at hand each time a problem arises. Make sure your provider has
designed the proper channels for clients to obtain immediate quality product support. In
addition, successful providers will provide a resource to continue to educate you on ways
to improve your program and help you achieve your business goals.

sales@cvent.com
8

Web Surveys Buyer's Guide: Key Questions to Identify the Right Solution

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Web Surveys Buyer's Guide: Key Questions to Identify the Right Solution

Ähnlich wie Web Surveys Buyer's Guide: Key Questions to Identify the Right Solution (20)

Mehr von Lakesia Wright

Mehr von Lakesia Wright (20)

Web Surveys Buyer's Guide: Key Questions to Identify the Right Solution