3 Simple Tips to Make Sure Your Surveys are Answered

Average Read Time: 5 minutes.

• You will learn 3 tips to make sure your surveys are answered
• Short and Simple
• Giving reasons to answer survey
• Showing you care

The survey. The best and quickest way to understand a large group of people. It is efficient and it is useful, but making the most of it can be difficult. It is a tough situation when you have the perfect survey but you just aren’t getting enough respondents to complete it. Surveys are essential when wanting to affect change, but you’re not necessarily sure what needs to be changed. It’s a great way to gather a large amount of data in the shortest time.

All the questions are essential, and you have done the proper research and even survey research design, but still no one is answering it. Sometimes people simply don’t answer surveys. So how do you make sure your surveys are answered? Here are the 3 simple tips to get you started.

Keep it short and simple

In this day and age where everything is so fast or instant, we would want things to be as quick as possible. Most people are willing to answer surveys, but not if it takes too much time then they might not even finish it. Make sure your survey doesn’t take longer than about 10 minutes. Essentially this means you don’t want to be asking too many questions. Think of the most important things you want to ask and only include those. The point of a survey is to have a better understanding of a certain subject, the best way to do that is to get straight to the point of it.

You should always know why you are conducting a survey, and list down the most vital questions you are looking to ask. This is an important step to make sure the survey is straight to the point. In order to keep it short and simple make sure the questions aren’t too loaded. This means that you don’t mix several inquiries into one, and you word the question in a way that is easy to understand.

An example of a bad question would be, “Do you exercise, what type of exercise do you do and how much exercise do you do in a day and in a week?” A question like that can be broken down into several questions that ask the information you deem best. It would become a question such as, “How often do you exercise in a week?” It is also important that you give as many choices as possible when giving options for answers. That way you can more accurate results.

Give people a reason to answer the survey

When giving out a survey, it will be a big help if you tell people why you want them to answer it. Being clear with your goals and what you are trying to discover can make a huge difference when someone is deciding to answer your survey. If they know what it will contribute to, then they are more likely to finish it. Also it is important to let them know that no matter what they answer, their anonymity will be protected.

It is especially helpful if you let them know that once the survey period is complete the results will be published. People are naturally curious and will be happy to contribute to a study that they can eventually read.

You can also give incentives to people for answering the survey. This is a suggestion that you don’t always have to use. The danger with using incentives is that you may get people who rush through the survey just for the reward in the end. It definitely works in bringing more people to complete the survey. It is entirely up to you to choose what incentives you would like to give if any at all.

Show that you care

Kindness will always go a long way. People will be more willing to answer your future surveys if you give feedback to them. Even a simple ‘thank you for answering our survey’ is a way of showing that you care. If you respond to the people answering the surveys then you are letting them know that you are paying attention. People are more likely to answer surveys if they know someone is paying attention to them. 

This is related to the previous tip, being open and responsive about why you are asking these specific questions is a kindness most people will reciprocate. Being transparent with the results is a great way to also give credit to the respondents; it gives them a notion that the time they allotted in answering the survey was put to good use. If you are going to change anything based on the results of the survey then let people know; it is another reason for respondents to complete it if they know they are making a difference with their answers.

Closing Remarks

In summary, for any survey it is important that you are clear, concise and caring. In today’s industry it is easy to feel small and insignificant, sometimes a simple survey can help people feel listened to and cared about. There are many challenges to face, especially in terms of growth and reaching out to high quantities of people, but it is manageable.

Here at Infinit-O we understand the value of each and every survey. We can provide optimal survey design and support from our back-office team. Once the surveys are answered the data can be put to good use to affect that change that the people would like to see. After the respondents have seen that the surveys have affected a clear change then they will be more likely to respond to more surveys in the future. All of this is to help make swift and efficient decisions to improve whatever needs to be improved. We will provide the proper research team and work together to accomplish the goals you are striving towards, because in Infinit-O we build great things.

At Infinit-O, our goal is to create long lasting partnerships with our clients; rendering a strong combination of business consultancy, process optimization, and outsourced services; all utilizing the latest technology to provide excellent value for our clients. We are ISO-certified, HIPAA– and GDPR-compliant, so your company and data are safe with us.

We will identify your unique research and data needs such as understanding market needs profitability, prompt product innovations, and developing fresh research techniques. We can also match you to the right research people composed of data analysts, data specialists among others. By building great teams of data analytics, we promote customer loyalty and retention all the while expanding your business.

We care about you and your company’s growth. Through research and data, we would love to create a great partnership with you.

Infinit-O is the trusted customer-centric and sustainable leader in Business Process Optimization to Small and Medium businesses in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology sectors by delivering continuous improvement through technology, data and people.