Are your average survey response rates worryingly low? Are you looking for a way to improve them? There have been a flurry of articles on so-called ‘survey fatigue’ recently, ranging from Information Week to the New York Times.
These articles highlight the increasingly long and arduous surveys that many businesses are now sending to their customers:
“If customers balk at taking what can feel like an SAT test, the fault may lie with the surveys themselves. Many businesses, often against the advice of the experts they have hired to construct their questionnaires, cannot resist the urge to ask, ask and ask yet again. Exasperated consumers, assured that the survey will take only five minutes to complete, often bail out as they approach the 10-minute mark.” The New York Times
The fault lies in the origin of most online survey tools. Lengthy questionnaires herald from the market research arena.
They were never originally intended to be used to assess customer satisfaction. Instead, they heap question upon question to try to get to the heart of what is, ultimately, the most simple of questions – how did we do for you? We all need to know how we are performing. But we don’t need a questionnaire the length of War and Peace to find out!
If you’re getting really low average survey response rates to your surveys then that should be telling you something: your customers don’t have the time!
You might ask the question, what is average? We get asked that all the time.
Online estimates vary but even so, it appears that the average online survey response is between 0.2% and 10%. Contrast that with Customer Thermometer where we routinely see our users getting response rates in the 50%-90% range. In many cases, where users have regular and close contact with their customers, response rates can be routinely 100%.
Don’t join the companies overburdening their customers with pointless questions. Send the 1-click survey, Customer Thermometer instead. Customer Thermometer works across iPhones, Android, Tablets, as well as all email programmes too. Get great response rates, and fix customer issues straight away. It’s the survey tool your customers will thank you for!
