CRM - February 2008 - (Page insert13)

Sponsored Content February 2008 13 Best Practices for Survey Success from Vovici DO’s and DON’Ts DON’T… Ask too many questions It’s easy to ask too many questions or include questions that are very complex. Avoid questions that are too granular and try not to incorporate topics without a clear focus. You can easily scare away or confuse respondents and not get the information you are after. DO… Keep Surveys Simple and Focused DON’T… Contribute to the Spam Problem Everyone hates Spam…and Spammers. But you don’t want them to hate you, your survey, or your company. To make sure you are not sending Spam, take care to avoid violating the CAN-SPAM Act and be sure you know where your lists are coming from. DO… Use Lists Appropriately point out the important results. Don’t assume that just because data is presented on the page, people will read it. Use callouts and brief analysis to show people what’s important on each page. DON’T… Underestimate the Value of Data Studies show that keeping surveys short—with no more than 30 questions—is the best practice. In many cases surveys can be much shorter. Focus on a single underlying theme and ask questions to gather the exact information you need. Resist the temptation to ask, “Just one more question….” DON’T… Take Responses for Granted The respondents to your survey will come from either your own lists (your customers or employees, for example), or from outside lists. If you are not using your own list, invite respondents using reputable, third-party list brokers or panel providers. These organizations enable distributions to their lists without directly providing you with the names and addresses of the prospective respondent. DON’T… Substitute Data for Analysis All primary data is valuable because it provides information you can’t get anywhere else. The data you are collecting may originally have been intended for one purpose only, but most of the time it can have significant uses and value beyond that one project. DO… Repurpose and Share the Data A survey is not successful without respondents. People have plenty of things to do with their time, and despite the importance you may place on the survey, it is usually not a high priority. If you don’t pay sufficient attention to how you recruit respondents, you may be faced with a poor response rate, a high abandonment rate, or both. DO… Invite Respondents with Care Once responses are compiled, many organizations present the data they’ve gathered in a linear fashion that exactly follows the order of the survey questions. Little analysis is performed and data is merely repeated for everyone to see. The data is not compelling and few people read the reports. In effect, the value of the survey data is severely degraded because people find it hard to see any actionable data in the survey. DO… Analyze Results and Present a Compelling Story As you analyze and report on your data, include colleagues who might benefit from the same information. You can also share it with your customers and prospects, with business partners, with press, and with anyone in your industry who might be interested in the results. Some organizations have developed a reputation for thought leadership in their markets simply by publicizing their survey results. A strong invitation shows respect for recipients and their time. Studies have shown that most email recipients look at an email for eights seconds before deciding whether or not to take action. If you can’t grab a recipient’s attention and provide them with a reason to take action in those eight seconds, you’ve lost them. Analysis is key to making the data useful, so don’t assume the data will speak for itself. Present results by telling a story using a combination of charts, graphs, and narrative. Use visual variety to lead your audience through the information and Vovici is the leading provider of Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) solutions, providing online survey software, survey templates, analytics expertise, and research services to decision makers in the enterprise, research, and government markets. Organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 500, rely on Vovici to help them better identify employee satisfaction, market research, and customer satisfaction and act on that information in order to create longterm relationships, increase profitability, and facilitate time-critical actions that drive business results. Visit http://www.vovici.com for a FREE 30-day trial. http://www.vovici.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - February 2008

CRM - February 2008 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point The Loyalty Riddle CRM Drives Down-Market Out of the Gate: Marketers Rate ’08 Traits The Pulse Consultants Adapt to CRM’s Changing Landscape Required Reading Cover Story: CRM Gets Serious Contact Center Solutions Always On Rumble in the Office The Smallest Slice Tying Up Cable’s Loose Ends Burning Up the Paper Trail Sunny Skies for Knology No More Bumps for BlueRoads Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - February 2008

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