{"id":38419,"date":"2017-02-27T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?p=38419\/"},"modified":"2023-06-16T06:50:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T06:50:35","slug":"diy-customer-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/diy-customer-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to DIY Your way to Better Customer Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

DIY survey tools such as QuestionPro are fantastic at opening up survey research to small businesses, allowing you to gather the sort of customer insights you need to be successful. But as the novice DIY researcher, where do you start?<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow these 5 tips every time you want to run a survey to ensure the customer insights you gather are the type and quality you need to answer your business questions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Set clear objectives<\/h2>\n

Defining exactly what you want to find out is the first and most important step to running a successful survey. The more specific, the better. \u00a0\u201cI want to know what customers think\u201d isn\u2019t specific enough\u2013you need more focus. Why do you want to know what they think? What are you going to do with the data? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Start with your business problem and work from there. Looking to increase sales? Think about which customer insights will help you do that. \u00a0It could be ways to improve your service to current customers so they keep coming back, it could be learning how your highest value customers found out about you so you can better target your marketing efforts, or it could be understanding how your brand is perceived value<\/a> in the marketplace so you can set the optimal price for your products. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who can give you these insights?<\/h2>\n

Work out who you need to approach to get the information you need to answer your objectives. If you are asking about the purchase process, you\u2019ll want recent purchasers. If you are asking about your website, you\u2019ll want recent visitors. A general customer satisfaction survey might go to all customers. Or if you are looking to see how your product is perceived in the marketplace or test a new product concept you may want to cast the net more widely and speak to your target market, even if they have never purchased from you before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about what data you have \u2013 do you keep a customer database? (If so, always check local data protection laws to make sure you have the relevant permissions to use these details for research). \u00a0Do you have an online following you can reach out to? \u00a0For target market sample, you could advertise the survey on social media or for a more controlled and statistically valid approach you can purchase sample lists\u2013for example, QuestionPro offers targeted sample if you are using their software.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Write a good questionnaire<\/h2>\n

It is absolutely vital your questionnaire ticks two boxes: it needs to ask the right questions to get the insights you need, and it needs to be interesting enough for the participants to want to fill in.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important thing is to always keep your objectives in mind and refer back to them for every question: what customer insights will this question uncover? \u00a0What am I going to do with the information? You also need to be careful how questions are worded so they do not lead participants to a particular response, and how they are ordered so earlier questions do not influence the responses of later ones. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Always consider the person filling in your survey as you write your questions. \u00a0They are busy people and they are giving their time to share their views \u2013 be grateful and respectful of this. \u00a0Questionnaires that are too long, ask superfluous or irrelevant questions or ask questions which do not give the answer option the respondent wants are definite no-nos. \u00a0The questionnaire should have a logical flow, be interesting from the start and make the customer feel that their opinions and feedback are genuinely valued.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a lot of resources online to help you write good questionnaires, or you can engage a consultant to help you with this step (for example you can find me at <\/span>www.orangesheepresearch.co.uk<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Engage your participants<\/h2>\n

You can have the best questionnaire in the world, but if you can\u2019t convince anyone to answer it you are never going to get those crucial customer insights you need. Your survey invitation is as important as any other element, yet it is so often cobbled together last minute, almost as an after-thought. Make sure your survey invitation checks all the following boxes:<\/span><\/p>\n