The Importance of Surveys in 2024

By now you have probably been presented with hundreds of online surveys. It seems that they pop up everywhere, when you log into your email account, visit the official website of a certain brand, even when you purchase something in a store, oftentimes employees ask you if you have time to take part in one.

Even though these can be a bit annoying, they are actually extremely important for companies. If you have just started your own business, you have to conduct these from time to time. The trick is to make them appealing to people. Let’s face it, you want to get feedback from your customers and clients, but often it is impossible to talk with each one of them. So, this is when surveys come in.

By using these, you are going to be able to get direct comments from your clients. You will find out what they think about the merchandise or services that you offer, the prices, the customer service, and so on. As you can imagine, this data is of crucial importance for developing your business, which makes surveys an essential tool.

If you are wondering whether or not you should implement this research strategy, keep reading the following article. We are not only going to give you a list of benefits of using surveys, but we are also going to provide you with some tips on how to create interesting ones.

It is faster

The first benefit we are going to discuss is speed. In the past, you would have to print the questionnaire, hand it out to people or send it to their home address, wait for them to complete it, and then wait until it comes back to your office.

However, nowadays, you can simply use this tool online. All you have to do is to design a survey, and send it to your customers’ emails. You will get it back as soon as they complete it and you can start analyzing data immediately. In addition, since these are so widely used, there are numerous tools that you can find online like forms.app, which you should check out.

It is cost-effective

The second benefit is that these forms are cheaper than old-fashioned paper ones. Just think about it. If you were to use hard copy surveys, you would have to pay for both the paper and the ink, or on the other hand, you would have to pay someone to print hundreds if not thousands of copies.

Plus, you would have to pay for delivery costs, because, let’s be honest, there is not a single person in the world that would cover this fee so that you could get your data.

It is easy to use

When we say this, we mean that it can be simply used by both the clients and the company personnel. What are we talking about? Well, when a person receives this via email, they just have to fill it, and send it back within minutes, and that’s all.

On the other, since there is software that can implement this data directly into your system, the work of your employees is going to be effortless. There will be no need for them to go through each questionnaire separately and input the data by hand. We are not even going to discuss how hard sometimes it can be to decipher someone’s handwriting.

It is more precise

When you use online tools to conduct surveys, all the data you get will be more accurate. Why? Well, since you will be using software to add all the information to the system, no humans will be involved in this process which means that the chances of possible errors are decreasing. It doesn’t matter how careful your workers are, imputing the data gets boring after some time and errors occur.

Quick and simple analysis

If you ask us, this is an important benefit. Due to the technology that we use nowadays, not only will you receive the data almost immediately, but you will be able to go through it in no time. You will have the access to it at any time that pleases you, which means that you can go back to it if there is something that you have to double-check.

Honest answers

Even though this is the last benefit that we are going to mention, we think that is an essential one. As you probably know, people do not feel confident or comfortable to give you their honest responses to your face, especially if it is not so good.  If they can do this online, anonymously, well that is an entirely different story.

So, these are some benefits of using surveys to collect data which you are going to tell you about your customers’ satisfaction. You might use it to change some features of the products, lower the prices or start giving out coupons and offering discounts. Basically, anything that will ensure the success of the company, and help you attract new clients.

However, before we conclude this article, we are going to tell you how to create an intriguing survey. Our first advice is to make sure that all the questions are concise and on point. You should offer multiple choice answers. You need specific answers and people do not want to write essays for each question. Don’t forget to leave room for them to write a comment if they don’t agree with any of the answers you have provided.

Furthermore, try to keep it short. In this case, the less is better. No one is going to spend half an hour answering 50 questions you have sent them. Come up with the list of around 10 essential questions that will provide you with the info you need, but that, at the same, will not bore people.

In addition, another thing that you should avoid is Yes/No questions. It is always better to form them in a way that people have to write a short answer. If you create a survey that is solely made out of these questions, you are not going to get any useful data.

Finally, when inquiring about the clients’ satisfaction and you offer them multiple choice answers, you should use phrases like ‘Easy/Difficult’, ‘Likely/Unlikely’, ‘Satisfied/Unsatisfied’, and so on, instead of numbers. People will understand these more easily and will give you their honest answers.

To sum up, these are some major benefits of conducting an online survey to collect the data you need. Analysis of these is extremely important for your business, so you should inquire more about how to create a questionnaire that will both be interesting for the clients and simultaneously, provide you with the data you require.