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Picking the Best Survey Software

Guest post by: Dhaval Joshi

Article Overview: If you’re not already gauging your customers then you’re missing a plethora of valuable information about not only your products but also their experiences with your business.

Picking the Best Survey Software

If you're not already gauging your customers then you're missing a plethora of valuable information about not only your products but also their experiences with your business.

Learning directly from your customers will reinforce your practices while offering you different ways to do things.

Criteria #1: Set Goals for Your Surveys



The information gathered from surveys is virtually limitless. So, how in the world do you distill it into a simple and easy survey?

First, set goals for what you want out of your surveys.

What do you want to learn?

Customer habits

Review of your website

Review of your social media sites

Review of your products and services

Share customer's experiences with your business

General feedback

Best Practice



Without goals for your surveys, you'll become lost and the information you'll get from your customers will be inaccurate and useless.

Criteria #2: Cost (You Get What You Pay For)



There are many survey companies out there, some which are free and others that require a usage fee.

For example, Survey Monkey, a free service, is great for single-use surveys, but isn't without limitations. Free survey services limit the number of responses and questions. Also, many free survey services display annoying advertisements during the survey. With advertisements during any survey, you run the risk of having your customer leaving your survey to follow an ad that interests them.

Best Practice



You get what you pay for. For one-time use, say for a survey of a non-profit board, and then free survey services are the way to go. However, for businesses truly interested in gathering critical information about customer habits, then skip the free services.

Criteria #3: Features



Features depend entirely which way you're heading, whether you're going for a free service or pay. Regardless, ensure that the service offers comprehensive services that are customizable and easy to use.

Does the company easily integrate into your other marketing platforms, website and social media?

Does it offer email, floating or website surveys?

Is it customizable for your needs?

Does the company offer unlimited questions and responses?

Is there easy to understand reports and analytical tools?

Best Practice



Just like we've said numerous times, before signing your life away to a survey service, test them through their free trial period. Ensure that the features offered are relevant to your needs and that they actually work.

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Article Tags: best survey software, email surveys, free surveys, Online Surveys, Survey Marketing



Related Forum Posts
Survey the Landlord - Terry, my suggestion is simple but powerful - Survey. Survey Landlords and find out what is important to them. By doing this it does two things: 1. You will find out trends/under-operated services that Landlords are currently unsatisfied with = your client will be able to fulfill 2. You are infact Marketing your clients services by doign this because when you are approaching your landlords it not a sales pitch and they have someone to clear their frustrations with. Then when you approach them after a month (when you've put your numbers together and identified services that are most important) you can remind them of the survey and share with them the results. At this point you can end with an offer to use your clients services to manage their property. I use this method with my clients who are looking for new services to develop in thier markets. It's simple but powerful.
Survey Monkey - Hi ltrahan - interesting concept - how have you found Survey Monkey? Is it a good service?
Survey Monkey - I found Survey Monkey to be a good service as well, it was useful and got the job done. Like Itrahan was saying though, the basic "free" services are a bit limiting though.
Seek Venture Capital & Funding - Hello, Greetings from India. I am Seeking Venture Capital for Offshore Software Company Start-up. Need advise along with Business Model Sample. I have a basic outline for an offshore company. 1. Technology - like Microsoft Dot Net, Java, LAMP 2. Talent Team - Found Good Technology Developers. 3. Where I can get the leads/potential customers - Leads have been identified who are willing to move forward offshore projects. 4. I do not have resources like funding. It is a very critical factor to me Industries: Manufacturing, Real Estate, Retail, Insurance, Distribution & Logistics, Healthcare, Industry Associations and Software Product Development, Agricultural Industries and Etc. Services: Offshore Software Development Company. Offices to be located: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India and USA. Products/Services/Applications in areas like POS & Billing, Sales & Distribution, Production Planning, Material Management, Inventory Control, Plant Maintenance, Purchasing, Accounting and Logistics. Dynamic Web Programming with Database Driven Content Management Systems, Online Stores for E-Commerce, B2B Solutions, Community Portals, Website Redesign and Development, Custom ERP with Enterprise Wide Functional Modules such as Marketing, CRM, Accounting, Inventory Control, Sales & Distribution, Production Planning, Purchase & Stores, Logistics and Supply Chain. Seek your further questions and help. Thank you, Best Regards, Jayapratap.
Re: What's Up With Word Clouds? - I would like to see Word Clouds used in conjunction with a Survey. I've been experimenting with Word Clouds within Google Docs forms using the advanced Word Cloud Widget.


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