In recent years, technology has transformed every business process and practice. Surveys went from stuffing envelopes or making intrusive phone calls to pointing and clicking on a computer screen; from something that took weeks and months to mere days; from something that once cost thousands of dollars to being highly affordable.
If you have launched an online survey, then you have witnessed this “magic.” Yet, none of that captures the most powerful transformation that technology has brought to the survey world. Thanks to technology, surveys no longer need to be mere exercises in statistics and data collection. After all, do we really have data shortage in any company, college or non-profit? So prevalent is over-collection of data, it has been given a name – DRIP, for Data Rich; Information Poor.
Collecting even more poor quality data, because it is faster and cheaper, is like driving to more wrong destinations, because it is faster and cheaper. It’s time we arrive at the right place and stop driving around aimlessly.
Transform Your Survey Experience
This kind of transformation requires a fundamental shift in your outlook. Surveys can and should serve true customer relationship management – in the most authentic sense of the phrase. The old promise of surveying was about knowing what percent of your customers were unhappy. The new promise and potential in today’s online surveys includes (a) knowing EXACTLY WHICH customers are not happy with you (not just a percentage, but names, email addresses, contact information, what they bought, what specifically happened to make them unhappy, etc.) and (b) connecting instantly with each dissatisfied customer and immediately fixing whatever was broken relative to their expectations.
In this hyper-connected Social Media age, every happy customer can create a buzz, tweet or post with the potential to influence thousands or even millions of future customers. Sadly, every unhappy customer also has that same power. (Have you ever decided against choosing a hotel because it had only a 2-star rating on customer reviews?) Having a mechanism that allows an unhappy customer to vent directly to you before they blast it in Social Media Land — thereby giving you a chance to immediately repair that relationship — is not only a wise investment but also an essential business growth strategy. The right online survey software should let you do this easily. And, you’ll agree, that’s a lot more power and value than creating Web forms.
We invite you to embrace the full potential of online survey software and experience the real magic of which they are capable.
Zarca Interactive Blog 