Business Success Begins With Market Research – Online Surveys are a MUST!!

Successful organizations rely on the data obtained from research to improve on customer service, and the quality of products and services offered.  With technology advancing at a rapid pace, many businesses are using the Internet as an effective communication tool to connect with customers.  Through online customer surveys, businesses have the opportunity to address efficiently any issues or concerns raised by consumers for a fraction of the cost compared to traditional survey methods.  Here are some advantages and disadvantages with the traditional survey methods:

Postal Mail

  –          Advantages:  Respondents obtain a hard-copy of the survey.

–          Disadvantages:  Relatively expensive with often poor response rates.

Telephone

–          Advantages:  May persuade respondents to participate.

–          Disadvantages:  Expensive and time-consuming.

In-Person

  –          Advantages:  Interaction with respondent in real-time.

–          Disadvantages:  Extremely costly and time-consuming.

Now let’s examine the advantages of of online surveys.  First, online surveys are extremely low-cost for marketing because survey distribution is very fast and efficient.  Not only are online surveys capable of being distributed quickly but businesses could also attach a hyperlink to a website to aid with motivating respondents to participate, thus creating a fully automated system that allow these entities to post responses to a particular online survey database for continual insights on consumer concerns, desires, and trends.

So if you own a business and are still involved with traditional survey methods, my  recommendation is to make the necessary changes immediately to online surveys.  It could be as simple as using Twitter or Facebook to gather customer responses, or even using other free online survey methods such as “Survey Monkey.”  http://www.surveymonkey.com/

With this in mind, organizations that implement online surveys aid in addressing the deficiencies associated with the traditional prehistoric customer survey approaches.  By incorporating online surveys, businesses could reap benefits such as low costs, higher response rates, and faster speeds. Doing so would allow businesses to address efficiently the issues and concerns from consumers, thus improving on customer relations and the quality of products and services offered.

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