Building Better Surveys Using Intent and Psychology
Have you ever been eating at a restaurant, and the manager comes by to ask you how your experience has been so far? Most of us have, and most evenings, there aren't any complaints to be had. Yet, now and then, you do have a complaint. Typically, something small, like you still haven't gotten that side of Ranch you requested. The Manager seems caught off guard by this honest feedback and assures you that they will pass that information onto your server. Yet they vanish into the ether, never heard from again, absconding with that side of Ranch that never materializes. Then, as you leave the restaurant, your minor complaint has been amplified by the fact that your mentioning it has been a waste of your breath and, even worse, a waste of your time. However, it's important to remember that your honest feedback, no matter how small, can significantly impact the company's growth. Your influence is more powerful than you might think.
It's a common frustration: you're left wondering, "Why did they even ask if they weren't going to do anything about my response?"
Regrettably, many companies inadvertently create surveys that leave customers feeling as perplexed and unheard as in the scenario above. This unintended outcome underscores the need for a more effective approach to survey design.
If your company is in the process of creating or modifying its surveys, here are some valuable tips to ensure they are impactful and meaningful.
The first and most crucial question you must ask yourself, or your team is, "What is the intended outcome of your surveys?" This may seem like a basic question, but the truth is that some companies state one thing and then design their surveys to provide a much different outcome. For instance, the survey may be said to improve services, but the way that the survey is conducted does not lean toward helping but more toward proving that the company is already doing an excellent job. If you want to build an effective survey, you must be honest about the desired outcome. Understanding this will guide your language and the statistics you intend to measure, ensuring the survey's effectiveness.
The next question is, "Is the survey asking the questions from an unbiased standpoint?" This is not just a question but a principle that must be at your design's very core. In psychology, there is a principle, or rather, a process called "Priming." The idea is that you lead with a concept to sway the person's reaction later in the way you want. A great example is when you see a survey that starts with, "We want to ensure that we are providing excellent customer service." And then, a few questions later, it asks, "With one word, how would you rate your service?" I bet you can't guess what the number one response is. That's right, excellent. The reason is that they have primed the reader to use that word to describe the service. While this is great if your surveys are intended to tout how well your services are, they can and will get in the way of honest feedback. So, it's crucial to ensure that your questions are unbiased to avoid leading the respondents to a specific answer.
As a side note, you are probably already aware of priming; you just may not have known the name. It's used often with news article titles. Sometimes, it is a subtle shift in terminology to prime you for outrage or to make bad news more favorable.
The next question you must ask is, "Are we using these surveys honestly?" This is a significant point regarding your employees. Are the survey results a part of their KPI? Is salary or future with the company dependent on favorable outcomes from the survey? If the answer is yes, you must take additional steps to divorce the experience with the company from the individual. Perhaps you have enacted some new policies within the company that the client is upset with, but the employee they contacted was phenomenal in their job. Would the resulting survey favor the policy or the employee? Would you be able to distinguish the difference from the data points collected? And here comes the hard part. You may have to use priming to do just that. And one of the critical points in priming is putting it in the proper order.
I'll give you an example. You have a survey that starts by asking the client how they would rate the employee. Next is the company. Right there, you have failed that employee, unless, somewhere before you had them rate the employee, you let the user know that you will also have them rate the company. This allows the user to see that they will still have that avenue to express their issue and won't have to bunch it up with the employee's score. If your survey is used as a performance review for the employee, ensure that it takes great pains to ensure you know that the review is on an employee's inadequate performance and not on the company's.
The next question is, "Are you going to do anything with the information given?" We return you to that restaurant and take you to your missing side of the Ranch. The manager got your survey response and then effectively did nothing about it. Granted, the next person might have gotten their side of Ranch when requested, but you did not. You aren't even sure it was passed on to anyone who could make a change. So often, the surveys we get are collected and analyzed for the expected outcomes we want, and the rest is discarded. Your time and, more importantly, your client's time is wasted. When creating surveys, you have processes to address issues when they arise. Promptly. Don't give your potential upset clients time to voice their complaints about the lackluster service because psychology tells us that people are quick to complain loudly and slow to recant what they have already said. There are many ways to make this happen, depending on the type and volume of surveys being responded to.
Finally, ask yourself, "What is in it for the client?" Attached to that is, "How much effort do you expect the client to take to submit the survey?" I can tell you from personal experience that even though I have spent nearly two decades analyzing data from surveys and building better surveys, if your survey has me typing in a website and then, heaven forbid, a twenty-digit code, I'm not doing it. And I can promise you that the only people who will are the seriously angry clients. That may be your aim. You only want the ones dedicated to their complaint. If, on the other hand, you want surveys that help you refine your product, then you will need to find a way to do most of the work for the client. If that's that, a quick two-question survey on the checkout screen, a QR code on the back of the receipt, or an emailed survey will depend on your financial and technical resources. Some companies even offer a discount on services for any survey that they receive. At the end of the day, it boiled down to how much you truly care about getting honest feedback from the client. Followed by what you do with the information once you receive it.
To summarize, here are the core takeaways;
- Be honest about what the intended purpose of the survey is.
- Make sure you start from an unbiased standpoint with your questions.
- Make sure your surveys are being used responsibly.
- Make sure your surveys give you accurate representations of the experience.
- Make sure your surveys are at a reasonable level of usability for maximum return.
And finally, spend some time in the world of psychology. You'll be astounded at how much research has been done with regard to consumers, spending habits, and tools to help you better navigate the world of surveys.
If you are interested in learning more about how psychological concepts can help you build better surveys or how to be mindful of the intent of your surveys, please feel free to reach out to us at bosmaitconsulting@bosma.org.