Surveys
DETERMINING EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION WITH INNOVATIVE SURVEY METHODS
Surveys are an instrument for obtaining information about expectations, satisfaction, and perception of one's own company by existing or potential customers or partners.
Surveys of customers or partners are generally used to generate data on needs, satisfaction, and the perception of product and service offerings, awareness and image of a company, differentiating features from the competition.
Employee surveys focus on employee expectations and satisfaction with topics such as leadership skills, goals, training, corporate communication, work processes, customer centricity, CSR, etc.
Surveys of customers, employees, and sales partners provide companies with important information about what is expected of the company and how satisfied people are with the company's performance. The findings can be used to implement targeted management measures. Regular surveys make it possible to identify changes and to make targeted adjustments to implemented measures.
SURVEY METHODS
The following survey methods are used for interviews in particular:
- Written (Paper & Pencil): In this form of survey, the interviewee (respondent) fills out a prepared questionnaire in writing.
- Online: In online surveys, a questionnaire is stored on a website and can be accessed via a special URL. There are open surveys, which can be filled out by anyone as often as desired, and closed surveys, which are usually assigned to a specific respondent and can only be filled out once. Choosing the right method is important to prevent misuse or multiple completion if necessary.
- Telephone: In telephone surveys, a trained interviewer usually calls the customers and asks the questions as specified. The answers are entered directly into a system by the interviewer. A telephone survey is also possible without an interviewer. In the case of short, non-complex surveys, this can be carried out by a computerized system.
- In person (Paper & Pencil or CAPI): An in-person interview is conducted by a trained interviewer who records responses in writing or in a system. In-person interviews allow for good interaction with the respondent, but are more costly than the alternative interviewing methods mentioned above.
With regard to the frequency of surveys, a distinction is made:
- Periodic customer survey: Survey at a certain frequency, usually annually or every two years.
- Continuous customer survey: Permanent survey of customers spread over the year.
- Transactional customer survey: Survey immediately after a customer interaction
WHICH INDUSTRIES USE SURVEYS?
Surveys are used in almost all industries. In particular, the following industries use surveys regularly:
Car manufacturers, car trade, car service, bank, call center, service, car rental, fitness, tanning salon, lottery companies, hairdresser, customer card, promotion, energy supplier, energy, gas stations, gastronomy, health, hospitals, health insurance companies, doctors, pharmacies, trade, food, retail non-food: Textile, Shoes, DIY, CE, Furniture, Sports, Luxury/Jewelry, Optics, Online Shops, Airport, Shopping Centers, Book Trade, Franchise Companies, Hotel Industry, Food, Non Food, Logistics, Trade Fairs, Municipalities, State, Federal Government, Public Transport, Partners, Pharma, Travel, Telecommunications, Insurance, Publishers.
KNOW-HOW FOR YOUR SURVEYS BY CONCERTARE
Surveys are a very effective tool for generating control data for all areas of the company. The analysis enables the optimization of the reviewed processes with regard to the expectations and higher satisfaction and retention of the respondents.
concertare conducts annual national and international surveys in all industries and with all methods. Methodologically proven formulations exist for many questions, and benchmark data can be provided when these are used. Benchmark data enables a determination of the relative position of one's own company compared to other market participants and is a valuable aid for the development and prioritization of optimization measures.
concertare provides special, process-optimized procedures for conducting surveys tailored to specific target groups or project goals in a particularly economical and cost-effective manner.
CONDUCT SURVEYS ON VARIOUS TOPICS
Surveys are a very good way of examining contact points of a customer journey and the associated, defined facts of the experiences made by the respondent (customer experience) in more detail, both in everyday business and in direct customer contact. This applies regardless of whether it is a question of customer, employee, or business partner expectations or satisfaction.
Depending on the survey topic and survey objective, you have the opportunity to gain control information on the basis of individual question sets in order to optimize specific processes and to position your company even better on the market. Your individual needs as a customer are always taken into account. Even though we basically provide methodologically proven questions and benchmark data, the design of our surveys is always adapted to the respective company and the desired objective. In this way, we manage to draw a realistic picture of the respondents' opinions and to identify potential for improvement by means of objective evaluations.
WHO SHOULD BE INTERVIEWED AND HOW?
The target groups that can be addressed in a survey are usually broad. It is important to discuss in advance which target groups are to be covered by the survey. Target groups can be defined according to gender, age groups, customer segments, interests, and many other criteria.
For example, a professional survey, methodically set up correctly by our experienced staff, offers you the opportunity to:
- actively ask customers what they want.
- find out how a particular product is received by your customers.
- draw conclusions for the area of employee satisfaction and employee loyalty.
- further improve existing relationships with cooperation and business partners.
Depending on the target group, question content, and occasion, it may make sense to conduct the survey anonymously. In anonymous surveys, experience has shown that many people tend to give somewhat more open and honest answers. For employee surveys, anonymous participation is required without exception.
Sometimes - for example in customer service - it can also be worthwhile to combine a survey with a competition or special offers. In this case, it is necessary to ask for the relevant address in order to be able to contact the possible winner.
WHAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION WITH A SURVEY?
To ensure that the results of a survey actually provide the necessary information content and are correspondingly meaningful, it is important to focus on both the appropriate content, methodologically correct questions, and a user-friendly survey implementation.
Since only a few people are willing to invest a lot of time in surveys, it is worth thinking about how participation can be made as easy as possible for the respondents.
Writing, for example, multiple choice questions is a popular way of getting a questionnaire answered quickly. If an option is to be given in a survey to deepen the questioning if necessary, the respondent must give his or her explicit consent to this. Another important point is the possible feedback to the respondents. Those who have taken part in a survey often also want to know what the opinions of the other respondents are.
Accordingly, consideration should be given to disclosing the respective overall results or selected partial results at the end of the survey.
These were just a few aspects of the topic of surveys.
Contact us if you have any questions.