Conducting surveys is the most powerful way to obtain feedback from customers, clients, users, partners, and even employees.

Among professional interviewers and researchers, data obtained from surveys is called people-powered data (PPD). Such data may influence market strategy, product development, or employee retention.

Be Clear About the Reason Behind the Survey

The best way to conduct a survey is to follow the professional recommendations of people, who made surveys their key competence. The first suggestion is to state the main purpose and the goals of the survey clearly. You should consider all the related details before you start. 

For example, you want to launch a new product. The purpose, in this particular case, would be the obtainment of data about the desired product type, its qualities, existing competitors, market niche, substitutes, and those people who would like to buy the product.

Choose Your Target Demographic

Another suggestion is to define your target audience or target group of respondents. You would select different types of people (demographic) by age, gender, social background, preferences, or lifestyles. Additionally, if you need more data you should consider multiple target groups and conduct multiple surveys.

For example, if you want to obtain feedback from your employees regarding their satisfaction with working conditions, you would target several groups. The targeting may be based on organizational departments (marketing or sales), or the seniority level (administration, white collars, or ordinary workers).

Establish the Number of Respondents You Need

Further, if you want to do the survey properly, you should define the sample (number of respondents in the survey). Sample affects the reliability of results. A small sample usually means that the results are going to be distorted or incorrect.

For example, if you want to know the opinion of the IT department (informational technology) about their salary, you have to consider the size of the department. Let’s say the department consists of 50 people, and you’ve asked only Jimmy about the salary. Yeah, Jimmy is a valuable employee, but his single opinion may not be shared by the other 49 employees.

Timing Is Everything In Order to Have an Effective Survey

The last suggestion may be crucial in most cases, related to timing. Right timing means that you have to consider the most appropriate time for the survey. The tricky thing is that the “appropriateness” of the time doesn’t depend just on you but on respondents and external conditions. 

Survey launch time, its overall duration, and time per respondent influence the results. Hence, you have to go down and find the most appropriate and befitting timing, as it is related to multiple factors that you can’t control by your wish.

For example, if you want to collect the buyers’ feedback about your product, let’s say ice cream, you can’t do it when the supermarket is closed. You have to choose the time, when the supermarket is crowded with buyers, in order to obtain more answers.