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Survey Techniques

Online Surveys

The contemporary online survey is no longer a boring scrolling through pages with complicated, and let’s be honest, often annoying questions written with outdated fonts.

Modern online surveys are conducted not only through browsers but through social media networks, applications, interactive platforms, etc. Today you can fill in a simple questionnaire on your portable device while standing in the queue or commuting on the bus to your office. Online questionnaires are multipurpose and come in a variety of forms. They can be used to gather information about customers, to focus the attention of target audience on a certain product of service, to educate customers or just to transmit a marketing message or share data with consumers. They became an indispensable and convenient tool of implementation of marketing strategies and conducting researches.

There are several ways you can distribute an online survey with CoolTool – via email invitation, via online panel, via social media or website link.

Online Surveys via Email Invitations

This is one of the simplest ways of getting information from the clients. You create a survey and invite your customers to participate through email.

Try writing a catchy text or come up with a reward system in order to make your clients thrilled about making their way through your questionnaire.

Read also: What is NeuroLab? What is a good questionnaire? Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool? FAQ

Online Surveys via Social Networks

We all like Facebook surveys. At first sight, it seems that such surveys are made to entertain people. Though their main purpose is to get access to the personal information contained in the account of the network user (sex, age, education, employment, interests, etc.). Such information appears to be very useful while tailoring marketing strategies aimed at particular types of customers.

Online Surveys via Website

The most traditional type of online survey is a website-based one. It helps to get information about consumers and customers and is also a good way of attracting traffic to the site. Such surveys are also very useful when you want to get feedback from customers on their experience of interacting with particular service or product proposed by your company.

Survey Scripting

Good survey is more than just a bunch of questions to be answered. Our system offers tools, which allow embodying any logic of the survey.

You can customize your survey using preset filters, randomization of survey sections and questions, display and hiding of particular questions depending on preceding answers, etc. All aforementioned tools are available in our system immediately. But if you need more, we have something to offer you as well. This is survey scripting - a tool designed for smart customization of surveys through coding.

You need scripting if you know that sometimes logic of the survey might get so complicated that simple filters like “display this question next if the respondent answers “Yes” ” and “display another question if the respondent answers “No” ” just cannot meet your demands regarding the structure and contents of the survey. Especially when we talk about surveys with open-ended questions or with answers far more complicated than simple “Yes” or “No”.

As a survey scripting tool “CoolTool Survey Scripting Engine” allows you to guide every respondent through the survey and adjust it depending on his/her previous answers. This way every participant acts as a co-author of the survey and goes through a unique user experience.

If you know how to code and feel eager to create your own survey with the help of our Survey Scripting Engine then just go for it. Our definitive guide on how to use this tool will assist you in getting through lines of code. Should you require some assistance in creating a survey with the help of “CoolTool Survey Scripting Engine”, check out CoolTool Services section at a marketplace and find a professional to do the questionnaire scripting for you.

How does the data quality control work?

Our quality control system evaluates the completion of the questionnaire by each respondent in the context of three criteria: Completion speed, Matrix patterns and Open answers.

Completion speed. This criterion compares the actual speed of the survey completion with the expected, in the context of each page of the questionnaire. The estimated speed is calculated by the number of characters shown to the respondent on the page and the approximate speed of reading the symbols. If the respondent has passed each page of the survey at speed not exceeding 1.5x of the estimated speed, he will receive an "excellent" score. If only one such page was found, the respondent would receive "good" score. For 2 or more pages the respondent will receive "bad" score. If the questionnaire consists of only one page, the respondent will be assigned an "excellent" or "bad" score depending on the calculated coefficient.

Matrix patterns. This criterion analyzes the respondent's answers to matrix questions. If the respondent's answers were filled in one line, one column or diagonally, in other words by the template, then the answer was provided poorly. Control by this criterion will not work for surveys with less than 4 rows and columns. Also, it will not work if multiple answer variants have been provided on a single question (row or column) in the multiple answer matrix question. The answer will be considered substandard if the response of the respondent for at least 4 elements will be recorded according to one template. If there were no matrix questions in the questionnaire, this criterion would be assigned the value "n/a". If the questionnaire had two or more matrix questions, and all of them received a qualitative answer, the criterion would be set to "excellent". If one non-quantitative answer was given to one matrix question from the set, the criterion would be set to "good". If two or more matrix questions were answered in a substandard way, the criterion would be "bad". If the questionnaire contains only one matrix question, the criterion can be assigned the value either "excellent" or "bad".

Open answers. This criterion analyzes the respondent's answers to open-ended questions. If the essential part of the respondent answer is unrecognizable words, the answer will be considered substandard. The logic is the same as with the matrices above ("n/a", "excellent", "good" and "bad").

Overall rating. Based on the results obtained under all the criteria described above, each respondent will be assigned a general rating, as an average for all three criteria.

Survey Solutions

Mystery Shopping

This solution gets you the perception of what an ordinary customer sees when he or she enters a shop to buy a product. Mystery shopping is useful when you want to find out if your product stands out from the rest, how your staff is performing, and whether the service is up to the standard. This methodology is also known as a “Secret Shopper”.

The person who acts like a secret shopper gathers the necessary information about the product and/or service for you. A mystery shopper is an inconspicuous part of a crowd, so it is hard to notice him or her, which makes the results more precise.

A mystery shopper takes notes of the following matters:
• Number of employees and their attitude
• Greetings - whether the staff is friendly enough
• How the products are presented
• Overall cleanliness of a store
• The quality of service.

The price of the survey depends on the amount of information you want to get. A “mystery shopper” provides the data, which then goes through quantitative or qualitative statistical analysis. After this you get the results, which create a base for your decision on what should be improved.

Read also: What are Automated Methodologies? Why are online surveys more effective than traditional? Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool? FAQ

Employee Satisfaction & Engagement

There is one simple rule – an effective employee is a satisfied employee. This methodology is extremely helpful when you notice a decline in the effectiveness of your employees’ work and you need to learn how your employees feel.

Successful business is impossible without engaged employees. So you need to know what your employees think and how they feel. An engaged employee is more motivated, and this in turn positively influences your customers, as an employee tries to meet all their demands.
By asking your employees the right questions you will be able to find out whether you have to adopt measures to make their work more productive. You can find examples of Employee Satisfaction and Engagement methodologies among our ready-to-use solutions.

Read also: What is the CoolTool? Online Surveys via Website What are Automated Methodologies? FAQ

New Product Development

New product development methodology is necessary for the business to understand what kind of new product customers really want and what product features, like packaging, design, name, logo, it should have to be in demand.

This methodology predicts a set of clients’ expectations and desires, which are then sorted according to customer’s priorities. This survey is conducted when a company offers a new product and it usually includes interviews with the existing customers. Such surveys are usually based on customer’s experience with current products. This survey is important for the product development team because it is the bridge that connects designer’s ideas and customer’s expectations.

Read also: Why are online surveys more effective than traditional? What is Survey Scripting? Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool? FAQ

Customer Segmentation

This methodology identifies groups of customers who are interested in your products and services.

Groups are identified using different approaches such as behavior, demographics, purchase case, usage, etc. The results are important as they will tell you which markets you should focus on. Some companies decide to produce only one product for an entire market and other companies try to customize their product according to the needs of each particular customer (a good example is Nike website, where you can customize shoes to make the pair you want).

Read also: What is Survey Scripting? What is Academic Research? What are Automated Methodologies? FAQ

Advertising Effectiveness

This methodology will show you how efficient is your advertising. It can be pre-test and post-test. Pre-test shows the effectiveness of your advertising based on customer’s feedback and response. Post-test is a continuous monitoring of brand awareness and product consumption. Some methods of post-testing may be time-consuming as they include tracking over time to check the results of the advertising.

Customer Satisfaction

This methodology tells you if your products or services meet clients’ expectations. Data you collect will help you to understand how satisfied your customers are. When sales indicate your current success, satisfaction may indicate your future success. Quite often, customers are asked to rate a product or service on a five-point scale. A person, who gives you five stars, is likely to become a loyal customer and those, who give you one star most likely won’t buy your products or use your services.

Net promoter score

This methodology indicates if a person is ready to recommend your company or not. A customer is asked how likely he is to recommend your company on a ten-point scale, where 10 means “I will definitely recommend” and 0 is “I definitely won’t recommend”. According to their answers, customers are divided into 3 groups: those, who gave 9-10, are “promoters”, 7-8 “neutral consumers”, and 0-6 “detractors”.

Promoters can become the force, which moves your brand forward. A customer can tell about your company to his or her friends and they may become your customers, who will tell their friends about your company and so on. This methodology is easy to conduct and it helps to identify your promoters, which in turn allows you to build a unique marketing communication strategy for them to spread the word. And we all know that people often tend to trust their friends more than advertisement.

Read also: What is Survey Scripting? Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool? What is advertising effectiveness methodology? FAQ

Customer feedback

This methodology shows how satisfied your customers are. A customer is asked to answer a couple of questions. Usually, in a form of a short survey without open-end questions, which makes it not tiring for consumers. Such surveys are easy to prepare, and it is important to remember that people do not like wasting their time on surveys, so you should keep it as short as possible.

Introduction to Surveys

Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool?

From questionnaire design to primary data analysis, you have the best professional survey tools at your service.

Vast choice of question types:
• Single, multiple choice answers
• Open-ended questions
• Various rating questions
• Questions with multimedia
• NeuroLab questions – website usability, product shelf placement, video and advertising.

Customizable designs:
• Use 15 stylish, responsive questionnaire design templates
• Create your own questionnaire design.

Multiple data collection methods:
• Online – PC, laptop, tablet, mobile via email, link, button, social network, QR code, CAPI, CATI, etc.
• NeuroLab – eye tracking, EEG, Emotion Measurement, mouse tracking.

Cloud-based solution:
• Effortless access to results in a real time
• Easy export of raw data to SPSS, Excel
• Convenient automatized reporting system
• Fully editable reports in PPT and PDF
• Sharing options
• All survey tools are available whenever you want, wherever you are.

Why are online surveys more effective than traditional?

Online surveys are a better option as everything is done in a real time. Among their main benefits are low costs, convenience for the respondents, and flexible design.

An online survey is easy to compose, edit or modify according to your constantly changing business needs. You don’t have to print it out – so you can save money and take care of the planet. You don’t need an interviewer like with a telephone survey, so again overall costs are kept low. And most importantly, you can get and interpret data extremely fast.
Online surveys are easy to launch. You don’t need to wait for the survey to be printed or for results to come in. Survey can be launched just in a few clicks.

Read also: What is Survey Scripting? Why use Online Surveys from CoolTool? What is advertising effectiveness methodology? FAQ