13 steps to craft better surveys

You want to know how well your company is serving customers, or if employees feel a part of the company. Or you want to know if customers loved that product you sell or had a good experience with service.

Surveys can be the answer, highlighting trouble spots and helping you fix them. Or surveys can just annoy the people you most want to hear from.

I have opinions based on my own experiences – for example, the bank that wanted to know if I thought it “cared” about me, the car dealer who hounds me for a review after a simple oil change. But I’ve also gone back to review some best practices while helping a client fine-tune a short survey. Here are some reminders:

1. Start with the end in mind.

What’s the purpose of your survey? Identify what you want to know and use a simple, specific goal to figure out the most important questions to ask. Hubspot gives an example:

2. Only ask about things you can (and will) act on.