Goal setting and strategies for achieving them is an industry unto itself. Marketers, in general, and marketing researchers specifically, need to embrace goal setting before launching into any campaign. Prior to launching a survey project we need to gain clarity about the types of questions the data will be expected to answer. This means developing a sense of precision, akin to German manufacturing, about our information needs and the types of decisions our internal or external clients will need to make.
This process is likely to be well-honed if your organization does surveys frequently. If you haven’t conducted surveys in a while then you may see a tendency for every department to want to chime in and provide their questions to the survey. This is question creep and it can significantly delay the launch of the survey, add to its cost, and dilute the findings of your survey analysis.
Establishing a narrow goal for your survey is the best way to keep your project on task. The first question a researcher should ask themselves is if a survey is needed at all. In many cases data stored in CRM systems, web analytics tool, or in previously conducted research can answer your client’s questions. In this case a survey will only add cost and time and not bring additional information to the table.
An example of an effective approach would be to conduct an employee survey with the goal of identifying the customer information they lack. This information can then be used to establish your research priorities for the coming year. Other ideas include analyzing transactional data from the CRM system to obtain a picture of the behavioral patterns your customers display. Gaps can be filled with surveys targeted to specific sub-populations such as new customers, high-value customers or those who have not purchased in a specific period.
Take a breath and focus on what types of questions need to be answered before initiating your survey. This will help guide you in creating a more effective and engaging survey that will provide the information decision makers need.