Anticlue

Customer Survey's

Jakob Nielsen release another alert box article today, on keeping survey's short. He relates that the simplest solution to maintaing a smaller sized survey is to ask direct questions that get at your ultimate goal.

For instance, if you are concerned about customer satisfaction. What is the highest measure of satifiscation? That is having a customer recommend your services or site to someone else.

How likely is it that you could recommend [X] to a friend or colleague?

Allow the user to choose either very likely 10 between unlikely. For instance this survey's question 3.

If the customer answers a very likely score, the they are a promoter, low scores 5-0 are detractors. Take the number of promoters minus the number of detractors, and there you have the net promoter. (Basically more people are satisfied and willing to recommend your service rather than those who are in the other boat)

Smaller surveys enhance usability and give clearer results. One just has to think with the ultimate end in mind.