Guest Column: Asking Questions And Creating Expectations: What To Do And Not To Do When It Comes To Surveys

By James Martin, Chairman and CEO, Inquisite

Lately it seems companies are using "how was our service?" questionnaires following the purchase of goods or services even more so than in the past. Have you ever answered one of those surveys to let somebody know you weren't happy with the experience you'd had, and then never heard anything back from the business that asked? If you've had one of these experiences then you know what it feels like to be asked your opinion and have it ignored. When it comes to Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) this is a cardinal sin.

Enterprise-class online survey and feedback management software, an emerging category of software known as EFM, ensures that the right people have the right data at the right time to make informed business decisions. In short, EFM software gives organizations the ability to centralize the collection, distribution and analysis of customer and employee feedback. This is considerably different than the capabilities offered by more basic survey tools. Lower-end consumer tools may be suitable for short, one-off questionnaires. But if the ultimate goal of your survey activities is to create a system for sharing data that will drive timely decision making across the enterprise, and identify important trends in customer or employee ehavior, the capabilities found in EFM software are critical. Functions such as role-based, custom views of survey data; sophisticated reporting and data sharing capabilities; and integration with enterprise databases and CRM platforms; are all attributes of true EFM software.

EFM software transforms surveying from a single-event data collection process into an automated, ongoing discipline that continuously collects and monitors customer, employee and partner experiences. It can be a very powerful tool if used properly. If used improperly,customers and their loyalty to your business can be lost.