Keep this in mind when you are collecting any type of
data... Garbage in... garbage out! In the case of your survey, follow these
important tips…
1) Duplicate reality as closely as possible…
Follow one key rule and you’ll be fine. Let’s call it “The
Golden Rule”... Duplicate reality.
A survey is not reality. A customer buying your product...
that’s reality. So your survey should mirror reality as closely as possible.
Two examples...
• show and tell your actual target market... i.e., genuine
prospective customers
• show and tell your prospects in the same way that they
will actually learn about your products.
The closer your process duplicates what will actually
happen, the better. If you break the Golden Rule, do it only after careful consideration.
Do it only if you know how to factor the difference into your final pricing
decisions.
2) “Show & Tell” the right people…
Show and tell your prospective on-target customers.
Obviously, that’s the best way to duplicate reality.
There will be times, however, that you use an off-target
group of respondents. For example, suppose that you’ll be direct-selling via
your Web site. But you want to keep your site and product confidential until
launch. You can “distort reality” in several ways. Two examples...
i) Hire a consultant to select customers to do focus groups.
The consultant can either show and tell, in the company’s
offices, via a temporary, password-protected Web site. Or she can do a
person-to-person demonstration of the product’s features and benefits -- she
would ask the six questions during these sessions and then input the data into
your survey later.
Either way, reality is distorted. You’ll still get solid,
useful information, of course. But do consider whether you have duplicated your
true Web-buyer’s situation sufficiently -- if not, do the results need to be adjusted
up or down, and by how much, to compensate?
ii) Send your sales affiliates to the site (if applicable).
Overall, however, we consider the pricing answers of
Affiliates to be only a few percent higher than the typical customer -- affiliates
are slightly less targeted, but somewhat more enthusiastic. We adjust results
accordingly.
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Pricing Isn't All Logic. Discover The Hidden Pricing Tactics You Can Use To Increase Profits!
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Take-home lesson?...
As much as possible, show and tell your actual prospective
customers. If you have to vary, do it in a way that deviates from reality as
little as possible. And factor that difference (for example, the enthusiasm of
your affiliates) into your results.
3) Show & Tell in the right way…
How will your real customer buy your product? That’s how to
show your survey! If your customer will review your Web site presentation and
then buy via the Web, show and tell your prospects by using the exact site that
will be doing the selling.
If, for example, your customer will see a TV ad and then go
to Wal-Mart to buy, hire a researcher and do an offline survey.
No matter how you show and tell, do not explain that this is
a pricing survey -- if you do that, you bias the respondent. So don’t call
attention that you want to use this to price your product.
Think of it this way... When a customer is on the verge of
buying your product, she is actually being price-surveyed, except it’s “for real”!
She has to decide whether it’s “worth it.” But she does not know (or even
consider) that she is being pricesurveyed. Nor should your respondents.
Again, the bottom line is...
Duplicate reality.
4) Take your time…
Read your survey to make sure that there are no typos and
that the language is smooth -- will your typical respondent understand? If not,
go back and adjust. To maximize response rate, really aim for perfection on
your survey.
5) Write a good introduction…
The introduction is critical. Its Most Wanted Response
(i.e., what you most want your visitor to do) is to get the response. It must
persuade your prospective customer to complete and submit the survey.
Let’s say you are about to launch a new e-good. Your survey
is ready. Here’s how to get your MWR…
STEP 1) Create a new site, or a new addition to your
existing site, that is dedicated to selling your new product to customers.
STEP 2) Do some light marketing (through e-zines, a small
percentage of your affiliates, ads, etc.) to drive some targeted traffic to the
site. Remember, the goal is to attract respondents that are as close as
possible to your typical prospects -- recreate reality.
STEP 3) When your visitor clicks on the Order button, she
instead goes to your Survey page. Now it’s time for your introduction to go to
work.
STEP 4) Welcome her to your pre-launch. Explain that you
will be full-launching in a week. Right now, you need her help...
If she can spare a minute or two to answer a few short
questions, (remember the more questions you ask, the less likely you will get a
response about your product), you would be delighted to offer her a 20% (or whatever
maximal number you can afford) discount. That discount will be a sure-fire way
to generate some early sales as soon as you launch!
In the final part of your introduction, just before you get
to the survey, explain exactly what it is that is being offered in appreciation
for their time and effort. “Give then take.”
And, as we’ve already said about your introduction, one key
last point... Keep It Short and Simple.
6) Test your survey…
Check off your “to do” list...
You’ve written the introduction. You’ve incorporated the
html of the survey into a company template. And you’ve uploaded it all to the
Net. Great! Ready to launch to thousands of people, right?
Nope! No way! STOP!...
Test it now to save embarrassment and lost sales later. It’s
easy. Just ask a few folks to pretend that they are customers. They visit the
site and complete the survey. Even do a small usability test and actually watch
two people as they do it -- it only takes two to get decent feedback.
Make the adjustments and then do another small test. Stop
testing when all seems to work well.
Your survey is ready to go “live”. Now you what you need is
enough interested people to respond.
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