Introduction
Conducting a survey is a great way to gather valuable information about the performance of a project or business engagement, but getting decent response rates can be a challenge. Here are some tips and tricks for increasing the response rate of your next evaluation.
Keep it simple
Make your survey easy to complete. Key to this is to remember the phrase “the shorter the better”.
Try to stick to only questions that are absolutely necessary. You may have some questions that are “nice to have”, our advice is to drop them!!!
Different devices
Surveys need to be able to be completed on any device, including smart phones. Assume that your stakeholder is time-poor and may want to complete your survey while taking a break, or travelling.
Providing the ability to fill out the survey on iPhone, Android or tablet is a must.
Clear Communication
Communication is the key! Ensure that your invitation, and subsequent reminders and engaging and clear.
Let your participants know when the survey closes, and increase the urgency of reminder emails as you approach the close date.
Keep it confidential
Make sure your participants know that their feedback will be kept confidential and that their personal information will not be shared. This will help build trust with your nominees and increase their likelihood of participating.
Appropriate Nomination
When you are nominating people to participate in the evaluation, be deliberate in who you choose. Make sure that they have had sufficient involvement in the project.
You would be surprised how many surveys are sent to people who have rotated of a specific business area and have not worked with the services firm for years.
By following this advice, you can increase the response rate of your next survey and gather valuable information following the completion of your next project.
Click here for an article on how to get the best comments from your participants
For some academic background on survey response rates, this rather “heavy” study is worth a read for some of the sections that are pertinent to this article. “Survey strategies to increase participant response rates in primary care research studies” by Quiera S Booker Published: 02 July 2021