How to get response to on-line survey?

[LowCostNoFrills]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get people to take an on-line survey about their business and the Low-Cost, No Frills business model. The purpose is to help me develop my business of training people on using this very effective model.

I've posted it on many sites, offering a FREE 14 page report on "Plato's Way to Empower Employees" and have only received 1 response. OUCH!

Any advice on how to get responses &/or critique of the survey is welcome...link is below.

Thanks in advance,

Synthiea

[akula]

Synthiea,

first of all, i think you have a very pretty name

secondly, yes, there is a whole bunch of things you can do to improve response rates

errr....why don't you tell me your version for why you have a low response rate and then we can discuss

[LowCostNoFrills]

Hi Daniel,

I suspect I'm not getting any responses to my survey because the American market has a very convoluted view of what the Low-Cost, No Frills business model is.

That, plus the survey takes 10 minutes so maybe it's too long?

You can view/take it at

www.LowCostNoFrills.com/survey.html

Thanks!

Synthiea

[versas]

Hi Daniel,

I suspect I'm not getting any responses to my survey because the American market has a very convoluted view of what the Low-Cost, No Frills business model is.

That, plus the survey takes 10 minutes so maybe it's too long?

I don;t think it's specifically Americans.. lol... However, if there is one thing that web browsers have in common is.... They are impatient. Your website has less then 5 seconds to accomplish several things as soon as new person visits your site:

1) Invoke enough interest to convince them to stay beyond the first 2 and a half seconds from the initial GLANCE.

2) Immediately know what the site is about, offering etc, without having to click, scroll down or read a whole lot.

3) At this point they should have some interest and know what your website is about.

4) Action! This is where they move forward. They will rather click on a link to continue, read further or close your website.

All that in 5 seconds or less. Whew!

So the try a redesign, not a complete makeover because it looks presentable, but just fine tuning.
Such as:

A logo, instead of text as your business name, something that can be branded.

Less is more. Have all the pertinent info all within one screenpage. What I mean is try to make homepage so you don't have to scroll down to firgure out what your site s exactly about.

If your survey needs to be long, then so be it. Don't change that. Just change how it is presented / format.
What do I mean?

Instead of just one long ass page, make it into steps. And make it clear, such as having a label on top: "STEP 1 of 3"


As to why your "Really" not getting any signups...

It's probably just traffic. It;s a numbers game.

How many hits are you receiving? But more importantly where are your hits coming from?

If your not reaching the right audience, then it won;'t matter how much traffic you get.

Just remember, regardless of how well your site is made is, it won't matter unless you get a whole lot o targeted traffic.

[LowCostNoFrills]

Thanks for your great advice. Now I have even more work to do!

Didn't mean to pick on Americans (my own people) but am finding we as a nation are not as in-tune to this biz model as Europeans and Asians. C'est la vie.

Regarding web-sites, you might find it interesting that in France they like LOTS of if not all possible info on the home page. When I lived there I helped translate a site and the sheer volume on the home page drove me nuts!

Looks like cultural differences exist even in cyber-space.

Best,

Synthiea

[jasaunders]

Could you explain more about what the low-cost no frills model is?

[LowCostNoFrills]

Wow, how do I explain this briefly? Easiest to use the airlines as an example as it's most apparent. But, this has been applied in part or whole to a huge variety of industries.

1. A company determines what their customers are really coming to them for. For airlines it's timely, safe transportation.

2. You strip out anything you're providing that is not essential to what you came up with as an answer for #1. Like (crappy) meals. You may decide to offer this service, but at an additional cost so only those who want it get it.

3. You automate & reduce costs as much as possible. Ex:etickets (average savings of $10 per ticket for the airlines), kiosk check-in (to reduce amount of necessary staff).

4. You educate your customer to help themselves (on-line booking) and about what to expect so that their expectations are met and they are satisfied.

5. Because of 1 - 4 you offer a lower price than traditional to your industry.

Lots of additional details and business geek items, but that's the nutshell.

Any questions or comments?

[akula]

Hi Daniel,

I suspect I'm not getting any responses to my survey because the American market has a very convoluted view of what the Low-Cost, No Frills business model is.

That, plus the survey takes 10 minutes so maybe it's too long?

You can view/take it at

www.LowCostNoFrills.com/survey.html

Thanks!

Synthiea

okey dokey...let's talk

firstly, we need to agree on something: you have a problem. your surveys aren't getting filed out. you need to correct this problem. this means making changes. unless you are prepared to make changes, the problem will persist. now, as long as we agree on this point, I'm gonna give you three reasons for your low response rate, and I'm gonna suggest to you three things you can do about it.

Why low response rate: I've administered online surveys. Lot's of them. Selling product targeted at small business. These surveys don't get filled if;

a) you have more than 50 words on your landing page (because all of this information takes all the intrigue out of doing the survey, and compels the prospect to think about the merits of not doing the survey)

b) no instant benefit (the action of feeling out the survey has to provide instant benefits, such being able to see the response of other people (i.e. the reason why people vote in polls) or the benefit of receiving a gift for doing the survey.

The other most important reason for low response rates in small business surveys is context. When we were doing surveys for our small business product over the net, they didn't get filled. When we administered the same surveys at a trade show, we got more responses in one day than we did ion 3 months doing them online. Context matters. There are reasons why context matters, which I'm not gonna go into in this post.

How to improve response rates:

a) Be minimalist. Your landing page should only say "Fill survey to discover secret for 20 - 30% Annual Growth!" Do this, and your prospects will be compelled to at least attempt to fill the survey, because they have no other info on the page to distract them from clicking the "Take survey" button. In other words, be like google's landing page.

b) Offer incentives. Have only 3 questions for every page in the survey. For the "Next Page" button have a "You are 10 questions from winning prize xxx". To get surveys filled, people must experience the threat of opportunity cost for not completing the survey. Right now, having filled out the firt 3 questions, I have no downside to abandoning your survey. If there was a prize at the end, I would have a downside.

c) Change your context. Find stock market/superannuation seminars run by financial planners or property buying seminars offered by property chop shops (because their prospects are mostly small business operators, either actual or wannabes). Make your surveys available in their sales literature or at the door. Piggyback on offline partners.

Finally: I know I'm being very brief, and I haven't provided you with extensive proof for the validity of what I'm saying to you. However, rest assured, I am not making these things up. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you identify with what I'm saying or not. Regardless, you need to make changes.

P.S. no, the surveys are not getting filled because "American market has a very convoluted view of what the Low-Cost, No Frills business model is". That's not a valid reason because it blames an external party.

P.P.S. Yes, I will answer further questions about you overcoming this challenge

[jasaunders]

Wow, how do I explain this briefly? Easiest to use the airlines as an example as it's most apparent. But, this has been applied in part or whole to a huge variety of industries.

1. A company determines what their customers are really coming to them for. For airlines it's timely, safe transportation.

2. You strip out anything you're providing that is not essential to what you came up with as an answer for #1. Like (crappy) meals. You may decide to offer this service, but at an additional cost so only those who want it get it.

3. You automate & reduce costs as much as possible. Ex:etickets (average savings of $10 per ticket for the airlines), kiosk check-in (to reduce amount of necessary staff).

4. You educate your customer to help themselves (on-line booking) and about what to expect so that their expectations are met and they are satisfied.

5. Because of 1 - 4 you offer a lower price than traditional to your industry.

Lots of additional details and business geek items, but that's the nutshell.

Any questions or comments?

So basically you are taking pre-existing well-known operations management concepts and just giving it a common sense name?
None of what you said is anything new or revolutionary. Providing only those products/services/features that are value-added (that your customers are willing to pay for) has been discussed, taught, and implemented for decades.

[LowCostNoFrills]

Daniel,

Thanks for your great advice. It all makes sense and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. We know what I'll be working on this week.

Joshua,

There's a lot more to the Low-Cost, No Frills business model which does make it revolutionary, but you're right, no individual part of it is new. A key point is educating your customers about what to expect and not to expect. This has allowed companies who implement this well to rank the highest in customer service in their industries, despite the fact that they do not offer the frills.

Thanks again gentlemen!

Synthiea