Bill Gates's Top 10 Rules For Success (@BillGates) - Part 2

How have you done your market research for your business? Would you use a telephone marketing company? Perhaps call your clients and customers and ask for their input?  Have you considered simply using email or online survey?  It may take a little more effort but this article covers reasons to consider and tips for using this approach.  The article is in three parts.  Welcome back to Part 2 with today’s 3 tips.  Come back for 4 more tomorrow.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results – Part 2

By: Kathy Gulrich

Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?

Lots of reasons.

·         standardization

·         easy to get large numbers of responses

·         easy to tabulate, analyze

·         easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers

·         inexpensive

·         non-intrusive

·         time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers)

·         protect your customers' anonymity (if important)

·         professional

·         no "cold calls"

·         no answering machines!

And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)

So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. How to find them, how to do them, and how to make the most of your results. Here goes....

4 - Mix It Up

Most automated surveys allow for lots of different types of questions, including:

·         multiple choice

·         choose one or more from a list

·         fill in the blank(s)

·         rate on a 1-5 (or similar) scale

·         open-ended questions with a fill-in text box

Try to mix up your question format to keep it interesting. Lots of essay-type questions often seem "too hard" for respondents. Conversely, all multiple choice questions can get a bit boring.

5 - Get it Out There

Sometimes you'll want to limit your survey to a particular group: your clients, people who have bought your book or participated in a particular teleclass, your newsletter subscribers, etc.

Often, you'll be looking for responses from a much broader audience, say, self-employed individuals over 50, or all coaches in North America. In this case, you may want to email the survey link to your list, and ask recipients to forward the survey to anyone they know who fits your category. (You'll want to give them a compelling reason to do so!)

6 - Make Course Corrections

One of the great things about most surveys (Survey Monkey is a great example) is that you can pop in and look at results as they come in.

Here's why that's important: If the answers you're getting don't answer your questions in the way you expected, you'll have the opportunity to revise your survey, on the spot. Revise a question ... replace it ... change the order ... integrate something you learned from a respondent ... add something you forgot.

Get in there, see what's happening, and make course corrections if necessary.

Author Bio
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily - whether they're looking to write a book, develop a new product, or market their product or business. Clients love her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check out one of Kathy's teleclasses, or pick up a free worksheet, at www.smARTbusinessCoaching.com

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Source: By Kathy Gulrich

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