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Summary:
One of the key factors in a successful business is to know
what your customers or clients are thinking - about your
business, your products, your services. And that's where
surveys come in.

Word Count: 853

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"Do Ask, Do Tell" -
Top 10 Most Helpful Online Customer Survey Resources

One of the key factors in a successful business is to know
what your customers or clients are thinking - about your
business, your products, your services. As a business owner,
you'll get feedback from your current customers just in the
course of day-to-day business. But the results can be skewed
by the interaction itself, and so most business owners find
it useful to allow their customers to answer questions
anonymously. And that's where surveys come in.

Some businesses hire market research firms to survey their
customers or target customers. For new or smaller
businesses, this can be an expensive proposition, and it's
helpful to have a set of resources in your tool box that
offer the option of conducting your own surveys. Here are
some great online resources you can use for surveys.

They range from the simplest polls which you can create and
place on your web site to much more elaborate options. Many
of them allow the survey respondents to see the results from
themselves and others as soon as they complete the survey.
Some of these companies offer a set of services for free as
well as more powerful paid services; others offer free
30-day trials of their most robust services. Some are geared
towards smaller businesses, other towards large enterprises
with thousands of employees. There's also a wide range of
continuum between letting you design and add your own
surveys to your web site, versus having them create a
survey, find your target market, query them, and report back
the results.

1. SurveyMonkey - If you have a large mailing list or want
to send a lot of surveys, the best deal here is the
professional subscription. For $19.95 month, you can send an
unlimited number of surveys and receive up to 1000 responses
per month.

2. Zoomerang - I love their slogan, "Easiest way to ask,
fastest way to know." Offers a basic product (free) plus
paid packages geared to education, non-profit, and a
professional version, which can send surveys in several
languages, and has no limit on the number of responses you
can receive.

3. SnapPoll - Simple site which offers you an easy way to
put a one-question survey on your web site and receive
results. Requires no sign-up, allows you to customize colors
for the form, and prevent multiple "votes" from the same
person. Free - supported by what they call "non-obtrusive
advertising."

4. PHP Form Generator - This is a free survey generator that
is written as open source code. You can choose as many
questions as you'd like - in any format - check, text,
drop-downs, etc.) You do have to create your own stats, but
it's a fairly simple procedure for small surveys.

5. OneMinutePoll - Software - available at a yearly
subscription price - that teaches you how to write surveys
correctly to find out what your customers want, so you can
provide it to them! Software automates your polls, generates
code for your web page, and allows you to see results in
real-time.

6. Advanced Survey - Free and paid services that offer both
web page surveys and email surveys (where you invite
participants - via email - to take a survey). You can ask
multiple questions in one survey, and can ask yes/no
questions, open-ended text questions, customizable number
scales (Pick a number from 1 to 10 with 10 being best, for
example), and multiple choice.

7. Question Pro - Very sophisticated system for surveying
customers. Has predesigned templates for common surveys:
Customer Satisfaction, New Product/Concept Testing, Product
Surveys, Conference Feedback, and more. These surveys can
also be designed with "branching," where the answer to one
question is used in a subsequent question. No free options
here, but there is a 30-day free trial.

8. Relevant Tools - This company offers custom web forms
with automatic email response for as little as $10/month for
a basic membership, which includes up to 500 database
records and up to 500 email messages/month.

9. HotScripts - A great resource for programmers and
webmasters. It has a host of scripts in various programming
languages and is constantly being updated by programmers
from around the world. If you search on "surveys," you'll
find lots of scripts in lots of programming languages you
can use.

10.NetReflector - Offers a very sophisticated self-serve
solution for the do-it-yourselfer, and assisted and
automated solutions for companies who need to survey
customers and/or employees worldwide on a regular basis.
Offers webinars, articles, and other resources on creating
the invitation, the importance of regular surveys, and using
online technologies for surveys.

So whether you're querying current clients and customers, a
potential target market, vendors, or employees, these online
surveys can provide valuable tools for smart business
owners. You can set up and monitor your surveys or pay
someone to do it for you, but online surveys are a great way
for you to gain information. The results may surprise you,
or send you in a new direction you hadn't thought of. But
one thing's for sure; if you don't ask your customers,
clients, or employees, they probably won't tell!


©2005 Maria Marsala, former Wall Street Trader. Elevating
Your Business works confidentially, one-on-one, with women
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