Customer surveys are important, but you must avoid these errors

Obtaining accurate and constructive customer feedback can be an invaluable tool for many businesses; however, it is essential that the right questions are asked to ensure your business is capturing accurate customer data.

What sort of mistakes can happen?

Right from the get-go, errors can occur. From the design of the survey through to data collection and analysis, mistakes can mean the reliability of the results is impacted. Let’s look at the most common mistakes:

Coverage and sampling errors

1. Coverage error

This happens when a proportion of the population is inadequately represented, usually because the list of people from which the sample is taken is out of date or incomplete.

2. Sampling error

It is essential that your survey is representative of your country’s population; if it isn’t, you will get a sampling error. This can be avoided by using more exact sampling techniques or making the sample size bigger.

3. Non-sampling error

This is a mistake that is not due to the sampling process; for example, it is not a coverage error, measurement error, processing error, or nonresponse error.

Measurement and processing mistakes

4. Measurement error

This occurs when the information gathered doesn’t match what is being sought. To avoid this, your business may want to consider using the expert services of a data collection company such as //shepper.com. Such an expert will support the business and avoid poorly designed questions or interviewer bias.

5. Processing error

During data processing, there may be mistakes such as coding errors or data entry issues. Again, these can be minimised by careful handling of data and through verification processes.

Non-response and technical errors

6. Non-response error

If a large number of the respondents selected don’t respond to the survey, you can get biased results. According to the Federation of Small Businesses reviews and customer satisfaction surveys can give you insights into how your services and products are being used.

7. Technical errors

To obtain accurate results to analyse customer satisfaction or for market research, there are technical problems you can avoid. These include not using survey templates, avoiding leading questions, and poor sampling techniques.

Summary

Sets out common mistakes that undermine customer survey data, including coverage error from an outdated or incomplete sample list, sampling and non-sampling errors, measurement error where questions don’t capture what’s actually being asked, processing mistakes during data entry, non-response bias when too few people reply, and technical errors such as leading or poorly designed questions.

Questions this article raises

• Which of these survey errors is hardest to detect after the fact?
• How large does a sample need to be to avoid sampling error?
• What steps can a business take to improve customer survey response rates?