Approaching and recruiting participants for customer surveys
When planning how to approach and recruit customers for a customer survey, consider the following questions:
- Do you have your customers’ email addresses so that you can invite them to take part in the customer survey?
- Would you like to place the customer questionnaire on your website?
- Would you like to recruit customers or prospective customers through an external panel provider?
- Do you only have your customers’ postal addresses, enabling you to send them letters?
- Can you draw customers’ attention to the survey when they purchase a product?
- Can you promote the survey during other customer interactions, such as support requests or complaints?
- Can customers complete the survey directly on a device you provide, for example in a waiting room, outside a shop, or on a tablet or iPad?
The most suitable recruitment method depends on your answers to these questions.
Approaching participants via a newsletter
One of the simplest options is to include the customer survey in a newsletter.
However, not every customer receives the newsletter, and not every company has its customers’ email addresses. Even so, there are usually other ways to reach customers, for example by post, via product packaging, on your website or in person.
Tip: Sometimes it can be useful to recruit participants externally and invite them to a product survey without identifying your company. In such cases, less information about the company can reduce bias and encourage more candid responses. Online surveys also avoid interviewer effects.
