Web surveys are a proactive way to reach and engage with a large number of clients at once, at a relatively low cost. When automated, they require less time and resources, making them an effective way to gather client feedback. However, this is not always the preferred method of data collection as a largely qualitative interview technique needs to be used, meaning the feedback gathered tends to be highly structured and may lack depth, compared to telephone interviews, virtual meetings or in-person interviews.
In recent years, the internet has been widely used to undertake web surveys. It is becoming common for individuals to receive follow-on surveys from services they receive – they are a popular choice when it comes to data collection, particularly for post matter feedback, but the content gathered can often be of variable quality. As a result, response rates tend to be much lower using this method. In addition, survey length and the visual representation of the survey on a respondent’s device or computer both have an impact on how the questions are read, understood and responded to by participants. Once the survey has been completed, the results are automatically saved to a survey portal, ready to be analysed.
At Acuigen we are often asked to provide what we call a ‘tidy-up service’ for web surveys – whereby a human assesses the qualitative content received with the aim of improving the readability of some poorly recorded verbatim comments (typically punctuation, capitalisation, name-checking, etc.). This helps to improve the understanding of the content and allows improved analysis of the comments.
The rationale for web surveys includes:
-
Being less expensive than telephone, virtual video interviews, and in-person interviews
-
The ability to send out many email invitations to a wide audience across a wide geography
-
Allowing the participants to complete the interview in their own time
-
A faster way of reaching target audiences
-
Getting real-time results – quick and easy analysis.
By contrast, web surveys have constraints:
-
There may be a lower response rate compared to other interview methods (in-person and by phone)
-
They are usually a shorter type of interview and there may be less depth in the respondent's comments
-
There is no interviewer to clarify and probe responses, possibly resulting in less reliable opinion
-
The weighting of data may need to be adjusted so the collected sample of responses align with the population whose opinion is sought, particularly if it is a large sample of opinion being sought
-
It may be difficult to ascertain who completed the survey
-
Body language of the respondent cannot be observed
-
Invitations may be screened out by email servers.
Continue the discussion
If you’re interested in understanding the process of client feedback to a greater extent or are interested in initiating or scaling up a client feedback programme in your firm, get in touch with our team who be happy to talk further to assist you and to share our experiences.