If your perception of conducting surveys is that they can be a useful exercise but are too time consuming to prepare, cumbersome to deploy and require considerable resources to process the numerous responses into a meaningful report it is perhaps time to think again. Online surveys turn what was once a time consuming, resource hungry, cumbersome process into a low cost, quick, easy exercise that delivers real-time reporting.

Ease of DesignOut with the word-processor, now there is a quick and easy way for almost anyone to create surveys using a simple menu system that allows surveys to be created in minutes and with the ability to add additional questions and modify and move existing questions around. Ease Of DeliveryOnce a survey has been created it is deployed through the internet or organisations intranet making it instantly available to anyone with access to the internet.

Ease of PromotionThere are a number of easy ways to invite respondents to participate in a survey such as sending an email that contains a link to the survey or linking to the survey from a suitable website. Ease of ParticipationOnline surveys don't just make it easy for the publisher as most respondents find that, when compared against the traditional pen and paper survey, completing a survey online is quicker and easier and from the publishers point of view a lot less prone to mistakes such as respondents missing out questions or multiple responses being entered against single response questions.

Ease of Survey ManagementWith an online survey the publisher can see in real-time the response rate and summary results.

Ease of AnalysisAt the end of the survey the response data is ready for detailed analysis, the information can be loaded into a spreadsheet or third-party analysis program where the respondent data can be sliced and diced. Appreciating the EaseOnce the ease of the total life cycle of conducting a survey online has been appreciated by business managers they will begin to recognise the multitude of new opportunities that exist.

The costly annual employee satisfaction survey can now be done quicker and cheaper allowing the exercise to be conducted bi-annual or quarterly ensuring any employee problems are identified and dealt with early. There is also now an opportunity to conduct smaller and more targeted ad-hoc surveys on a departmental level or a niche area of the business improving employer/employee communications.

A survey can be used to help deliver a management message and measure the employee support and concerns of introducing new initiatives, something a simple one way memo style directive cannot do. Survey's can be used as a marketing tool as the survey explains the benefit of a product or service and gathers the response from potential customers. ROI todayTechnology too often delivers better ways to perform certain tasks but with a Return on Investment that often requires 'investment' first and the 'return' later.

Many of the available online survey services such as www. surveygalaxy. com have not only turned a cumbersome task into a cinch, but reduced the cost down to a pinch, giving you a return on investment from day one and opening up a world of possibilities and further savings.

With the opportunities that online surveys bring it is a tool the smart manager will always have to hand in their personal tool box. Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd a web site that allows anyone to create, design and publish online surveys. For more information please visit http://www. surveygalaxy. com

Author:
Martin Day