One of our clients, who was using Survey Monkey to adminsiter his survey, asked whether he should use the setting that allows respondents to “back up” in the survey, to review or change the answers to prior questions.

That’s a great question, because it CAN affect the pattern of responses.

When we construct surveys, it’s critical to ensure that any question that might affect another is placed AFTER that other question, not before.  So, if you were asking a client about (a) his or her post-coaching outcomes and (b) the situation pre-coaching, you DON’T want to ask about the outcomes before you ask about the pre-coaching situation.  Doing so could “contaminate” the response to the pre-coaching questions.

I you have a situation like that in a survey and you’ve carefully ordered the questions to avoid contamination effects, you might decide that your settings should not allow a respondent to “back up” in the survey.  However, if no such situation exists, I see no problem with allowing a respondent to review or change his or her responses.

Back in “the old days,” programming a survey was a monumental task–IF you could afford the expensive software to do it.  As a result, doing surveys often lay beyond the financial reach of small- to medium-sized companies. Now, however, inexpensive, easy-to-use survey software programs ensure that even the smallest company can integrate surveys into the systems and processes of its business, which means they can “get inside their customers’ heads” as well as a Fortune 500 firm.

That means EVERY entrepreneur should be thinking about how to integrate surveys into his or her business.  Here are some tips on places to target:

• Write surveys to evaluate customer satisfaction with your major products.  Send a suvey link to EVERYONE who purchases the product, within 2 weeks after purchase.
• Periodically survey your customer base to get ideas for product creation.
• Survey your list regularly to gauge their satisfaction with your communications–newsletter, e-mails, etc.
• Use surveys to generate evidence that your products work.
• Use surveys to generate referrals.
• Use surveys to elicit testimonials.

These are just a few of the ways you can integrate surveys into your business.  Online survey software packages can be obtained for as little as $200–which means if you’re not doing surveys in your business, you should start doing so, right away.

Start integrating surveys into all aspects of your business and watch your profits soar.