There’s Only One Way to Find Out. Ask (and Answer).
Apparently, lots of places want to know what I think.
In my email box now sit surveys from a lecture that I went to over the weekend, the DC Shorts Film Festival that I attended last week, and United Airlines and British Airways following flights that I took with them a month ago. The airlines—the least confident of the bunch, I guess, for getting responses—are enticing me with a “chance” at winning thousands of free miles if I reply. (I will reply but not hold my breath.) The others just ask nicely.
In addition, after helping me with my monthly cable television frustration over the phone, Cox wanted to know if their service was sufficient. It was. Also on the phone, a CareFirst insurance person wanted to know if she was helpful with my insurance questions. She wasn’t. And a hotel chain emailed to know if my stay with them was okay, even though I cancelled it before arriving. “Best stay I ever had!” I wrote. Just kidding.
I’m flattered. Really. And to be honest, here at SIPA we’re no different—well, we’re different from the CareFirst person, I hope. The evaluations that we hand out after every session at a Conference are hugely important to us. I can’t tell you how often those evaluations/surveys come up in conversation here in the office when we’re discussing what sessions to schedule for the next conference, whom the most popular speakers are, what topic wasn’t covered enough, whether there were enough seats in a room, etc. We, too, really want to know what you think.
Appearing live on the SIPA website now is a Marketing Metrics & Benchmarks Survey: What’s the New Normal? This is your chance to help SIPA members set their expectations—and their budgets! Tell us about your firm’s revenue per effort, what you consider a “stellar” click-through rate and how you really define an “abysmal” direct mail response.
Your input from this survey will help us shape the metrics of the upcoming Marketing Conference, Nov. 10-12 in Miami. Results will be distributed to all conference attendees as well as to all SIPA members in general. So it really helps you—and us—to take a few minutes to answer.
A company called cvent recently ran a three-part series on using surveys to increase the effectiveness of your webinar. The third part concerned the need to send out surveys after the event. Their five tips were as follows:
– Send out your survey immediately after the webinar. Get your attendees’ feedback before they forget the details of the event.
– Keep the post-event survey short. Only ask the questions you need to achieve your objectives. The longer your survey, the less likely someone will complete it.
– Identify strong leads. Include questions that will distinguish strong leads from others who may need your services in the future. Once you have these leads, pass them onto your sales team and flag them for immediate follow-up.
– Ask for testimonials. Your post-event survey should ask attendees if they are willing to provide you with testimonials. The people who give testimonials may become your biggest cheerleaders, and their generous words can help you attract new business.
– Follow up with everyone who registered for your webinar but didn’t attend. If you don’t follow up, you may lose leads who couldn’t make it to the live event. Send all registrants a link to the recording of the webinar. You can also conduct a survey to determine their needs and gauge their level of interest in your offer.
Since most of us sit on both sides of this fence—we design and deliver surveys and are an active audience for them—it’s important that we do take the time to give our feedback and opinions. Kind of a pay-it-forward ethic, if you will. SIPA’s Marketing Metrics survey should not take up very much of your time, yet it will help us find out where you stand among similar companies in a variety of metrics. And knowing that information will give us here at SIPA a better idea of how we can help your bottom line.
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SIPA now has a Job Board up and running!
With seven categories of jobs, this could be one of
SIPA’s most exciting additions this year—with your help.
Only members can post, but everyone can read and reply.
Please check it out and make it a reflex action to post
a job there when one comes open in your company.
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