Conducting guest surveys

24 replies [Last post]

Posted on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:22pm

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I want to ask my guests questions about their stay, how they use our website, their overall impressions. Survey would be, unlike face to face, totally anonymous. So, here's the question- if you were a guest used to receiving emailings from us, forewarned there was a survey coming, how much time/attention would you give to a survey from a place you've stayed? (Survey is online.)

I will add that these are guests who have opted in to hear from us and have all been on the mailing list for awhile.

I'm looking for either- how many questions would you be willing to answer (only one personal questions about your age group) and/or how much time would you spend on this?

If you've done surveys, what was the response like? Did you get a fair number of responses? Did it help you?

__________________

Spare me the perky.

This comment (67564) was in reply to the Original Topic on Sun, 03/21/2010 - 1:03pm

#1 TOP

YellowSocks

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I read a while back that surveys are another way to remind people of how awesome they are. A perfect example of this is the comment card you can get at Sherwyn Williams and mail in... their questions are things like How was your service? What do you think of the quality of the paint? Both of which they know full well that they do very well on. There's no question anywhere on the card about their price!

So even though you're actually trying to gather information, a few bonus questions about things you know you rock on will help cement that image in your customer's mind.

=)
Kk.

__________________

College House Bed and Breakfast, Ashland, OH

This comment (67567) was in reply to comment 67564 on Sun, 03/21/2010 - 1:14pm

#2 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

Interesting about the highlighting in the survey what you're good at.

I did a survey for the cable company once and they never asked about the price. Got all the way to the end and I said that the canvasser...'You never asked about the price. It's too high, btw.'

This comment (68430) was in reply to comment 67567 on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 8:31am

#3 TOP

BBBBoB

Offline

Joined:
11/25/2008

Just curious, did you implement the survey? Can we look at the questions that you have posed? Your comment about having " thick skin" is bang on. I recently conducted a survey for our neighbourhood association. Everyone sent the survey had a vested interest and yet only about a 75% click/open rate was achieved. Of that only about 75% took the 20 question survey. Some of the comments that we received were, to be polite, unexpected. We used http://www.surveygizmo.com/ to conduct & tabulate the survey. I have recently started a feedback e-mail to guests.http://www.mckinnonsbb.com/feedback.html. Don't know how it is going to go over yet.

BBBBoB

__________________

McKinnon's Lakeside Bed & Breakfast

This comment (67386) was in reply to the Original Topic on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 8:11pm

#4 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

Let me just say this about the survey...develop a thick skin before you do one. It's not that you don't already know that some people just don't like some things, it's seeing them in writing.

This comment (67388) was in reply to comment 67386 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 9:19pm

#5 TOP

Innkeeper To Go

Offline

Joined:
10/27/2009

That is always the problem with asking folks how they really feel. Do a good enough job with the questions and they might actually tell you.

__________________

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” Pericles

This comment (67371) was in reply to the Original Topic on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 1:10pm

#6 TOP

GeorgiaGirl

Offline

Joined:
06/09/2008

I would answer a survey without having an incentive to do so and I have done it before. I would prefer it to be 10 minutes or less since I have a short attention span

This comment (67325) was in reply to the Original Topic on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 11:34pm

#7 TOP

copperhead

Offline

Joined:
06/24/2008

HJ, I am with you for the most part. The 'carrot' idea is a good one but I am wondering if you will get 100% gut feeling answers if you are asking for their name. To be honest, I think I would fluff up my responses if I were having to give my name - this is speaking in general terms, depending on what the survey questions were about. A question such as below, I would feel comfortable providing an honest answer:

If the question was about mattress comfort "was the matress to your liking? A) - yes, it was perfect B)- no, I prefer a more firm mattress C) no, I prefer a softer mattress D) do not remember

If the question was more on the personal side of the business like specific questions on the food where an honest answer could hurt some ones feelings if it weren't positive, I would feel less likely to give a less glowing answer if I was putting my name to it.

__________________

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2

This comment (67332) was in reply to comment 67325 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 8:34am

#8 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

My feelings on why I didn't want to offer an incentive! I won't get really honest answers if they have to give their name. Besides which, I don't want to know who is really unhappy, just that they are. I don't want to be on tenterhooks next time they come!

I'm revising it once more this morning.

I'm not asking questions that will lead me to have to do things I am not willing to do. (ie- how was your mattress? I'm not in the market for buying new mattresses and it's a place I really can't please everyone.)

This comment (67328) was in reply to comment 67325 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 6:31am

#9 TOP

Joey Bloggs

Offline

Joined:
10/07/2008

copperhead wrote:

If the question was about mattress comfort "was the matress to your liking? A) - yes, it was perfect B)- no, I prefer a more firm mattress C) no, I prefer a softer mattress D) do not remember

It was not a review, it was a questionnaire. In fact, Mort your example of Mattress comfort is misleading, you didn't ask about that. You asked about amenities you might use or like, and price points in conjunction with the area.

__________________

Kindness not only makes the coffee. Kindness says good morning.

This comment (67333) was in reply to comment 67328 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 9:00am

#10 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I didn't bring up mattresses...

This comment (67334) was in reply to comment 67333 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 9:23am

#11 TOP

Joey Bloggs

Offline

Joined:
10/07/2008

Morticia wrote:

I didn't bring up mattresses...

CH did, I see, I thought I was replying to your post in her post.

Is it a guest review or a customer survey, you are saying survey, so you are asking things to increase their enjoyment during their stay, not asking how things "were". Two totally different animals.

You don't think guests will be honest about asking for sodas or single serve senseo machines? I think they will be, and isn't this the whole point of the survey, asking them for their opinion, or is it a gimmick? Either way, make it worth their while by offering an incentive.

This comment (67337) was in reply to comment 67334 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 9:29am

#12 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I am only asking about things I am willing to provide if there is a response in the affirmative that guests want them. I am not asking if they want things I am not willing to provide or can't afford to provide. Almost everything on the list is already provided, I'm trying to get a sense of whether or not these are things guests really care about.

I'm hoping they tell me other things that they would like, that might be easy to provide.

But, points raised about guests not doing the survey if there's no immediate payoff (ie- having a better experience is not a big enough payoff, there needs to be some sort of prize, too) and the twin point about not being honest if they have to put down their name makes me wonder which I want more...honesty or a bigger sample size.

That's why I ask here, otherwise I just do things the way I would do them For the mailing list this is going to, if I were on that list as a guest, I would do this survey because I'd been to the place so many times and I wanted to help. I wouldn't do it for a prize. I'm not motivated by prizes.

This comment (67372) was in reply to comment 67337 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 2:04pm

#13 TOP

Breakfast Diva

Offline

Joined:
05/26/2009

Personally, I would prefer a smaller sample which had honest answers. I wouldn't do the incentive. You are sending this survey to guests who have stayed with you before and have a personal connection to you. I think they would be happy to help if for no other reason than to give you honest input.

This comment (67373) was in reply to comment 67372 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 2:22pm

#14 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I took the advice of the folks who hosted the training class on surveys and did an incentive. As far as results go, 75% of the people who took the survey also opted for a chance to win the prize. I have no idea if that corresponds to 'I'm going to say something negative so I won't give my email' or what.

This comment (67374) was in reply to comment 67373 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 2:30pm

#15 TOP

Innkeeper To Go

Offline

Joined:
10/27/2009

Morticia wrote:

I took the advice of the folks who hosted the training class on surveys and did an incentive.

A very good plan.

If it's results you want, go for the method that will produce them. Incentives, even a drawing for a small gift, result in more responses to a survey.

This comment (67376) was in reply to comment 67374 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 3:08pm

#16 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

By the way, the stats on survey-taking run along the lines of 21% will take a survey if they are guaranteed a small reward and 18% will take a survey if there's a chance to win $1000. That's it. the other 79-82% won't bother at all. So, I'm not holding out any great hopes for a massive turnout on this. But if I hold true to those stats, it'll be ok for my purposes.

Another totally off topic 'factoid' for anyone who does an email newsletter...your readers spend an average of 51 seconds on the newsletter so you have to be short and punchy to get them to read more. You can encourage longer engagemnet by linking to the info rather than putting it into the email and telling them how long the info should take to read.

This comment (67377) was in reply to comment 67376 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 3:09pm

#17 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

BTW, that 51 second thing is a killer for me. As you all well may know, I'm wordy when I get going!

This comment (67344) was in reply to comment 67337 on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 11:19am

#18 TOP

Samster

Offline

Joined:
05/30/2008

I am confused as to the purpose of the survey? Why go to this trouble if you are not looking for ways to improve the guest experience?

__________________

"You can't blame gravity for falling in love." ~ Albert Einstein

This comment (67318) was in reply to the Original Topic on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:51pm

#19 TOP

Joey Bloggs

Offline

Joined:
10/07/2008

HJ you responded the same way I did. Put the participants in a hat and pull out a winner when all is said and done. Otherwise there is no incentive to give away my time.

This comment (67315) was in reply to the Original Topic on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:49pm

#20 TOP

Innkeeper To Go

Offline

Joined:
10/27/2009

Great idea. Just keep it short and simple with multiple choice questions so you can objectively compare the data.

Be sure to include a link to TA. Ask if they had a great experience to share it on TA and if they had any issues to please refer those directly to you for resolution.

And happyjacks is right. Dangle a carrot and they're much more likely to bite. Can't offer them an outright freebie if you're also asking for a TA review. But you can enter all responses in a contest for a free upgrade or a free coffee cup or something nominal.

This comment (67317) was in reply to comment 67315 on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:51pm

#21 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

I think adding a link to TA to ask for a review after I've just asked them to do a survey might be pushing my luck!

This comment (67319) was in reply to comment 67317 on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 4:20pm

#22 TOP

Innkeeper To Go

Offline

Joined:
10/27/2009

Maybe. But I've worked with places that do it quite successfully. It all depends on the wording as does the survey itself.

I used to teach classes myself in developing/conducting surveys. If you need any tips as you're designing yours or developing the questions, just drop me an email. I'm glad to give some free advice!

This comment (67314) was in reply to the Original Topic on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:35pm

#23 TOP

happyjacks

Offline

Joined:
05/30/2008

I haven't surveyed guests but I've thought about it. I just haven't figured out the anwswers to the questions you're asking, either. Market research like this is so very important, but us little guys don't often do much of it.

As ~~a surveyee (?)~~ someone who occasionally responds to surveys, I can tell you what motivates me to spend the time: I am either unhappy with a service and want to complain; or I was exceptionally pleased with a service and want to give back; or I have the chance to win something! Dangle a carrot and I will follow. But I will abandon a survey if it takes too long. Too long is subjective. It could be 3 minutes if I'm just doing it to be 'nice'; 5 minutes if I have a gripe; or 10 minutes if there's a ripe juicy carrot up for grabs.

If you do do a survey, please let us know the response stats!

This comment (67316) was in reply to comment 67314 on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:50pm

#24 TOP

Morticia

Offline

Joined:
05/22/2008

Good points about the carrot. I took a class on surveys and apparently more people will answer a survey if there is a small guaranteed reward than the 'chance' to win a big reward. I would have to add a box for the name for a prize as the survey is anon.

Conducting guest surveys

Comment viewing options

Navigation

User login

Blogs to INNspire

Active forum topics

Newest Recipes