The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing

How to Ask the Right Questions

Whether you use surveys, polls, or simply ask your customers to email you their feedback, there are plenty of things that you probably want to know. The key is focusing in on what you need to know. Asking your customers to answer too many questions might drive them away, so cut out the clutter and ask only when the information is critical.

The following sections provide guidance on which questions to ask and how to ask them.

START AT THE END

The best starting point for asking the right questions is the end point. At the end of the day, you are collecting information so that you can make an informed decision and take action. So what is it that you want to make more informed decisions about? By defining the problem you are trying to solve, you will then know what information you need to collect in order to make an informed decision.

You may feel the urge to now jump right into generating your questions, but there is one more step. The final step is to determine what needs to be measured in order to give you the information you need in actionable format. Now that you know what you are going to measure, you are in a great place to start creating questions that will give you great feedback.

Here’s an example of how this might play out in a real-life situation. A wine store has seen the attendance at its wine-tasting events decline over the past several months. The owner is perplexed about the reason for the decline and has made the decision to ...