Knowing what customers want is a key factor in any organization’s success. Conducting surveys can help reveal customer wants, needs and satisfaction levels, which in turn can help companies better allocate their resources.

There is a true science to designing and conducting effective surveys, however. Proper planning and execution will help to avoid mistakes, like creating a bias in questionnaires or tapping the wrong audience groups for insights.

With that in mind, here are six helpful guidelines to consider when creating and conducting surveys.

1. Determine the survey’s goal. Establish what you hope to learn from your customers (e.g., overall satisfaction, interest in a potential new product, or areas in need of improvement). Be specific about the survey’s purpose – after all, without clear objectives, you’re not likely to get clear results.
   
   
2. Determine your methodology. Surveys can take a variety of formats—interviews by telephone, in person, through comment cards, by direct mail, via e-mail, or online at your Web site. Deciding on a format depends on your objectives. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method that should also be considered including cost, validity of responses, and time and resource investments.
   
   
3. Keep the survey as short as possible. A 10-page questionnaire is daunting and could cause your customers to give up before even starting. Shorter questionnaires are always best: No more than 10 minutes and within the two- to five-minute range if at all possible. A good starting point is to decide what you plan to do with the information you’ll receive from each question. If you don’t have a clear idea, leave those questions out. Or place your questions into three categories – must know, useful to know, and nice to know – and then remove the nice-to-know questions if the survey is too long.
   
   
4. Collect demographic information at the end of the survey. People will lose interest from the start if you begin the survey with the less-compelling demographic questions. Moreover, by the survey’s end, participants are more likely to have developed enough of a comfort level with the survey to keep responding to the seemingly mundane (but often marketing-significant) demographic questions.
   
   
5. Leave room for comments. Having a space at the end of a questionnaire for comments often provides organizations with a gold mine of useful insights. For instance, customers often create secondary uses for products that manufacturers may have never considered. Surveys that welcome comments can serve as a valuable source of additional ideas for product sales or process enhancements. 
   
   
6. Test your survey. Before launching the survey, test your questions on a group of individuals who are not close to the project. The test can reveal unanticipated problems with the wording of questions, with the survey’s instructions, or uncover mistakes before the world sees your survey. It can also confirm how long it takes to complete the survey so you can make adjustments if necessary.