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Posts Tagged ‘online surveys’

Are you eager to earn some additional money? In this article I write about a method my family has recently heard about which has helped us to pay some of those unwanted bills. This is by taking part in different surveys for a range of companies who are looking to find out more about their customers or potential customers. You may think just like I did that this would hardly be worth your time or effort, however you may be surprised when you realise you much these companies are willing to pay.

Just before I continue I would like to make it clear that this is by no way my line of business; I am in fact involved in various projects to do with various industries including web promotion, DVD duplication service and offering online guitar lessons for beginners.

A few days ago a friend of my step-daughters came round to our house to play. They are both twelve years of age and have known each other since primary school. This friend also stopped at our house for her evening meal and while at the dining table, eating her food, she started up quite an interesting conversation. She asked my step-daughter if she would be interested in joining her to take part in a survey which would be about the subject of childrens banking.

I started to ask this girl, who is called Emma, what would be involved. Emma replied that a woman would be visiting her house on the next Saturday morning and that she would be asking her some basic questions with regards banking; banking that is for a twelve year old. She continued that the meeting would last around an hour and a half for which she would be paid £20. If she then also kept a form of diary for a week, she would then receive another £10.

My step-daughter suddenly became very interested and asked me whether she would be able to go as well, I told her that she could.

Emma then told our family that she regularly took part in these surveys and had been introduced to the idea by a friend of her mothers. She stated that on average she made around £100 a month from taking part and completing these surveys, not bad for a twelve year old. I joked by asking her whether I could also go around on the Saturday. Emma replied that this survey was only aimed at schoolchildren but that her parents also regularly took part in other surveys and that she would let me know when the next one was going to take place.

The Saturday arrived and I took my step-daughter to Emma’s house. I was a little bored, to say the least, and therefore decided to talk to her parents whilst awaiting the meeting to finish. Her parents then told me about their own experiences of completing different surveys and stated that even though it is not a massive amount of money that it is a lot for what you have to do. They also said that it helped them to pay a number of bills each month.

When good employees leave it is not only a loss in terms of time, effort and all the cost associated with finding a suitable replacement but it is also the loss of losing unique knowledge and experience specifically associated to the organization; Prevention is the best cure against the problem of losing good employees.

It is inevitable that employees will leave from time to time but a good employer will want to know why an employee has decided to leave to ensure that personnel are leaving for the right, and not the wrong, reasons.

Concerns of employees can be identified early by the regular use of well designed job satisfaction surveys, allowing for problems to be resolved and helping to minimize needless loss of staff. However, some problems, especially those that involve personalities, are not always brought to the surface until it is too late.

Poor management and/or a lack of any real career development are two common reasons that can result in employees deciding to leave an organization. Both of these problems can be difficult to identify even for organizations that adopt regular 360-degree appraisals (i.e. where as part of the overall appraisal process, employees may be asked to evaluate their managers).

While employed employees can be reluctant to criticize their managers for fear of the consequences, they can however be more candid when completing an employee exit survey.

Although adopting exit surveys many not prevent individuals from leaving it will help bring to the surface problems that could, if left unchecked, result in poor staff moral for the remaining staff and worse case scenario, a flood of resignations.

Limited Career Development

Not all employees desire, nor can employers always provide their employees with a clear and long term career path. Some people find comfort and job security in doing one job but there are just as many who prefer to be continually challenged, always acquiring new skills and steadily moving up the corporate ladder. A successful organization will maintain the balance of having high flyers and more modest and humble employees.

Where losses due to a lack of career development are occasional they may also be inevitable, but where they are frequent, then changes to the organizational structure might need to be considered to allow for greater career development of the employees.

Sub-standard Management

Many a manager has achieved their managerial position through hard work and a deserved promotion, but a good worker does not always make a good manager and many are awarded a management position without any management training.

Poor managers can be quick to discredit the views of disgruntled staff, ‘I was thinking of getting rid of them anyway’ and ‘they were a waste of space’ are typical responses to being asked if there is a problem causing people to leave an organization.

It is proper and natural for senior management to support their line managers by giving them the benefit of any doubt, after all a good managers can always be slighted by poor employees. If through an Exit survey a man-management problem were to be identified early it presents a realistic chance that the problem could be properly addressed and resolved with appropriate formal training and guidance.

Records

It is not uncommon for people to leave an employer and at a later date put in a claim for constructive dismissal. With ‘No win no fee’ legal representation this has become a real problem for even good employers. Exit surveys will at best, provide a valuable record of the employee’s reasons for leaving, and at worse, provide early warning that a possible claim might be expected.

Unless it is on record a tribunal will not necessarily accept an employer’s word that when an employee left they did so without indicating any grievance.

Timing the exit survey

Exit surveys can be conducted as part of the termination procedures or they can, with the employee’s agreement, be delayed for a few months.

The advantage with delaying an exit survey for a few months is that after a period of reflection a former employee can be less emotional and more objective and if they have taken up another position they may be in a position to compare their previous role with their new role.

Conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure has the advantage that although the leaving employee may be emotional their views may be more reflective of their true state of mind and therefore closer to the real reasons they have decided to leave. If delayed any comparison between the ex-employee’s old and new roles may be the result of them putting on a brave face, and if the reasons that are given require action, the delay may have prevented the problem from being resolved.

Summary

Organizations will generally benefit in a number of different ways by including exit surveys as part of their employee termination procedures. Having good records could prove to be very valuable later and they will also provide management with information that can help them improve an organization’s moral as well as the bottom line.

See the following survey for sample exit interview questions.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork a manufacturer can add value to the entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By improving a business to business relationship the products that are supplied will become less of a commodity item and judged along with the whole fulfilment service, a service that may not be available with any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Where wholesalers only want to focus entirely on price they are often doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing the benefits of working with a professional and reliable supplier, one that delivers on time, provides products that meet strict quality control and that are delivered and invoiced accompanied by documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. It takes a degree of understanding and consideration as to the requirement of the other to establish good and streamlined business processes between any two organizations. With the introduction of more efficient order fulfilment programmes the manufacturer and wholesaler can both benefit.

For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By manufacturers and wholesalers working together the whole fulfilment process can be streamlined and companies can work towards a just in time model where the need to hold large volumes of stock is reduced and along with all the associated costs.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. Adding value to a business relationship a product will no longer be just a commodity item that can be supplied by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

If they only focus on price and do not adequately value the many benefits of working with a professional and well organised supplier wholesalers may be doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing a supplier that delivers on time products that are of the right quality accompanied with invoice and shipping documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. It takes a degree of understanding and consideration as to the requirement of the other to establish good and streamlined business processes between any two organizations. With the introduction of more efficient order fulfilment programmes the manufacturer and wholesaler can both benefit.

It is in the interest of manufacturers to establish long term contracts as that will provide them with the security that is necessary for them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers value the benefits that long term relationships can bring. Most wholesalers would be able to benefit from a just in time supply model where they reduce the cost associated with holding large volumes of stock on site but to achieve this they need to work with their suppliers to improve the whole fulfilment process.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork a manufacturer can add value to the entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. Adding value to a business relationship a product will cease to become just a commodity item that can be supplied by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

Wholesalers are often doing themselves a disservice if they only focus on price and do not adequately value the many benefits of working with a professional and well organised supplier, a supplier that will deliver on time, will supply products that meet strict the agreed quality and that have invoice and delivery documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. By understanding and taking into consideration the requirements of both parties the business processes between any two organizations can be streamlined and all parties benefit from all the efficiencies that come from implementing a more efficient order fulfilment programme.

For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By manufacturers and wholesalers working together the whole fulfilment process can be streamlined and companies can work towards a just in time model where the need to hold large volumes of stock is reduced and along with all the associated costs.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. Adding value to a business relationship a product will cease to become just a commodity item that can be supplied by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

Where wholesalers only want to focus entirely on price they are often doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing the benefits of working with a professional and reliable supplier, one that delivers on time, provides products that meet strict quality control and that are delivered and invoiced accompanied by documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. It takes a degree of understanding and consideration as to the requirement of the other to establish good and streamlined business processes between any two organizations. With the introduction of more efficient order fulfilment programmes the manufacturer and wholesaler can both benefit.

It is in the interest of manufacturers to establish long term contracts as that will provide them with the security that is necessary for them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers value the benefits that long term relationships can bring. If a wholesaler can minimize the need to carry large stocks of items, but be supplied using a just in time model, they can reduce their overhead costs, free up valuable real estate and minimize the risk of over ordering.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork a manufacturer can add value to the entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By adding value to the business relationship the product that is supplied moves away from just becoming a commodity item that can be sourced from anyone.

Wholesalers are often doing themselves a disservice if they only focus on price and do not adequately value the many benefits of working with a professional and well organised supplier, a supplier that will deliver on time, will supply products that meet strict the agreed quality and that have invoice and delivery documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. By understanding and taking into consideration the requirements of both parties the business processes between any two organizations can be streamlined and all parties benefit from all the efficiencies that come from implementing a more efficient order fulfilment programme.

For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By agreeing new processes with their suppliers a wholesaler can minimize the amount of stock that they hold and by improving the fulfilment cycle it can allow them to work towards a more efficient just-in-time supply model.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. Adding value to a business relationship a product will no longer be just a commodity item that can be supplied by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

Where wholesalers only want to focus entirely on price they are often doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing the benefits of working with a professional and reliable supplier, one that delivers on time, provides products that meet strict quality control and that are delivered and invoiced accompanied by documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. It takes a degree of understanding and consideration as to the requirement of the other to establish good and streamlined business processes between any two organizations. With the introduction of more efficient order fulfilment programmes the manufacturer and wholesaler can both benefit.

It is in the interest of manufacturers to establish long term contracts as that will provide them with the security that is necessary for them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers value the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By agreeing new processes with their suppliers a wholesaler can minimize the amount of stock that they hold and by improving the fulfilment cycle it can allow them to work towards a more efficient just-in-time supply model.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

I’m not happy. My chair has just broken and the printer has still not been fixed. The problem with the company is that it is going to the dogs. The boss is okay but really doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what is really going on.

And on it goes.

These are the sort of thoughts that start to go through the minds of individuals when an organization loses touch with their personnel; the chair that is broken, no feeling of appreciation, blaming ‘management’ and for some even questioning the futility of what they are doing. Trivial problems fester and a suspicious and unhelpful frame of mind develops. Can you be sure that it isn’t going on right now in your organisation?

What should be social events held outside the office become no more than a forum for complaints and negativity grows among people who feel unable to effect change. Dissatisfaction will often synthesise into a demand for an increase in remuneration, as though like a cheap fix more money will momentarily lessen the pain.

If ignored by management the concerns of this employee will inevitable find empathy with their colleagues own individual concerns, where the only common demand might well be a demand for an increase in remuneration, more paid holidays and a reduction in working hours, all of which will not fix the broken chair, ensure that new personnel are in future properly introduced, trained and managed nor help management identify areas of inefficiency.

Organisations have a habit of pigeon holing people, physically through offices, cubicles or workstations and also in terms of responsibility. With effective and strong management to support this structure it can be productive, but as an organisation grows, and weak or inappropriate management infiltrates the management chain, it is perhaps inevitable that cracks will begin to appear.

From the top down all can appear rosy in the corporate garden as the weak and inappropriate manager reports that all is well in the engine room, oblivious to the fact that their coal stocks might be dwindling.

Experience shows us that relying on a limited number of indicators gives a skewed perspective just like a person with only one eye has difficulty judging distance. By establishing procedures that sample the mood from different perspectives throughout the organisation good management will be able to form a rounded picture.

The benefits of establishing good, frequent and extensive communication channels are both direct and indirect.

Greater respect will be given to a senior management team that is known to have their ear to the ground and where they keep the middle management honest by knowing that middle managers can no longer shrug away the senior manager’s searching inquiry “How is everything going?” question with a non-committal “Fine”; It is my experience that if someone replies with “fine” you need to dig deeper and ask if they really know what is going on.

Most principals of organisation will not have the luxury of spending time walking the floor and discussing the issues of individuals but through online employee surveys they can achieve the same benefits.

Online surveys provide an ideal method to establish effective communications between the employee and employer. Using a survey hosting service they can now be created and published with speed and ease.

Using the Internet and intranet surveys can be deployed in seconds, easily completed by employees and results can be displayed in real time allowing ‘problems’ and common themes of dissatisfaction to be identified early.

With their ability to get to the heart of an organization online employee satisfaction surveys can confirm that all is well in the engine room and that there is sufficient fuel to keep it running.

The benefits that online surveys bring are considerable, not only are the real issues identified, but employees feel that their voices are being heard and that their views, right or wrong, have a forum.

Online surveys will not in themselves resolve a problem but what they will do is give senior management the opportunity to address the problems and concerns of their employees, if people then leave the organisation they will at least hopefully be doing it for the right and not wrong reasons.

The grass may always appear greener on the other side but the drivers that cause good people to leave a company is rarely just a monetary concern (although this can often cited as the reason) but more often to do with one or more of the following:-

• the workplace environment;
• a lack of fulfilment;
• limited training and feedback;
• lack of a career path;
• over worked;
• lack of trust and respect with their senior managers.

Good communication between the employer and employee can help identify the individual and common concerns of the employees and will give the senior management team the opportunity to address root problems and not just the symptoms of employee dissatisfaction, enabling them to demonstrate to their employees that they are valued as an important resource.

Each individual organisation needs to customised their own employee survey so that it is relevant for them. To get an idea as to how effective online surveys can be try completing the sample employee satisfaction survey, then view the results of the satisfaction survey and just think of the benefits to management being able to measure so easily the heart beat of the organization.

For any organization that wants to offer products or services that are focused and well targeted market research is essential. Business decisions based on good market research can minimise risk and pay dividends. By making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the life cycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:-

• Market research will help you better communicate – Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By consulting with the customer you not only show them that you care you also take the guesswork out of customer services.
• Market research helps you identify opportunities – If you are planning to launch a new product and want to know how people will react then market research will help, not only in predicting how well the product will be received, but also by testing the marketing message to see if that needs to be adjusted.
• Market research will minimise risk – Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand.
• Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress – By establishing a benchmark you then have a useful reference to allow you to measure your progress – If you do not measure you will not be able to properly gauge how well your business is performing. Early research can identify where improvements need to be made to a new service or where there are flaws in a product, by conducting regular market research it will identify if improvements are being made and, if positive, will in turn help motivate a development team.

Market research brings considerable benefits and it is perhaps surprising how few organizations invest sufficient resources to enable them to gather good intelligence that will help them improve their business. Many may think that market research takes too much time and effort but that is just not the case anymore as through the power of the Internet online survey software is readily available and vital market research data can now be gathered in a quick, simple and cost effective manner.