Research Guru by Alice Irvan, PRC, APR

Online surveys are easy to implement–Poorly

“The law firm partners know customer opinion research can lead to improvements in relationships, and that client relationships are more important in this economy than ever, yet they won’t spend money on it,” my friend–marketing advisor to law firms–told me.

Remove the words “law firm partners” and replace with “management of this business or organization” and the sentence fits many situations today.

Some managers decide that research is “just writing questions” and that internal writers in HR, PR, marketing or administrative assistants can use the “free or cheap” online tools and just wirte the survey and send it out without considering an analytical plan or validated survey design.

Think back to when everyone became a desktop designer and publisher, and communication had little if any concern for branding or consistency. The free-whelling, do-it-yourself days are here now for online surveys. Managers who want to “save money” require / allow staff with little or no training or education in statistics or marketing research theory to use the easily available online tools to question members, donors, employees, clients, customers, and other stakeholders.

Do-it-yourself surveys are great in situations in which the risk of making a mistake is small, in which the resources at risk are limited, in which the decisions to be made are minor and in which the potential to have incorrect information is better than having no information.

We encourage those well-meaning managers who think they don’t have resources for research expertise to weigh the risk of getting what they pay for. Before embarking on a do-it-yourself project, explore all options for obtaining research expertise. Examples: consultation up-front on survey design and analytical plan and / or assistance with analysis and interpretation. Even the best athletes require coaches.