Asking relevant questions in a questionnaire
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 10:12 am
When I was faced with the task of improving business results multiple times, the skill of asking the right questions was probably the most useful. The ability to ask about what is really important is an art. I never claim to be an expert in this question, but still, I dare in this article to share observations and a bit of recommendation that have helped me more than one time.
As I've written before, the overall conversion rate of a quiz depends on 3 key milestones in a funnel:
How many people started taking the quiz.
How many people answered all the questions.
How many people left their contact details or were redirected to a specific web page.
By the time you finish reading this article, morocco telemarketing you'll have 5 tips on what questions to ask in a questionnaire to get as many people as possible to complete it.
Recommendation #1 - Closed or open questions?
I remind you that a closed question suggests an answer based on the proposed options, such as "yes" or "no", "red" or "white", etc.
In open-ended questions, the user has no restrictions on his or her answer. Let's compare two examples.
Do you prefer red or white wine?
What kind of wine do you prefer?
There is no way to predict what will be best for your case. It all depends on the purpose. If you need to get as many answers as possible, offer open-ended questions. In this case, the stress is minimal, which increases the conversion rate.
If your goal is to gather information, use an open-ended question. Let's say you're hiring someone and you're using a questionnaire to do so, and you'd rather get a detailed answer rather than just a yes or no. You'll get fewer answers, but they'll be more qualified.
Recommendation #2 - The sequence of questions
For the past two years, quizzes have become a very popular marketing tool due to their effectiveness. You can get two or three times as many leads with a quiz than with the same amount of traffic without a quiz. This particular result is a consequence of the sequence of questions.
Use the “simple to complex” strategy. Try assigning difficulty ratings to your questions. For example, the question “Have you ever tried espresso?” is easy and can be scored 1 out of 5. But the question “What type of coffee roast do you prefer?” is quite difficult and requires some knowledge. To answer this question, a customer needs to: a) understand what types of coffee roasts exist, and b) be aware of what type of coffee roast he or she likes.
If you need to ask a question of medium or high difficulty, put it at the end of the questionnaire. After 3 easy questions, a potential customer will be more engaged and more likely to answer a difficult question. That's why we ask for contact information at the end of a questionnaire, when the user is most motivated.
Sometimes you don't even need to ask difficult questions, so skip them if possible.
Tip #3 - Questions about the past or present
If your goal is not only to get enough leads, but also to get honest answers, then ask questions about the past. In this case, it is more difficult for the user to lie. Let's look at the example of a question about learning a foreign language.
How long do you plan to learn Spanish?
A month.
Three months.
Six months or more.
How long did your language classes last before?
It was irregular.
One week was enough.
One month was enough.
I have been studying Spanish for several months.
When we talk about the future, we tend to be more authoritative and exaggerate our expectations. We are sure that we will exercise regularly or study Spanish every other day, that we will read books every night before going to bed or that we will become a client of our friend in his start-up company.
We never actually become clients of our friends, because their product doesn't work for us and we tend to postpone sports activities because we are too busy. So we lie to our friends and to ourselves, not because we are bad people, but because our brain works that way. If you want to get an honest answer from your potential client, ask him about his past. If he has never studied Spanish, it will be better to sell him a subscription to Spanish classes, rather than offering to pay one at a time.
Tip #4 - Explain why you are asking
I wrote about this recommendation in the article about common mistakes that can ruin a questionnaire conversion. Sometimes it is not clear what exactly we are being asked or why we are being asked about something. Let's look at some examples.
As I've written before, the overall conversion rate of a quiz depends on 3 key milestones in a funnel:
How many people started taking the quiz.
How many people answered all the questions.
How many people left their contact details or were redirected to a specific web page.
By the time you finish reading this article, morocco telemarketing you'll have 5 tips on what questions to ask in a questionnaire to get as many people as possible to complete it.
Recommendation #1 - Closed or open questions?
I remind you that a closed question suggests an answer based on the proposed options, such as "yes" or "no", "red" or "white", etc.
In open-ended questions, the user has no restrictions on his or her answer. Let's compare two examples.
Do you prefer red or white wine?
What kind of wine do you prefer?
There is no way to predict what will be best for your case. It all depends on the purpose. If you need to get as many answers as possible, offer open-ended questions. In this case, the stress is minimal, which increases the conversion rate.
If your goal is to gather information, use an open-ended question. Let's say you're hiring someone and you're using a questionnaire to do so, and you'd rather get a detailed answer rather than just a yes or no. You'll get fewer answers, but they'll be more qualified.
Recommendation #2 - The sequence of questions
For the past two years, quizzes have become a very popular marketing tool due to their effectiveness. You can get two or three times as many leads with a quiz than with the same amount of traffic without a quiz. This particular result is a consequence of the sequence of questions.
Use the “simple to complex” strategy. Try assigning difficulty ratings to your questions. For example, the question “Have you ever tried espresso?” is easy and can be scored 1 out of 5. But the question “What type of coffee roast do you prefer?” is quite difficult and requires some knowledge. To answer this question, a customer needs to: a) understand what types of coffee roasts exist, and b) be aware of what type of coffee roast he or she likes.
If you need to ask a question of medium or high difficulty, put it at the end of the questionnaire. After 3 easy questions, a potential customer will be more engaged and more likely to answer a difficult question. That's why we ask for contact information at the end of a questionnaire, when the user is most motivated.
Sometimes you don't even need to ask difficult questions, so skip them if possible.
Tip #3 - Questions about the past or present
If your goal is not only to get enough leads, but also to get honest answers, then ask questions about the past. In this case, it is more difficult for the user to lie. Let's look at the example of a question about learning a foreign language.
How long do you plan to learn Spanish?
A month.
Three months.
Six months or more.
How long did your language classes last before?
It was irregular.
One week was enough.
One month was enough.
I have been studying Spanish for several months.
When we talk about the future, we tend to be more authoritative and exaggerate our expectations. We are sure that we will exercise regularly or study Spanish every other day, that we will read books every night before going to bed or that we will become a client of our friend in his start-up company.
We never actually become clients of our friends, because their product doesn't work for us and we tend to postpone sports activities because we are too busy. So we lie to our friends and to ourselves, not because we are bad people, but because our brain works that way. If you want to get an honest answer from your potential client, ask him about his past. If he has never studied Spanish, it will be better to sell him a subscription to Spanish classes, rather than offering to pay one at a time.
Tip #4 - Explain why you are asking
I wrote about this recommendation in the article about common mistakes that can ruin a questionnaire conversion. Sometimes it is not clear what exactly we are being asked or why we are being asked about something. Let's look at some examples.