Starting with as to what exactly a survey is, it simply means to take a general or comprehensive view of an event or situation. When we wrap up an event, we are left with only one side of the success story, the success being in the fact that we pulled off the event. But, what happens to the other side of the event? The side which talks about the event being a success or not, and what are the reasons for the event not being a success, if so. We all know that the audience consists of people coming from various walks of life, with varied tastes and perspectives. In such cases, how do we find out if the majority of the audience liked the event or not? Simple, with the help of survey polls.
Adding to the ease, mobile apps are being used to conduct such surveys. The attendees of the event have to participate in the polls whole heartedly and with a peace of mind. In many cases, when the poll is irrelevant or the when the questions are too long, attendees don’t feel like completing the survey at all. In this case, the feedback you receive is entirely false, as the sample pool of attendees haven’t reflected their exact experience in their answers. Therefore, we need to make sure that the questions we present to the attendees are appropriate and also grab the attention of the person.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SURVEY

Surveys conducted during the event-

When the event is going on, during the break, the audience can be asked to present their experience so far by questioning them on a few basic questions. These basic questions can be whether they are following the speaker, if the event setting has met their expectation so far, what has to be changed on spot and so on. Such live polls keep the attendees engaged in the event and also provide a fresh form of feedback instead of them recalling half of their experience later on.

Surveys conducted during the end of an event-

When the event is almost over, the attendees will also be in a state of rush as they would want to leave. So, they wouldn’t have time to read elaborate questions, irrelevant questions which would make them ignore the entire survey, unnecessary questions which would make them question the importance of the particular survey in accordance with the event, confusing options available as answers which would make them skip the question, unavailability of desired options as answers which would make them feel as though the survey isn’t meant for them or similar such situations which must be avoided while conducting this type of survey.

Surveys conducted post the event-

When the attendees are done with the event and are left with some time to think about it or with sufficient time gap, they have a clearer mind to think about the questions you present to them. In the sense, they can reflect back on their experience and answer the questions with sufficient time and peace of mind. Hence, this type of survey can be detailed and also, based on how the future events can be improved. The questions in this type of survey have to revolve around how it benefitted the attendee, whether what they learnt was what they expected to learn, how the event could have been better according to them and similar relevant questions. Also, in this type of survey, the options available as answers have to a variety of answers that the attendee may give, as different attendees will have a different opinion about the event.

With answers only like yes or no, we cannot figure out what the attendees feel exactly. Instead, if a score range like 1-10 is given or an option to type down their answer, it’s a better way of communication. When it comes to keeping the attendees happy after they submit their feedback, we should make sure that we reply to their feedback, so that they feel like taking up the survey the next time too.

HOW TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK FOR FUTURE EVENTS

The survey has to be constructed in such a way that people who take it up have to feel like they have voiced out their true opinion about your event. This will happen only if you have given the right questions and the answers they would feel are right to the respective questions. Given below are some of the possible ways to have a good survey:

1. When asking a question, be particular and clear, so that the person understands what you’re trying to find out about their experience.
2. The length of the question shouldn’t resemble that of a paragraph, because you are not supposed to give your perspective and then figure out if it matches that of the attendee. Instead, you are supposed to give the attendee the leisure to pick out his experience.
3. The relevance of the question to the event is of utmost importance, because if the attendee feels like the question wasn’t clearly associated with the event, then he/she may ignore the further questions. Such questions prevent people from taking surveys for the second time
4. Also, if the questions manage to refresh the attendee’s memory of the event and bring a satisfactory smile on his/her face, then you have managed to ask the right questions, eventually managing to promise him/her with a better future event.
5. Questions related to changes they wish to see in the future events, asking them if particular things disappointed them or if a better option was available, and the range of their disappointment.

Giving a reply to the feedback is one of the easiest ways to ensure that they attend the future events too and also take up surveys again. Hence, following the above guidelines, you can ensure that your future events are of a better scale and level altogether.