Introduction

If you're a company that needs to conduct b2b surveys, then it's likely that you've already had some experience with b2b survey respondents. So, you know what makes a good survey and what doesn't. That said, there are some things you might not have considered when it comes to creating b2b surveys. These aspects can make your results more accurate and help with respondent engagement. In this post, we'll discuss those best practices for creating better b2b survey questions. In addition, we'll also talk about strategies for getting the most out of your respondents' time and effort. 

1. Set up screening questions at the beginning of your b2b survey 

Setting up pre-screening questions is an effective way to help you quickly filter out unqualified respondents. It’s also useful for determining if b2b survey respondents are qualified or not. For example, you can ask about their level of experience or knowledge in the industry, as well as their company size or annual revenue.

Here are some thoughts on what you should include:

• Which types of businesses do they work at?
• What industry do they work in (if applicable)?
• Which business role do they hold within the company - e.g., executive, manager, salesperson, etc.? 
• How long have they been working in their industry?
• What is the total annual revenue of the company they work for?
• What type of projects do they manage/work on (e.g., website redesigns, new product launches, etc.)?
• How would you describe your level of expertise within the field?

It's a good idea to include screening questions at the beginning of your b2b survey. In this way, you can filter out only those b2b survey respondents that fit the profile of your survey project. Otherwise, you might get a lot of responses that don't necessarily fit the profile of your b2b survey. If you'd like to see more examples of questions in a survey project, check out our recent blog post here. 

Screening questions are not only helpful in surveys, but also in redirecting website traffic. For instance, Calendly, the online appointment scheduling platform, launched routing forms earlier this year to qualify people before they book appointments. Read more about the feature in this article. 

2. Focus on the clarity of your survey questions

Once you've decided on the type of screening questions you want to ask, the next step is to make sure that the survey questions are clear. This logic applies not only to screening questions but to your b2b survey as a whole. Below are some tips to ensure clarity of screening questions asked:

• Make sure your questions are clear, simple, and focused
• Ask only one question at a time
• Keep it short and focused on the topic at hand
• If you have to ask multiple questions in one survey, make sure they’re related to each other. Alternatively, you can ensure that they have a logical order of importance

3. Apply advanced respondent targeting to screen respondents better 

In addition to applying standard respondent targeting, there are two additional ways you can ensure that your survey reaches appropriate respondents.

• Use advanced respondent targeting. Many survey platforms offer the ability to conduct more advanced targeting than basic demographic information like age, gender, and location. This allows you to further refine who's included in your sample by using data from your CRM and email marketing databases. Additionally, you can also source data from publicly available lists (for example healthcare professionals). By using this kind of detailed information, you can ensure that only the most relevant businesses are included in the survey population. Thus, you can make sure that every respondent represents a company in which they work and give you more accurate results. For more information on how to use CRM data, check out this blog post here. 
• Use survey data to create a custom list of potential respondents. One of the best ways to ensure that your survey reaches the right people is by creating a custom list of companies that you want to reach out to. This can be done through the use of survey data or other marketing automation tools (such as segmentation criteria). For example, if you have an existing email list of businesses that sell products similar to yours, then those companies can be included in your respondent pool.

At GrapeData, we specialise in hyper-targeting niche communities of b2c and b2b survey respondents. Through a variety of AI and Geolocation tools, we ensure to get the highest quality data for your research project. With our network of 300k+ contributors, you are sure to get the survey data that you need. Curious to know more? Contact us today to see how we can help. 

4. Give b2b survey respondents a reason to participate

Give participants a reason to participate. You can offer them a reward, like a discount or a free trial of your product or service. You can also promise to remove their name from the list if they don’t complete the survey. Participation in your b2b survey is almost always voluntary. Therefore, it’s important that you provide some incentive for completing it in order to secure high response rates and good data quality.

It’s also important to note that there are a number of different reasons why someone might want to participate in your survey. They may want free products or services, they may be interested in learning more about your business. Alternatively, they may be interested in how they can support your business, or they may simply be curious about the topic itself.

5. Time your b2b survey so that you can include an appropriate number of screening questions

When it comes to timing your survey, there are two things you should keep in mind:

• Give b2b survey respondents enough time to complete the survey. If you set a deadline for responding and don't meet it, chances are your response rate will suffer. It's better to give respondents a couple of extra days than risk losing someone who would otherwise have filled out the rest of the questionnaire.
• Give yourself enough time to review the results. Some surveys take longer than others to complete and some people will take their own time doing so (for example, if they're on vacation). Make sure that if this is going to happen, you have enough space before your deadline date. Otherwise, you may risk missing out on valuable insights from all those last-minute responses. 

If these two considerations aren't feasible for some reason, if perhaps you need an extremely quick turnaround or maybe there isn't any room left in your timeline for another week or two, then consider breaking up your survey into multiple parts and asking respondents to answer each part separately when they've finished answering all previous questions. This way b2b survey respondents won't feel rushed while answering questions later on but still get a chance at being included. 

With b2b survey respondents, be clear and honest about what you're doing and why you need their help

If you’re conducting a b2b survey, there are some best practices to keep in mind. First and foremost: be clear about what you want them to do. If they don’t know what they need to do, they won’t do it. Explain why they should participate, and give them a reason to answer the questions you ask. Be honest about the reason for your survey so that your respondents know exactly how their answers will be used and how helpful their responses could be for you and your business. The more transparent you are, the better chance of getting valuable feedback from your customers or potential customers!

Additionally, avoid technical jargon if possible when explaining what data collection tools are being used in order to make sure respondents understand how their responses will be collected (i.e., via email addresses). You may also want to provide some incentives, such as offering an Amazon gift card, so that people feel motivated enough to complete all questions on time.

Conclusion

To sum up, don’t be afraid to ask your respondents questions screening questions at the beginning of your b2b survey. Additionally, you should also ensure that the questions that you ask are simple and easy to understand. And remember that the more you know about your b2b survey respondents, the better your results will be.