Introduction

When you're developing a survey, it's important to remember that the data you get back is only as good as the questions you ask. Decision-making surveys are an excellent way to gain insight into what your customers or employees think about your products and services and how they feel about them. But if you don't choose the right questions (or ask enough of them), your results will be less than useful. In this article we'll discuss five steps for creating successful B2B decision making surveys:

1. Develop a unique problem statement to set the direction for B2B decision making surveys

It’s important to develop a unique problem statement to set the direction for your survey. A good problem statement should be specific, testable, and actionable. If it’s too general, then you may not be able to produce any concrete results from your survey. While you may have a general idea of where your target audience is, there’s no way for you or anyone else on your team to know exactly what they think is most important and that’s why it's so vital that every decision-maker fills out these surveys!

If your problem statement is too vague, then you’re not going to be able to make any significant changes in the future. It’s important that you make sure you can test your survey results against a specific goal or issue. This is so that the people filling out these surveys know exactly what they're answering and how it will impact them.

A problem statement is a short, succinct sentence that describes the problem you're trying to solve. It should focus on one specific area of your research, be easy to understand, and clearly explain what you are trying to do.

The best way to set a problem statement for B2B decision making surveys is by starting with a question or series of questions that you want to be answered by the survey. Think about what will help you learn about the issue at hand. Then, write out a sentence that summarises this question or set of questions in as straightforward terms as possible.

2. Start with your internal team

Before you begin writing your survey, it's important to have a clear understanding of the problem you're trying to solve. In addition, you should have an idea of what the results can accomplish. This will help shape the questions and format of your survey. Think about the following questions when making B2B decision making surveys:

• Who is this for?
• What do we want them to learn from it?
• How are we going to communicate those insights with our organisation and beyond?
• How will we measure success?

Here are some more tips to get you started with B2B decision making surveys:

• Structure your survey for clarity and impact.
• Start by asking open-ended questions about the problem you're trying to solve.
• Then, use closed-ended questions to gather more specific data.
• Make sure you're asking questions that are relevant to your audience.
• Be specific and focus on actionable insights.

3. Ask the right questions in B2B decision making surveys

Next, you need to ask the right questions. The most important thing to remember when creating a survey is that your target audience will likely not have time or desire to answer a long, time-consuming questionnaire. That's why it's best to keep your surveys short and sweet, with no more than 10-15 questions per survey.

What does "the right question" look like? Your business may have specific goals in mind when conducting this research. So, it's critical that you get as specific as possible with each question on your survey. To do this effectively, we recommend adding qualifiers into your questions. Instead of asking if someone would like delivery options (e.g., "Would you like shipping options?"), try asking how much shipping costs matter for them ("How much does shipping cost matter for you?"). This way, whatever information comes back from this research can be used by everyone at your business. For instance, it can be used by product development teams working on new features and sales reps who might need it when negotiating deals with potential customers or partners!

When you're ready to send out your survey, it's important to make sure that you're doing so at a time when your target audience is most likely to respond. If you’re targeting an older generation that tends to work during the day, try sending surveys out in the morning or early afternoon. For younger generations who may be more active on social media in the evenings and weekends, try sending them out on the weekends.‍

4. Analyse the data and prepare insights from B2B decision making surveys

Once you have collected the data, it's time to analyse it. Look for patterns and trends in the results that can help shape your recommendations. Present these insights to your audience in a way that is clear and compelling. Here are some tips for analysing data:

• Identify areas of opportunity from the data in your B2B survey
• Suggest changes or improvements based on that data
• Propose new ideas or processes based on the B2B survey data

You’re done! Now, you have the data you need to make informed decisions about your business. You can use this information to improve customer satisfaction, increase revenue, and decrease costs.

5. Communicate results effectively

Once you have your survey results in hand, there are a number of ways to communicate them. One option is to create an infographic that visually represents the data from your survey. You can then share it on social media or email marketing campaigns. Infographics are a great way to share information effectively and attract new customers because they’re easy for anyone to understand. They also generate more engagement than other content types because people like sharing interesting things with their friends.

A more in-depth analysis of your respondent's behaviour can be gained by building a profile of each individual, which shows how they answered each question relative to others who responded similarly elsewhere in the survey. This helps you identify trends within the responses so that you can use them as part of future research efforts, for example: “We found out that this particular group tends not only toward certain products but also toward specific features when making purchasing decisions."

This kind of insight is particularly important when trying to determine how best to market a product or service to your customers. You can also use this information as a benchmark for future surveys, which allows you to track changes in consumers’ preferences over time.

Get the right people on board for B2B decision making surveys

Asking the right questions of the right people is crucial to creating a successful B2B decision making survey. The best surveys ask open-ended questions that elicit insightful answers from both senior and junior stakeholders, but these can be tough for newcomers to ask.

First, know who you're asking. It's important to understand who was involved in the decision-making process so that when you communicate your results, they will speak as one voice, and not just yours or even just your client's. If a team of 10 executives is reviewing it but only three are going to see it in action (or if only two executives were involved), make sure all 10 have seen the survey first. You can then prepare an executive summary that covers the rest of their teams' opinions as well.

This will ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to your results. Second, don't ask yes or no questions! It's easy to fall into the trap of asking only yes or no questions because they are quick and easy for respondents to answer. But, these types of questions often provide little insight beyond what you already know.

Instead, try to ask open-ended questions that allow respondents to explain their answers in their own words. This will help you gain insights into why they made the choices they did.

For example, instead of asking "Do you think our customer service is improving?" try asking "How do you think our customer service has improved over the past three months?" This will allow respondents to explain their answers in more detail and provide more useful information for your report.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to create a B2B decision making survey, it can be helpful to break down the process into steps and make sure that you have everything covered. If you found this post useful, you might also like '6 reasons why B2B decision making surveys are useful for companies’. Want to get started with a B2B decision making survey? Contact us today!