Satisfaction survey: how to make it a success?

As you know, the organization of an event does not end when the last guest leaves the venue. Once the big day is over, there is still a lot of reporting to do. But not only that! A good event planner must take the time to interview his participants to get feedback. The best way to do this is by carrying out a satisfaction survey. But how can you be sure to ask the right questions? And above all, how to formulate your questionnaire correctly?

Eventdrive has gathered everything you need to know about satisfaction surveys and delivers its conclusions to help you avoid making mistakes.

Why Create a Satisfaction Survey?

The purpose of a satisfaction survey is to analyze the experience of the participants: from the time they bought their ticket to the time they left your event.

The advantages of a good satisfaction survey are numerous. If done well, you will be able to enhance the value of your company by targeting important points, but you will also be able to enhance the value of your guests who will feel listened to. But one of the essential points to remember when sending out a satisfaction questionnaire is to keep in mind that it is the best way to gather everyone’s opinions and thus prevent the risk of negative word-of-mouth, by taking forward actions if necessary.

For this reason, attention must be paid to the dual effect that a satisfaction questionnaire can have. If you do not take into account the opinions received, you risk disappointing more than one!

What Types of Questions Should You Ask?

When creating your satisfaction survey, you should keep in mind its objectives. Before you start, take the time to define the themes you want to address, as well as the evaluation criteria that are close to your heart. Based on this, you can then see what types of questions you can integrate.

Open-Ended Questions

These types of questions allow the respondent to be talkative, and sometimes it feels good to say what you have to say. You are giving him the opportunity to express himself and give more details. This will allow you to collect more data.

Be careful, however, to avoid putting too many open questions, as they tend to discourage participants. It’s a little more difficult to fill out. However, hey are still interesting for retrieving reviews. 

Our advice? Do not make this question mandatory and let your guests skip it if they wish.

An example: what did you dislike about the check-in?

Closed-Ended Questions

Unlike open questions, these questions require a very brief answer. These are usually checkboxes, which allows you to filter responses more quickly.

For example: Did you enjoy the conference hosted by X? Yes or No

Multiple-Choice Questions

Sometimes it is necessary to leave the possibility of several choices, this is the case with multiple-choice questions. If the participant is unable to decide between the different proposals, he or she can select all of them.

An example: Which time slot(s) do you think are most relevant for a conference? 9 am to 10 am, 1 pm to 2 pm, 4 pm to 5 pm

Scale-Based Questions

Often referred to as scaled questions, these allow you to have different levels of answers. There are most often verbal scales, where the respondent must choose a response from several choices ranging from “Totally Dissatisfied” to “Very Satisfied” for example. In the same way, you can replace the answers with numbers or pictograms if you focus more on a scale of notes.

Our advice? Offer only 4 choices. In this way, the respondent will necessarily have to position himself towards the positive or negative and cannot remain neutral.

Sometimes it is necessary to leave the possibility of several choices, this is the case with multiple choice questions. If the participant is unable to decide between the different proposals, he or she can select all of them.

An example: Which time slot(s) do you think are most relevant for a conference? 9 am to 10 am, 1 pm to 2 pm, 4 pm to 5 pm

How to Create a Satisfaction Survey: 3 Mistakes to Avoid

Proposing a satisfaction survey is a good thing, but be careful not to get too excited and not to run headlong into the wall. Here are some points NOT to follow to avoid making mistakes!

Placing Identity Questions at the Beginning of the Survey

It seemed important to us to recall the basis of the questionnaires to begin with. It is essential to ask for some clarification of the identity of your respondents, even if you leave the possibility of answering anonymously. We’re talking about gender, age range or socio-professional category. This information will allow you to identify trends.

But be careful, always place these questions at the end of the survey. Why? Because it is very easy to answer them. So let’s do it when respondents get tired of ticking boxes!

Using Overly Technical Terms

As an event planner, you are used to using professional jargon that not everyone understands. When writing your questions, take the time to read them again and make sure that all the questions are clear and understandable to a regular audience.

If you need to use a more technical term, feel free to define it.

Influencing Respondents' Answers

Be careful to remain 100% neutral when writing your questions. While it is true that you expect to get good marks at the end of your questionnaire, the goal is still to get the most objective answers possible.

To do this, do not forget to have your satisfaction survey reviewed by at least 2 or 3 external stakeholders.

Ideas for Designing Your Form

Each satisfaction survey is unique because it is adapted to the event with which it is associated. But we know how the anxiety of the blank page can cause panic!

So here are some examples of questions you could include in your questionnaire:

How many times have you attended this event?

• Once
• Twice
• More than three times

What made you come here?

• The offer
• The speakers
• The price
• The proximity
• Possible encounters

Were you satisfied with the check-in process?

• Very dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Satisfied
• Very satisfied 

Do you plan to come back next year?

• Yes.
• No
• I don’t know,

What do we need to improve for the next edition?

Creating a good satisfaction survey is not an easy thing to do. You must be able to properly dose the different types of questions and know how to formulate them in order to obtain answers that can be easily analyzed. Don’t forget to have a test done before distributing your questionnaire and think about using a platform that is suitable for mobiles. By following these few tips, you should be able to handle it with flying colours!