We’re in the thick of conference season – where we’re out talking to prospective customers. I always love being out and listening to and learning from prospects – as those conversations help refine our thinking. As we talked to organizations, we realized that some organizations think of surveying as a transactional, one-off, once a year activity.
So what do you have? A transactional survey for one off questions? Or an ongoing listening strategy for a community you care about?
10 Signs Your Surveys Are Transactional, and Not Strategically Listening
1. You send surveys randomly
There’s no rhythm or system for when people hear from you. People can’t predict when they’ll have opportunities to share.
2. All of the surveys you send are at least 10 questions
Length alone can make people tune out. Your listening strategy should have a combination of quick, high level surveys – and more in depth, longer surveys.
3. Survey windows are always longer than 1 week
Dragging out collection suggests you’re not set up to act quickly on feedback. Having long survey windows for longer surveys makes sense – but ongoing listening should have a routine cadence that turns over quickly.
4. You send surveys less than once a year
When you send surveys less than once a year, in these fast changing times, what you learned is often outdated before you even gather it again.
5. Your surveys are mostly all close-ended
Without open-ended opportunities, your surveys become top-down and heavy handed. You’re asking about what matters to you, but not giving people an opportunity to share what matters to them.
6. Your community can’t articulate how - or why - you hear from them
If people can’t name when or how you gather their input, odds are yyou don’t have a strategy.
7. You never share back what you heard
Silence after collecting input makes people feel like their voice goes into a void.
8. Feedback isn’t tied to decisions
If what you hear doesn’t influence priorities, programs, or communication, you may be sending out surveys – but not necessarily listening.
9. You don’t segment your listening
Everyone gets the same survey, regardless of role, experience, or perspective.
10. Listening lives in a silo
Only one person or team “owns” feedback, and it’s not embedded into the organization’s culture or systems.
So what do you think? Do you have a listening strategy? If you have a community you care about we’d love to join you in caring about them too. We want to move you from transactional to true listening strategy.
