Flawed Customer Services (Part 3) - Single Point of Failure

In the previous two parts of this article the suppliers were shown to be wanting but their main problem was that they did not have sufficient and effective feedback in place to identify and resolve problems.
In this third and final example the supplier is relying on a procedure that has a serious and unnecessary 'single point of failure' risk.

Example 3 – Single Point of Failure

This final supplier offers customers a very clever application that converts between different media formats and offers a free trial that will allow the software to be fully tested before purchasing.

They market their product as a full suite and also in a number of 'lite' versions for customers who do not require all the bells and whistles. The product is sold in the region of $800 for the full version and $250 for the 'lite'.

For this supplier I purchased the 'lite' product on Christmas Eve as I required the software to complete a project that I needed to be finished by the New Year.

The order was confirmed online and a message displayed to inform me that an email would be sent to confirm the order and that it would contain download instructions, I was able to confirm that the email address that it would be sent to was correct.

No email was received confirming the order and containing download instructions so I logged onto the suppliers website and using the order detail menu options I was able to locate the order.

Mistake 1 – No backup

Although in this particular case the email entered was correct I noticed that within the ordering process there was no facility that would have allowed me to correct the email if it were wrong.

There was also no procedure to confirm that the email entered was typed correctly, this would normally done by requesting that the typed email be repeated.

There was no procedure to allow the customer to resend the confirmation and if the email were entered incorrectly, but by chance was a valid email address, it would be possible for an unauthorised third-party to receive the download instructions and validation key.

Even though there was a facility provided that allowed the customer to track the order through the website there was no procedure to allow the download to be initiated through logging onto the website.

Although there was the facility to download the full suite and then activate it using a software license key, this facility was not available for the 'lite' version.


Mistake 2 – Reliant on customer services

In this particular case the problem was made worse because the order was place on Christmas Eve and so contacting customer services meant waiting until their personnel returned from the Christmas holidays.

For problems such as being unable to download a product a backup procedure online would reduce the number of support queries requiring human attention.

Mistake 3 – No feedback

Ordering procedures that do not allow customers to give feedback are missing the opportunity to gain from the customer's experience and this supplier was another who did not have any official feedback channel.

Summary

The reliance of email notification without having any backup procedures fails to take into account that mail systems are becoming less reliable as a first contact often due to over zealous and multi-layered spam filters.

Not validating an address before sending sensitive information such as download instructions and access keys is very cavalier.

Having made the effort to allow an order to be tracked, it makes little sense not to include a download option along with the order details.


In Conclusion

This series of articles has showcased three companies that each had automated procurement procedures and had established a customer service methodology that on paper would appear to be effective.

In each case the manufacturers would have benefited from employing a simple 'catch all' customer satisfaction survey to allow them to check that their ordering procedures were quick and effective that in turn would have allowed them to improve their sales and/or reputations.

Experiencing problems is a fact of life, but for good customer services it is important to be able to catch problems and then learn from them in a manner that continually validates and challenges a businesses ordering and fulfilment systems.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

Flawed Customer Services (Part 2) - Alienating the Customer

In part one of this three part article it was shown that a particular supplier failed to make a sale because they had made it unnecessarily complicated for a certain category of customers to locate the required information to purchase the product. Because they also failed to gather any feedback the flaws in their procurement procedures are likely to remain undetected and unresolved.
This second example does receive feedback but as you will see it is feedback that is going to the wrong person, if the 'problem' is also the customer services channel then problems can exist that are not apparent to the company.


Example 2 – Alienating the Customer

While in travelling in South Africa I found myself wanting to watch a DVD on my notebook computer but when I tried to access the DVD through Microsoft's Windows Media Player it displayed an error which advised me that I needed to purchase an add-on before I was able to access DVDs.

Windows Media player directed me to a list of suppliers and I chose one who greeted me with the marketing line, 'You are five minutes away from watching a DVD on your computer'.



Mistake 1 – No trial

Not providing any free trial for commodity applications is unusual as it benefits the manufacturer and the customer if the software can first be tested to ensure it works and meets the customer's expectations.

With a trial offer if there is any problem with the application potential customers do not generally mind if they have had the chance to try before they buy.

Mistake 2 – Un-documented and Unnecessary Restrictions

Because of the relatively low price of the product I completed the online order form and received an email order confirmation giving me a link for the download. I clicked on the link and my download accelerator kicked in that allows me to download files quicker by splitting the download file into smaller files and using simultaneous downloads.

After a few seconds the download failed and I found that I was unable to restart the download. I looked at the email confirmation and found instructions on how to log onto the suppliers website and check the progress of an order and in doing so I found a download button. Unfortunately when I clicked on the download button I received a message informing me that I had exceeded by download limit which was set at five and therefore was left with no option but to email the suppler for assistance.

I received an automated response to my email to notify me that my email query had been received and that they would deal with my enquiry using their first come first served support policy.

After several hours I received a response to my email informing me that they had reset the download count and then, as an aside, also notified me that their download procedure did not support download applications that allowed the download to be restarted and/or accelerated.

Turning off the download accelerator I was able to download the file without too many problems.

Download accelerators are common and allowing restarts only sensible as it reduces the download traffic where some unreliable connections are concerned. However, if there are restrictions that do apply, then not displaying what they are prior to the customer clicking on the download link is inviting support problems.

Mistake 3– Falling between Sales and Support

Once the download was complete I installed the software and when loading the DVD that I wanted to watch a DVD I was asked to register the product online which I did.

Once I had completed the online registration and created an account to allow me to receive technical support the application started and the application read the title and gave me the options to 'play', 'reset' or 'eject'.

I selected 'play', the screen went blank and then it returned to the same menu, no error message. No matter how many times I tried, even after restarting the computer I could not get past the 'play' option.

I visited the supplier's website and navigated to the support page and entered my account details but the password I entered was reported as being incorrect. After a few attempts I took the option to have my password sent to me again. A message came up to say that an email had been sent to verify the password and I was able to see from the displayed message that the verification email was being sent to the correct email address.

After several hours and multiple attempts at having the password re-sent no password confirmation email was received therefore preventing me from being able to register my problem using the proper technical support procedures.

Mistake 4 – Not understanding the Customers query

I sent an email explaining the initial problem with the download that I confirmed resolved and reported that I now had a problem with the software and was also unable to access the technical support page to report the technical problem.

After several hours I received an email reply that simply gave me instructions on how to download the software.

I replied pointing out that the problem was no longer with the download but with the software and also not being able to access the online technical support.

I then received an email confirming that I needed to register the product to get technical support.

I replied to say that I had registered the product, that the registration was confirmed because when I tried to log on to the support I was receiving a message to say that although it recognized my login ID the password was incorrect. I was able to request a password confirmation, that appeared to be being sending it to the correct address but I was not receiving the email. I confirmed to them that I was therefore unable to log on to technical support and register the problem.

Mistake 5 – Annoying the customer

I was naturally annoyed to receive a reply to say that they were unable to deal with technical support calls and that I needed to contact the technical support by telephone. A basic rule for good customer services is that you do not get the customer to do a company's internal communication.

In my reply to them I pointed out that the cost of the software was not worth the cost of the international phone call in trying to call a technical support line in the USA. I requested that they notify their own technical support team on my behalf or perhaps they might find it easier to offer me a refund.

Mistake 6 – Making the customer really annoyed

I received confirmation that they were unable to deal with technical queries and again listed the procedures for me to register the product to obtain technical support.

I took my time to reply and spell out clearly that they really needed to read what I had previously written and that we were now beyond the technical support stage and that we were now in the commercial decision stage where I would like then to agree, or advice otherwise, to a refund.

Mistake 7 – Loosing the customer

I finally received an email offering me a full refund and a partial apology for the problems. The refund was received once I had agreed to delete the downloaded software which I was more than happy to do.


Summary

By offering a full refund the supplier resolved the problem to my full satisfaction but made no attempt to fix any of the reported problems, either as to why I was unable to access the support area, why I was not receiving the password confirmation and why the software did not function properly.

Whatever personal criticism I might have with the people who were responding to my emails, there was no alternative channels open to me to contact the company's management so that I could alert them to my growing frustration.

When one customer experiences a problem it is often important and useful to understand the cause of the problem even if the final solution is to offer that customer a full refund. In this particular case there seemed an unnecessary demarcation, and no internal communication, between sales and support preventing customer's problems, that fall between both camps, to be addressed.

Requesting customer feedback that is then channelled through to management is not a new idea. Hotel and restaurants chains have for years often had feedback cards that are not handed in to the staff but posted directly to head office, ensuring that negative comments are not lost and positive comments genuine.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

Flawed Customer Services (Part 1) - Not closing the sale

Ask most businesses to rate how important it is to them to have satisfied customers and few would say anything other than 'essential'.
From a company's own perspective their customer services procedures might appear to tick all the right boxes but what appears to be a good procedure can sometimes fall short when viewed from a customer, or perhaps more importantly a potential customer's perspective.

Some would argue that customer service has been in decline as the growth of automation and the need to minimise overheads has eroded the human side of customer service. There is no doubt that the type of personal one-on-one customer service that was so common throughout the USA and Europe in the 1950's is a relic of the past with technology steadily replacing people.

Some automated technologies have proved more successful than others, call centres, especially when they are situated in far flung countries, can come in for criticism that may or may not be fair. Although the economics make sense it is easy to see how customers can get frustrated when the technology and savings drivers are put above customer experience.

What can often be missing from many a customer service procedure is the canvassing of regular and effective customer feedback, not for the sake of ticking another box, but because a customer's real-life experience is possibly the most important metric available to any business, large or small.

This three part article was inspired after I recently experienced first-hand problems with three separate suppliers that resulted in them either loosing a sale and/or frustrating me, a potential customer.

What struck me was that all three had what appeared at first to be well established customer services procedures that would be able to handle my query and resolve any difficulties in an efficient and professional manner, yet all three failed and for different reasons.

Automation is not the enemy, but automation must be carefully thought through as being frustrated by a machine is universally despised.


Example One – Not closing the sale

This first supplier offers one of the most popular FTP applications and a thirty day fully functional risk free trial. Emails are sent to 'remind' the customer at about the halfway stage and then towards the end of the trial period to that has the effect of encouraging those that have not yet purchased the product to both fully test the application and hopefully make a decision to purchase the product.

However, for this US supplier I was working outside the USA and when after a successful trial I went to click on the link to purchase the product the price I was quoted was in US dollars.

The US dollar is a global currency, no, it IS the global currency and I, like many others, are not often put off, certainly when it comes to low value commodity items, if the currency is not our local currency but on this occasion there was a notice that stated, 'for international customers please click here'.


Mistake 1 – Planting doubt and causing hesitation

For anyone seeing the message from outside the USA it would naturally cause them to hesitate, which I did, thinking perhaps that I should just check that there might be benefits in purchasing the application locally.

On clicking on the option I was requested to select my country, which I did, and then I was provided with a list of perhaps a dozen or so local, but unfamiliar, suppliers.

Since none of the names were familiar and other than their address to go on I chose one, a choice based on nothing more than arbitrary reasoning.

Mistake 2 – Going backwards

When clicking on my chosen link I was taken not to the product page but the local supplier's website's home page and greeted not with information about the application I was interested in, but general information about the supplier who it turned out provided a number of software applications and IT services.

Because of the extensive range of services and products they provided it took me some time to first locate a general list of available applications, then to navigate to the correct section where I found a number of the FTP supplier's applications. From the list of five products I was finally able to select the FTP application that I was interested in.

Mistake 3 – No 'buy now' option

Having spent time locating the product I was to be disappointed further because there was no price, nor 'buy now' button, just another offer to download a 30 day free trial.

Because I had already trialled the software I was ready to purchase and I wanted to know the price.

Mistake 4 – Not making it simple

I decided to go back to the list of local suppliers and choose another name from the list but my experience was the same, I was faced with the problem of locating the application and this time I was not advised of the price but instead given an offer to request a quotation for what I knew to be a $40 commodity item.


Mistake 5 – Loosing the sale

It was at this point that I thought I would just go back to the original screen and purchase the product direct from US manufacturer as had been my first intention, but because I was feeling that I had been sent on a wild goose chase I then decided that I could actually do without the product and so cancelled my order.

Mistake 6 – Not learning

The final mistake that the manufacture makes is that where at the end of the trial period when I do not take up the option to purchase the product they make no effort to find out why.


Summary

This supplier has a good and popular product. They offer a 30 day free trial of the software that can be purchased online direct from the manufacture. By offering local suppliers they would be able to provide local support that some customers might prefer, or find essential.

In failing to get feedback, they are missing an opportunity to not only validate their procedures but maintain contact with potential customers who are perhaps undecided as to purchasing the product.

Simple and clear pricing is important, especially for a commodity item and although a free trial is commendable it still requires a commitment from the customer who will often want to know the cost of a product before they invest the time needed to test the product.

Their biggest mistake is that they do not integrate their own products tightly enough with their distributor's websites. If the manufacturer has potential customers that are being referred to a local supplier they are in a position to link directly to their products on the local supplier's website and should insist that the local supplier ensures that the pricing is clear and the order process is simple.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

New Look and Feel to Survey Galaxy website

It has just been over a month now since we launched Survey Galaxy's new look and feel.

The majority of changes were to the Survey Galaxy Home page where we hope that new visitors will find all the information they require and navigation even easier.

In changing the rest of the site we have been careful to retain the Survey Galaxy simplicity and limited the changes to more relaxing colours and clearer navigation.

We hope new and old members will find the new layout to their liking but please feel free to give us your feedback as we always welcome constructive comments.

SEO Expert Or Just A Cowboy?

As a website owner it is perfectly natural to expect your website to rank near the top of the search results. After all, with all that fantastic content that you’ve just spent days and weeks fine-tuning, how could it not be immensely popular?
And as sure as night follows day, when your site fails to make the first page it’s tempting to blame Google, because, how could your beautiful new website be the problem?

So, take a deep breath and read the next line.

It’s not Google’s fault, it’s not your website’s fault: it’s your fault.

Sorry, but you haven’t finished the job. Your next task is going to be challenging, but in this new world, competition is fierce, and to finish the job you’ll need to pay careful attention to the various ways you can claw your site up the rankings.

But don’t despair. You can get help, it even has a name Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and there are plenty of consultants and companies offering SEO services, the only problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Luckily for you, you are just about to read The Six Golden Rules for Choosing an SEO consultant.


Golden Rule Number 1: Contacted by an SEO firm? Keep your wits about you!

Although it does not automatically follow that all SEO firms that contact you are just out for a quick buck you should keep your wits about you and be wary of any that do. The majority of good SEO consultants will rather react to an inquiry than spend time trawling the Internet looking for poorly optimized websites.


Golden Rule Number 2: Guarantees are lies – spurn them and the companies that offer them

Okay, as Golden Rules go it is not fair to say that all guarantees are lies, there are a few genuine guarantees that are offered in good faith and as a sign of confidence, nevertheless err on the side of caution and treat them all as you would a suspect standing over a dead body with a smoking gun.

SEO consultants have no control over how the search engines search; they have no influence over the competition and so no matter how much you want it they are not in any position to offer you meaningful guarantees with regards to the results that can be achieved.

There are no 'special relationships' or 'tricks', if you are offered a guarantee, or think yourself covered for insisting on one, it is quite possible that the guarantee offered will be worthless.

Guarantees that are freely offered are generally not what they seem. Anyone with a basic knowledge of SEO will be able to rank you high for an uncompetitive search phrase; being ranked number one for a search phrase that no one is using is as useful and expensive as erecting a billboard in the middle of the Sahara Dessert.

Golden Rule Number 3: Secretive SEO's should be shown the door

Your relationship with an SEO consultant should be similar to that you would expect from your accountant as you are ultimately responsible for your website and the actions of the people that you employ to build and maintain your website.

There is no reason for an SEO consultant not to explain why and what they are doing and they should be prepared to document all that they have done. They should not insert undocumented code and you should be careful of those that want to install their own software; give consideration as to what will happen if you decide at a later date to end you relationship with them.


Golden Rule Number 4: Treat references with a pinch of salt

References are useful but will not always tell the whole story. Ten years is a lifetime in SEO, and it is a subject that is more to do with understanding the 'now' than the 'then'.

Search engines in their current form first started to appear in the mid 90's and a lot has changed in search engine technology which gave birth to the SEO consultant. As the search engines have become more adept at spotting and penalising websites that achieve prominence by stealth rather than merit, so SEO techniques have had to evolve.

Despite the SEO basics being the same for any website how they are applied and to what degree is very dependent on each specific website; its design, maturity, market, purpose, objectives, the type and size of the organization as well as how competitive the market. Some SEO techniques that are relevant and effective for some websites will be irrelevant and ineffective for others.


Golden Rule Number 5: Prepare to be disappointed

Limit your expectations. No matter how good the SEO consultant they will not be able to take you from 'nowhere' to a number one listing overnight. There is no magic bullet that will allow a one page website to permanently out rank a large multi-national, if you believe those that say there are, expect to be disappointed.

SEO takes hard work, time and patience.


Golden Rule Number 6: Are they worthy of your trust

The most important quality to look for in an SEO consultant is trust, as more often than not you will be entrusting your SEO consultant with your business and reputation.


If you are not familiar with SEO speak you need someone who is not going exploit your ignorance, isn't going to shift blame on to others and is going to do things right, with long term objectives, and not implement solutions that offer immediate rewards followed swiftly by long term and serious pain.

A good and trustworthy SEO consultant is worth their weight in gold, like good neighbours; when you have found one, think twice before moving.


Have you got a Champ or a Chimp?

The following is a questionnaire that can be used as an aid to ask potential SEO consultants a number of questions.

Based on how they respond to the questions it will help you root out those that lacks the basic knowledge, expose those that are willing to tell you what you want to hear and identify those that will tell you what you should hear.

It is not recommended that the information you gleam from the questionnaire is used as the sole criteria for evaluating an SEO consultant but it will help identify the SEO cowboy, saving you time, money and heartache.

SEO Expert Or Just A Cowboy?

Why Do Good Employee's Leave?

Loosing good employees is not only an expense in terms of time, effort and the associated cost of finding a suitable replacement but also in the untold cost of loosing valuable knowledge and experience that is unique to the organization; Loosing good employees is a problem where prevention is most definitely the best cure.


It is inevitable that employees will leave from time to time but a good employer will want to know why an employee has decided to leave to ensure that personnel are leaving for the right, and not the wrong, reasons.

Concerns of employees can be identified early by the regular use of well designed employee satisfaction surveys, allowing for problems to be resolved and helping to minimize needless loss of staff. However, some problems, especially those that involve personalities, are not always brought to the surface until it is too late.

There are two very common reasons for employee dissatisfaction that can often result in personnel deciding to change jobs, a lack of career development and/or poor management. Both of these problems can be difficult to identify even for organizations that adopt regular 360 degree assessments (i.e. where as part of the overall appraisal system, employees evaluate their managers).

While employed employees can be reluctant to criticize their managers for fear of the consequences, they can however be more candid when completing an exit survey.

Although adopting exit surveys many not prevent individuals from leaving it will help bring to the surface problems that could, if left unchecked, result in poor staff moral for the remaining staff and worse case scenario, a flood of resignations.

Lack of Career Development

Not all employers can offer, and nor do all employees desire, a clear and long term career path. There are just as many people that find comfort and security in doing one job well as there are there are people that need to feel that they are continual being challenged, learning new skills and moving onwards and upwards with respect to the corporate ladder. For organizations to succeed and excel they need the high flyers as well as the steady Eddies of the world.

Where losses due to a lack of career development are occasional they may also be inevitable, but where they are frequent, then changes to the organizational structure might need to be considered to allow for greater career development of the employees.

Poor Management

Many managers achieved their position through promotion, but it does not always follow that a good worker will automatically make a good manager and often people are assigned management position without any formal management training.

Poor managers can be quick to discredit the views of disgruntled staff, 'I was thinking of getting rid of them anyway' and 'they were a waste of space' are typical responses to being asked if there is a problem causing people to leave an organization.

It is proper and natural for senior management to support their line managers by giving them the benefit of any doubt, after all a good managers can always be slighted by poor employees. But by conducting exit surveys, if a man-management problem were to be identified early there is a good chance that it can be addressed and resolved with the appropriate formal training and guidance.

Records

It is not uncommon for people to leave an employer and at a later date put in a claim for constructive dismissal. With 'No win no fee' legal representation this has become a real problem for even good employers. Exit surveys will at best, provide a valuable record of the employee's reasons for leaving, and at worse, provide early warning that a possible claim might be expected.

Unless it is on record a tribunal will not necessarily accept an employer's word that when an employee left they did so without indicating any grievance.

When to conduct an exit survey

Exit surveys can be conducted as part of the termination procedures or they can, with the employee's agreement, be delayed for a few months.

The advantage with delaying an exit survey for a few months is that after a period of reflection a former employee can be less emotional and more objective and if they have taken up another position they may be in a position to compare their previous role with their new role.

The advantages with conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure is that although emotions may be running high it is probably more reflective of the employee's state of mind and therefore closer to the reasons they have decided to leave (justified or otherwise). If left until later any comparison between their old and new roles may be the result of them putting on a brave face, and if reasons are given that require action, the delay may well hinder the problem from being resolved.

Summary

Organizations will generally benefit in a number of different ways by including exit surveys as part of their employee termination procedures. They will at the very least provide good records that could prove very valuable later, at best they will provide management with information that can help improve an organization spiritually and with the bottom line.

For a sample Exit survey:

Sample Exit Survey

A Manager's Guide To Redundancy

Many British businesses have been slow to appreciate the full extent of changes that have occurred over the years to Employment Law and continue to adopt out of date disciplinary and redundancy procedures. Lucky for them then that the only people who seem less aware of the changes are the employees themselves; few employees would believe the extent that they are now protected, but that is not likely to last.


With the maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal cases now over £50,000 and with tribunals willing to make awards without any regard to a company's financial position, small to medium sized businesses are most at risk.

Part-time and agency workers now have comparable rights as those enjoyed by full time employees and discrimination now carries a much wider definition, with even more to come.

With the introduction of "no win, no fee" legal representation an employee now has little to loose and much to gain by bringing a claim against a former employer. Tribunals do not operate in the same way as a court of law, the company is not 'not guilty' until proven 'guilty' but rather considered guilty until they can prove otherwise. In the absence of real evidence a tribunal will take anecdotal evidence and decide subjectively for themselves as to who, on balance, they believe.


The redundancy guidelines published by governing bodies and often the advice that is received from employment law specialists is not always as helpful as some businesses might like. Take for example where redundancy guidelines talk of a 'consultation' process, what constitutes consultation is often open to interpretation and what an organisation might itself regard as 'consultation' a tribunal might take as 'a premeditated foregone conclusion'.


This article views the redundancy process from an organisations point of view where senior managers are likely to be under considerable pressure, frustrated and keen to act.


Few people, if any, relish the need for redundancies but often there is a desire from management to get a difficult task over with as quickly as possible so that the organisation can move on. Managers need to be educated in the fact that although following the proper guidelines will take longer than just handing out redundancy notices letters the process can bring benefits to the employer if done properly.

In a redundancy situation companies are able to act with complete autonomy, there is no legislative body looking over their shoulders, monitoring the methods used and in the absence of a trade union, employees are unlikely to be au fait with details of employment law. However, if claims of unfair dismissal are subsequently received the procedures and methods a company adopted will be laid bare and heavily scrutinized and the consequences of inadequate procedures penalised.

A tribunal is not a pleasant place for any company official, with the benefit of hindsight a tribunal will asks difficult questions; what was a real crisis six months earlier may be difficult to convey to people who have no knowledge of the business or in some cases the industry.

Being a good employer who operates in good faith and with genuine intentions is not enough, such employers are more and more finding themselves having to pay substantial compensation to former employees, some of whom may be undeserving but nevertheless know how to play the system.

UK companies are no longer seen as merely providing employment but as being socially responsible and when a company takes on new employees they are assuming more responsibility for that person than many realise.

Today companies have to be very aware of what their responsibilities are and how they must act. For small companies where the owners may be more entrepreneurial, the business more hand to mouth, there is no provision to allow them to operate in any other way than that expected of larger and more established organisations.

Some managers can often make the mistake of thinking that redundancy procedures do not apply to junior staff and will still issue redundancies on the fly, such action will only expose them to a possible claim for unfair dismissal that they will have every chance of loosing.

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To support senior managers we have divised a questionnaire that will guide senior management through the steps required when making redundancies.

By completing the questionnaire a manager will obtain a redundancy procedure checklist and if each step is completed a company can be confident that they will be able to vigorously defend any future unfair redundancy claims they receive.

Manager's Guide To Managing Redundancy in the UK

Survey Galaxy - A Hosted Application

Survey Galaxy is a hosted survey application, here we explain what the term 'hosted application' means and list the benefits of hosted software and the concerns that customers should always consider when evaluating hosted applications in general.

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As access to the Internet becomes more widespread with faster, more reliable and 'always on' connections becoming the norm the growth of applications using the hosted application model continues to expand.

Although hosted applications will not suit every situation, or every customer, they offer many individuals and organisations, as well as the application manufacturers' themselves, considerable benefits over the locally installed application.

What is a Hosted Application?

A hosted application, also known as Internet-based application, web-based application, online application and Application Service Providers (ASPs) are software applications where the software resides on servers that are accessed through the Internet instead of the more traditional software that is installed on either a local server or on individual PC's.

The thin client concept is nothing new but advances in Internet connectivity have allowed the application to move from a local server to a server on the Internet.

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What are the Benefits?

Reduced costs, instant deployment, easier to maintain and reduced administration are among some of the main benefits.

Low maintenance

With hosted applications the hardware and software is the responsibility of the vendor with the client only having to maintain access to the Internet. As there is no software to download a hosted application can be made instantly available across an entire organisation even where the organisation has multiple regional and international offices.

As there is no software the considerable time and resources required for periodic updates is also completely eliminated.

Reduced Cost

The need to license software through a 'per user', 'per concurrent user', 'per server' or 'site' license has been eliminated. Although some hosted applications still do charge 'per user' many have taken the opportunity to charge on a 'usage' and/or 'period' basis meaning that the customer does not have to estimate the number of licenses that will be required, nor install and pay for full licenses that may only be used by some employees occasionally.

This hosted application model also allows the smaller organisation and sole trader access to applications written using advanced software development tools and that utilise sophisticated database technology and high-end servers. The capital investment of the hardware and software as well as the security, backup and server maintenance cost are all the responsibility
of the vendor.

Minimal Risk

Many hosted applications require no long term commitment from their customers. New customers can often test hosted applications either through a free introduction offer or with minimal risk using a Pay-As-You-Go model. If after trialling the hosted application the customer finds it unsuitable
then they can simply stop using the service.

Access

Because the application software and the data is stored on the Internet server the application and data is available to the authorised client once they have logged on from anywhere there is Internet access. The customer can now work anywhere in the office environment, from remote offices or
from their home or hotel without the need to download their work or synchronise with portable devices.

Integration

For organisations that have legacy systems from different suppliers running different operating systems the hosted application will provide an integrated solution to any system that supports a standard Internet browser including Windows, Unix and Macs.

Support

The hosted application vendors benefit by not having to maintain multiple version numbers or individual maintenance and licensing agreements. New updates are installed centrally negating the need for expensive roll outs. For many applications the need for version numbers is eliminated as updates are made incrementally bringing the benefits to the customer without having
to bundle new features up into a new periodic version release. In some cases a user can request a new feature in the morning that can be developed, tested and deployed globally by the afternoon.

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The Concerns

Internet access

New communication technology is able to bring high speed Internet connectivity to more and more remote places but there are still some regions where internet access is limited or not available.

In some cases such as mobile workers although high speed Internet connectivity is available the cost both in terms of connectivity charges and equipment may, at least in the short term, prove to be prohibitive.

Security

As with everything to do with the Internet security is a justified concern. There is no simple 'one size fits all' solution to the security issue and a lot will depend on the specific hosted application and the nature of the data.

With online banking and shopping becoming common place the vendor should be able to provide their clients with sufficient confidence that the data is secure and that any private information remains private.

Hosted applications will normally operate a login procedure ensuring that only those that are authorised have access. The more sensitive the data, the more sophisticated the login procedure.

A good data host will strictly enforce the stated wishes of their customers and ensure that data is not available or released to anyone that is not legally entitled to see it and they will adopt the latest security measures available to prevent unauthorized access.

There may be some areas such as automatic logins from known PC's and the use of cookies that although they don't necessary represent a significant risk could present a risk under certain circumstances, such as gaining access to a private account through the automatic login using an unattended PC. Although strictly speaking the customer's responsibility the customer should be made aware of the risks so that they can take action to safeguard their own system.

Although security is a concern in some circumstances private data may prove to be more secure than it would be on a private network with less sophisticated security measures or in an environment where there is a risk from within.

Vendor Lock-In

As with all software applications there is a risk that a customer could become locked-in to paying costly monthly subscriptions to maintain access to their historic data. To counter this some applications will allow the data to be downloaded or allow customer to maintain access to their data for a reasonable time free of charge.

Control

Unlike a local application the hardware and software is under the control of a third party. This is a justifiable concern although not too dissimilar to the telephone provider supplying and maintaining the communications equipment and as with the telephone providers there are considerable incentives for the vendors to ensure high availability and reliability since their business depends on it.

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In Summary

Benefits

• No vendor installation or upgrades required


• Low start-up costs


• Minimal Risk, no long term commitment


• Backups and viruses responsibility of the vendor


• Hardware and software server maintenance vendor's responsibility


• Investment in local hardware & software reduced


• No need to synchronized data with multiple devices


• Access to data available globally through any internet connection


• Reduced software licensing costs

Concerns


• Lack of Internet availability


• Security


• Possibility of vendor lock-in

I can't get no Employee Satisfaction

I'm not happy. The printer has still not been fixed and now my chair is broken. The problem with this place is that it is falling apart. My boss is okay but has no clue what is going on.

That new guy that started last week, who no one bothered to introduce, has been given a job that he has no idea how to do; why didn't they just ask me? I could have told them that a new set of drawings have been issued so even if he did know what he was doing the drawings he is using are obsolete anyway. Sometimes I don't know why I bother turning up.

I went for a drink with some of the guys last night after work. No one is happy and Sally from Accounts says that she has just about had enough and is thinking of asking for a rise and if they don't give it to her she is going to quit.

The management here just don't have a clue, we are haemorrhaging money through our inefficiencies and they think that sending out memo's telling us that they are introducing new procedures for claiming expenses is going to make a difference – whoopee do.

I think I'll ask for a pay rise, if Sally from Accounts can get one I can.

And so it goes on.

These are the sort of thoughts that start to play on the minds of individuals when a company looses touch with their employees; the broken chair, the lack of appreciation, the blaming of 'management', even questioning the futility of what they are doing. Minor problems fester and a cynical and destructive mindset develops. Can you be sure that it isn't going on right now in your organisation?

Social events outside the office become nothing more than a forum for complaints and negativity grows among people who feel powerless to effect change. Dissatisfaction will often synthesise into a demand for an increase in remuneration, as though like a cheap fix more money will momentarily lessen the pain.

Left by management, undiscovered and unaware, the concern's of this employee will inevitable find solace with their colleagues own individual concerns, where the only common demand will be for an increase in remuneration, more paid holidays and a reduction in working hours, all of which will not fix the broken chair, ensure that new personnel are in future properly introduced, trained and managed nor help management identify areas of inefficiency.

Organisations have a habit of compartmentalising people, either physically through offices, cubicles and workstations but also in terms of responsibility. With effective and strong management to support this structure it can be productive, but as an organisation grows, and weak or inappropriate management infiltrates the management chain, it is inevitable that cracks will begin to appear.

From the top down all can appear rosy in the corporate garden as the weak and inappropriate manager reports that all is well in the engine room, oblivious to the fact that their coal stocks might be dwindling.

Experience shows us that relying on a limited number of indicators gives a skewed perspective just like a person with only one eye has difficulty judging distance. Good management will therefore establish procedures that sample the mood throughout the organisation from different perspectives providing a rounded picture.

The benefits of establishing good, frequent and extensive communication channels are both direct and indirect.

A senior management team that is known to have their ear to the ground will command great respect and will keep middle managers from becoming complacent knowing that they can no longer dismiss the senior managers searching "How is everything going?" question with a glib "Fine"; In my book if someone says "fine" you have to ask if they really know what is going on.

Most principals of organisation will not have the luxury of spending time walking the floor and discussing the issues of individuals but through online surveys they can achieve the same benefits.

Online surveys are the perfect mechanism for establishing effective employer/employee communications. Using a survey hosting service like www.surveygalaxy.com they can now be created and published with ease and speed.

Using the internet and intranet surveys can be deployed in seconds, easily completed by employees and results can be displayed in real time allowing 'problems' and common themes of dissatisfaction to be identified early.

Online employee satisfaction surveys have the ability to get to the heart of an organisation, confirm not only that the engine room is working but that there is sufficient coal in the bunker.

The benefits that online surveys bring are considerable, not only are the real issues identified, but employees feel that their voices are being heard and that their views, right or wrong, have a forum.

Online surveys won't in themselves resolve a problem but they will give senior management the opportunity to address the problems and concerns of their employees, at least if people then leave the organisation they will be doing it for the right and not wrong reasons.

The grass will always appear greener on the other side but the underlying reasons for good people leaving an organisation are rarely purely monetary (although it is often cited as the reason)and more often to do with one or more of the following:-

• the workplace environment;


• a lack of fulfilment;


• limited training and feedback;


• lack of career growth;


• over work;


• lack of trust and respect with their senior managers.

A well planned employer/employee communications programme that can identify the individual and common concerns of employees will give senior management the opportunity to address root problems and not just the symptoms of employee dissatisfaction, allowing them to demonstrate to their employees that they are not viewed simply as interchangeable parts that can be used for any job at hand.

Employee surveys need to be customised so they are relevant for each individual organisation. I invite you to put yourself in the place of an employee and complete the following short Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey so you will get a flavour for what is possible;

Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey

Now view the summary results of the survey and think of the benefits to management being able to measure the level of employee satisfaction.

Online Summary Results of Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey

Promoting Your Online Survey

Having created and published your online survey the next step is to get the right people to participate. How many and who you specifically target will depend entirely on the survey subject and your specific objectives.

For some surveys such as employee surveys there is likely to be natural and available list of respondents, for customer services there may be both a list and a website that can be used to promote a survey. Small surveys may only need to be promoted by word of mouth while others will require considerable effort to form a sample that will provide you with good market research data.

With surveys coming in every shape and size and with objectives that can cover market research, marketing and education a surveys sample requirements can range from general to specific as the population is sliced and diced into categories.

Listed here are a number of methods that can be used either on their own or in combinations so as to complement one another.


Email

One of the most popular methods of promoting an online survey is to send emails that contain a link to the survey to invited respondents using a mailing list. The mailing list could be a list of employees as in the case of an employee survey, a customer list for a customer service survey or a list of medical students from a college for a survey targeting medical students.

Although mailing lists can be obtained that target specific groups or business sectors one must be mindful that a survey invitation could be perceived by the recipient as being spam.

Where the objective of the survey is gather feedback, as in the case of a project post-mortem, it would be feasible as part of the normal correspondence between business partners to include an invitation to complete a survey with the purpose of obtaining valuable feedback.

A method that can be useful for organisations such as charities who wish to target corporate employees is to make an inquiry to a large organisations CEO or customer relations department and ask if they would help promote the survey using their internal email system.

The advantage with using Email is that it is quick and cost effective and the distribution of invitations can be well targeted and controlled.

When sending a large number of email invitations, even if the technology allows it, try to avoid the temptation to email them all in one go. It is a good policy to send your email invitations in batches so that if there are any errors or problems they are identified early and there is an opportunity to make corrections with minimal impact.


Website

To complement an email promotion or where a suitable email list is not available another popular method is to use a single or multiple website to publicise a survey by having a link to the survey on the website.

This method is ideal for survey publishers who already have an active website and where the surveys objective is to gather feedback from unregistered visitors who will not appear on mailing lists as well as registered visitors who probably do.

As an example an online store can gain valuable feedback from the visitors to their website that do not purchase anything as well as those who are loyal and regular customers.

With the practice of purchasing mailing lists being on the decline specialist websites can sometimes offer the opportunity for a survey to be publicised to a well target audience. If for example a survey is aimed at young people then university websites and websites that specialise in music and club culture will have a ready source of that social group that can be tapped into.

If the publisher of a survey does not have any control or access to a suitable website, and depending on the exact nature of the survey, it may be possible to request assistance from those websites that do have the volume of traffic from the target market, or you may want to consider paying a fee to have the survey promoted on specialist websites.


Organic Search Engine Listing

It is possible by including a detailed introduction as part of the survey to make the survey available to search engines allowing each search engine to index the survey so that it will appear in relevant search results.

How successful this method would be depends on a lot of factors and where the publisher has a ready sample source they may not want the survey to be indexed by search engines at all.


PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising such as Google's Adwords can also be used to promote a survey by creating an advertisement that will be triggered by relevant search terms providing a method of targeting specific groups.

With the sophisticated PPC facilities you are able target your promotion on an international, national or regional basis allowing you to specifically target your geographical as well as interest group.

Surveys are not always conducted with impartiality in mind especially when they are conducted for the purpose of sustaining a particular argument. PPC can be used influence a seemingly impartial survey by directing it at people who hold certain views thereby ensuring support, or opposition, to a particular argument. If the intention is to conduct impartial market research then when using PPC the search terms used to trigger the advertisement will need to cover equally both sides of any argument and serious consideration should be given as to whether PPC is an appropriate method of promotion; in some cases it will be, in others it will most certainly not.

The downside of PPC can be the cost, certainly if your market research is being conducted with minimal funds and the promotion is competing for commercial search terms, however in some cases where the required search terms are non-commercial the promotion can use search terms that can be purchased at minimal cost.


Telephone Survey

Survey Galaxy provides a facility to allow online surveys to be conducted over a telephone with the interviewer entering the response information on behalf of the respondent who they are interviewing over the telephone.

As with email, telephone lists can be purchased and also like email care should be taken as people are developing a growing aversion to receiving unsolicited telephone calls.

Telephone interviews can prove very effective especially where you need to conduct a survey where the results may be skewed if you relied on a cross section of internet users only. Although the Internet community now represents a broad section of the overall community if for example a survey was concerned with peoples' reluctance to get online, obtaining respondents through online methods would be inappropriate.


Forums

Promoting surveys through forums can prove to be effect. Since forums by their nature often attract like minded groups of people matching the right forum with the survey subject can be very rewarding.

However, one should respect the forum rules and forum members can regard requests to participate in surveys made by new members as spamming the forum. Where a person has a history of using a particular forum they can however gain a good response from their fellow members who are asked to participate.


Press Releases

Online press release websites can be used to promote a new survey and can help the survey to establish a good ranking for general search engine inquiries.


Blogs

Similar to Forums Blogs also offer an opportunity to promote a survey. The effectiveness is likely to be directly proportional to the popularity of the Blog and the subject matter of the survey. Starting a new Blog to publicise a survey may not prove effective, but using one that has already establish an audience is likely to generate a good response.


Snail Mail

The traditional forms of promotion should not be overlooked and mail shots using letters to introduce and invite participants can be very effective for certain types of surveys.


Posters

Posters can be used to grab the attention and invite interested parties to participate in a poster. Prominently displayed in areas frequented by the target audience they can often have a instant visual impact and give the opportunity to follow up the visual image with well a crafted headline.

A good example would be for a survey that is attempting to research a psychological condition where potential participants who have experienced certain events in their lives will not be on any lists and across all social and age groups. A poster could be displayed in public places such as transport hubs, hospitals and entertainment venues.


Notice boards

Electronic or physical notice boards can prove to be an effective method of survey promotion. Notice boards can be of a general or specific nature and as such can be used to targeted groups of people


Direct Company

Approaching a company directly can enable you to tap into a ready source of suitable respondents. To avoid spamming a company it is recommended that permission should be sought from the specific company's senior management, human resources or customer relations department.

Events

Sporting events, festivals or trade shows can provide market researchers with a concentration of like minded people. However, you should not expect people who are attending such events will be in the mood or position to respond to surveys. An effective way to tap into this source of respondents is to hand out business style cards with a short explanation as to the objective of the survey and with a link to the online survey.

The size of the card is important as it can be put in a pocket easily so that when each potential respondent returns home they will take time to participate in the survey.


Radio

If access is available to any form of radio, air, digital or online, an announcement promoting a survey can generate a good response proportional to the number of listeners.

There are many radio channels to choose ranging from national, regional, local and specialist channels that generate audiences that can be categorised by age and interest.


Street

As with formal events there is an opportunity to target the general public as they go about their normal business. Although individuals can be canvassed and asked to complete surveys there and then handing out business card style notices requesting them to participate in a survey later could prove more productive.


On Product Packaging

Products can carry a label with a link back to an online survey. This would be an ideal way of gathering feedback on a particular product or it could be used just as a vehicle for promoting a survey that is unrelated to the product.

On invoices and corporate publications

General correspondence that confirms an action such as an invoice or delivery note can be used to promote a survey and thereby gather valuable customer relations feedback.


Incentives

The need to give incentives to people for them to participate in surveys will very much depend on the subject and length of the survey. For a short survey you may not need to offer any incentive but as a general rule the longer and harder the survey the more incentive is required.

Incentives can be in the form of a payment, vouchers, free gifts or entry into a prize draw. For some surveys such incentives might be inappropriate as in the case of an internal employee survey; for these types of surveys some incentive may be required to ensure a good and timely response and they could take the form of an explanation explaining the benefits of participating in a survey such as it leading to improvements in the working environment.


Summary

Listed here have been some of many methods that can be used to promote an online survey.

The 'survey' is no longer the cumbersome market research method that it once was, often valued but requiring considerable time and effort; with online surveys they can be created in a few hours, published in the morning and through the power of the internet provide meaningful results in an easy to read form by the end of day.

With the speed, ease of use and diverse methods of promotion today's online surveys are effective not only for market research but for marketing, education, consultation and communication.

Each survey will have an objective that when coupled with available resources and a time scale will together determine which of the many available methods of promotion are the most suitable; because objectives, resources and circumstances vary there can however be no absolute right or wrong.

The Compliance Officer's Killer Application

All organisations need to keep abreast of regulatory developments relevant to their business but to do so they need to enter into a regulatory and legal minefield.

Human resource personnel now need to grapple with the nuances of employment and health and safety law, in some industries corporate manslaughter charges are a real risk and for others licensing laws have reached new heights of complexity. With the growth in e-commerce where consumer protection is dependent on jurisdiction, trademark and intellectual property laws are becoming confused and the 'risk' list for all organisations is now seemingly endless.

Small businesses in particular are finding that a casual and informal approach to these issues can result in regulatory censure and regulatory fines that can have no bearing on the financial health of the individual company; for larger companies there is the potential of material, financial and reputational damage.

Small to medium businesses will rarely have the luxury of employing a full time Compliance Officer but they should charge someone with the responsibility and although larger organisations can afford a dedicated person they are finding that with compliance issues mushrooming the Compliance Officer now has a team, a department and if not already, how long before compliance becomes a division?

Regardless of size, the first step in compliance for any organisation requires them to identify the areas of compliance that are applicable to them. Rules and regulations are being introduced monthly on a local, regional, national and international level, covering everything from data protection and freedom of information, anti-money laundering to environmental waste control, race relations to health and safety; with ignorance being no defence there is a requirement on the individual businesses to know their responsibilities, and fines for those that wait to be told.

Having identified the areas of compliance the company then needs to understand what they need to do to ensure they comply. It is becoming conceivable that with the shear volume of compliancy issues that companies who can show a good faith effort in complying will, even when they fall short, reduce the risks of fines; to do so they need to demonstrate that they had every intention of acting within the spirit of the rules and that specific and timely action was being taken in relation to any failings or breaches. This is where the culture of the organisation is key.

With Compliance issues identified and understood the Compliance Officer needs to define and implement policy and disseminate the information throughout the organisation

It is important for the Compliance Officer that they do not inadvertently become the company's patsy. Senior managers are not averse to ignoring the internal memos they receive advising them of their responsibilities. Compliance Officers need to deliver their messages up and down the corporate food chain and record that their advice and directives have been received and more importantly understood.

The Compliance Officer has to avoid becoming the company scapegoat. This won't happen by itself, a sales team that has a long history of success though a relaxed attitude to selling is not going to willingly adopt new, and what they will see as restrictive, practices without a fight. 'I didn't get the memo', 'I didn't understand it', 'I thought it meant something else', 'I thought these were only guidelines' are likely to be stock replies, along with the one or two old timers that didn't think compliance issues applied to them. It used to be a safe bet to blame IT, blame Compliance is rapidly taking its place. This is where follow-up and disciplinary action by senior management is imperative.

To survive in this challenging environment, the compliance officer needs to have several spanners in the tool kit, buy-in of senior management, a strict reporting process and a good flow of management information. But what else - an excellent means of communication - this is key - the compliance officer needs to connect and communicate with the business - one tool that can bring real results is the online survey and questionnaire.

online survey can deliver a message internally to the individual; it can be informative like a memo and educational by referencing detailed policy. Importantly it can become a valuable self registering record that confirms that the information has been properly disseminated and understood.

A single survey question can achieve all these objectives at the same time.Take an example:-

Are you aware that section 45 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 imposes an obligation on directors of certain companies to prepare statements on their company's compliance with its relevant obligations?
Click here for a summary of Company's Policy on Compliance Reporting Obligations)
Yes
No

For those Directors that have not read the policy the survey will give an opportunity to view the company's policy online (using an embedded live HTML link). Should Directors answer 'No' the Compliance Officer knows who to target.

The survey also records the manager's response and shifts the responsibility away from the Compliance Officer to the individual manager where the responsibility needs to rest for a company to meet its compliance obligations.

Using an online website such as www.surveygalaxy.com where multiple surveys can be managed, easily modified, updated and re-issued on a periodic basis across an organisation online surveys can be the Compliance Officer's killer application.

Through the regular use of online surveys the Compliance Officer will be in the driving seat, leading and not chasing compliance issues, not only circulating the information on a one to one basis but also monitoring and recording the level of awareness throughout the organisation.

The Compliance Officer's role is a difficult one, like a parent keeping a wayward child on the straight and narrow, most employers, let alone their employees, often do not fully understand the true consequence of their, often innocent, minor discretions. Assigning a Compliance Officer is a start but enabling them to fulfil their remit will be the difference between a company being fully compliant and one that risks suffering the consequences for having let compliance take a back seat.

Wise Man Marketing

It’s a sunny morning and you’re sitting in your office. With a cup of hot coffee by your side and memories of your last holiday still fresh in your mind, even if you say so yourself, today at least, life is sweet.

You take a sip of new blend coffee and then feel a rush of cool air and a movement catches the corner of your eye. As if from nowhere there is now an impeccably dressed stranger sitting in the chair opposite. Sure you're surprised; you didn’t hear anyone knock and just as you are about to say something he begins in a calm and measured voice.

‘Here's the deal’

‘I am going to advertise your product on a billboard at the busiest junctions in every city of the world.'

‘I will tell you how many people see this advertisement and I will tell you their age, nationality and gender.'

‘I will tell you what they think of your product and in many cases I will give you their contact details. While they are reading the billboard I will make it possible for them to view your website and, if they feel the urge, make a purchase.'

‘I will have all this ready in two days and it will cost you less than a small advertisement in your typical trade journal.’

He pauses. ‘Interested?’

Now you might think that such an offer was too good to be true, you might think that you are going to wake up soon or maybe that it really is time to get a lock on that office door.

But let's just take a minute. If you are still reading this I am that man who has come from nowhere and offered you a deal.

The advertising site is on the Internet and the billboard I'm offering is the humble online survey.

Stop for one moment and start to associate an online survey not with 'market research' but with 'marketing'. Not any type of marketing but 'Marketing' with a capital 'M' and in flashing neon lights. Marketing that is quick, direct, effective and low cost.

Publish an online survey and advertise it on a website, or via email, and like a billboard by the side of a major road junction, your message will appear in front of people. But unlike a billboard where the number of people that see an advert has to be estimated (based on an arbitrary percentage of total volume of traffic), the online survey records the number of times a survey is started.

Surveys can ask demographic questions such as gender, age and nationality and in doing so you are obtaining metrics about the effectiveness of your promotion and are interacting with the respondent on a one-on-one level.

Unlike billboards where the message is often subliminal, or maybe just trying to achieve brand awareness, with online surveys you have the opportunity to connect with the public to find out what they really think about your product, how it relates to them, how it is perceived.

Using a website like Survey Galaxy it takes only minutes and hours to create a survey and using the power of the Internet an online survey can reach hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis.

Throw in a prize as an incentive for people to complete the survey, maybe some Pay Per Click advertising to capture an even wider, or more focused audience and you are still talking low cost effective marketing.

"So tell me. Do we have a deal?"

Have you fixed the broken window?

Left alone it doesn't take long for a building with a single broken window to rapidly become a building with many broken windows. Fixing problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into larger problems.

The same is true when considering the level of employee satisfaction. Dissatisfaction spreads like wildfire and in a surprisingly short period of time you’ve got morale problems of the kind that are notoriously hard to fix.

Ensuring your employees are happy is mostly about being tuned into what their problems are and, importantly, dealing with them early on. Keeping the initiative is really important and the secret is that it is better to give a little and often.

This turns out be a virtuous circle. Fixing the problem when it’s small is also when it’s easiest and when it’s cheapest. And taking the initiative without being prompted puts the manager in a position of strength, which also suits the employees. Staff like strong, confident management and this approach generates respect not least because someone has taken the time to understand some of the employees’ issues.

Compare that with managers who are out of touch. They arrive late at a problem so they are on the defensive, and with their credibility eroded they have to concede to demands which in turn leads to further and less reasonable demands. It’s not big and it's not clever.

The issue, then, is how to go about monitoring the morale of a company without a big budget and without much spare time?

The first port of call should be an online survey. They’re quick, easy to use, and a low cost solution. Surveys can be created in minutes and deployed in seconds, with the results compiled in real time; and by using email and websites they cost nothing to disseminate.

A corporate internet is the ideal delivery mechanism. By linking through to an online survey website such as http://www.surveygalaxy.com a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.

With an online survey’s ability to produce results in real-time the mood of the employees can rapidly be gauged and concerns highlighted both on a collective and individual level.

Using the survey results companies can quickly identify problem areas and follow-up surveys can be used to target specific concerns. With good information managers are able to get to the root of specific problems and prepare a considered response.

A major advantage of regular surveys is that it allows a company to address small problems in a timely manner avoiding 'the straw that broke the camels back' syndrome where a relatively insignificant incident unleashes a torrent of pent up concerns.

And don’t forget that the majority of employees appreciate being consulted so asking their opinion is not a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.

It’s unusual to find, but there it is – sometimes management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won't break the bank.

What Market Research will tell you

We recently discussed why market research was important and here we explain what you can learn from having conducting effective market research.

Know your customers – Market research will help you better understand your customers in a number of ways including their age, gender and geographic spread. The better you know your customer the easier it to target your marketing and fine tune your product or service.

Who are your existing customers and where do they live?

Who are your potential customers and where do they live?

Know your competition – Market Research will help you measure your service compared to others. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business and are you improving in the areas that customers demand?

Do you have the products or services that people want?

Do you represent value for money?

How does your business compare to that of your competitors?

Ease of doing business – Do your customers find it easy to deal with you and so they find what they want? Is there sufficient advice and assistance on hand?

Do you make it easy for your customers to buy?

Are your employees properly trained?

Marketing – Is your marketing reaching the right people and is the marketing message clear and effective. Which marketing channels should you focus on and which, if any, should you drop?

Is your marketing message understood?

Does your marketing properly represent your brand?

Do you advertise through the right channels?

Are you reaching the right people?

Future Trends – Attitudes change and fads come and go and good market research will allow you to spot the changes in trends and attitudes. Don't get stuck holding the baby and instead be first to market.

Are you able to spot new trends?

Are you able to detect the early signs of decline in current trends that could affect your business?

Why Market Research is important

Benefits of Market Research

Market research is an essential part of any business that wants to offer products or services that are focussed and well targeted.

Business decisions that are based on good intelligence and good market research can minimise risk and pay dividends.

By making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the lifecycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:-

Market research will help you better communicate. - Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong.

By asking the customer you not only show them that you care but you also take the guess work out of customer services.

Market research helps you identify opportunities. - Planning to operate a new service and want to know the preconceived attitudes people have then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to honed.

Market research will minimise risk. - Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand.

Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress. - Unless you measure you may not be able to gauge how well your business is performing. Early research may highlight glaring holes in your service or short falls in your product, regular market research will show if improvements are being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.

New Rules for Online Surveys and Questionnaires

Online survey websites bring a new dimension to designing and deploying surveys when compared to the more traditional printed survey.

When trying an online survey service for the first time it is common to want to design surveys in the same way as you would for a printed survey. Although this is not a problem there are times where the unique features and benefits of the online survey often means that the traditional methods are not always best practice.

With printed questionnaires you are very much in the lap of the God’s as to whether those that participate in the survey complete the survey correctly. Questions that ask “please tick only one box” will often results in multiple ticks and it is therefore safe to reason that a “tick all that apply” type question is likely to suffer the same logic in reverse.

How do you ensure questions are not missed by participant and how do you differentiate between those that were missed and those that were deliberately not answered? With online surveys you have the ability to address these questions.

This article looks at the ‘online’ advantage over the printed questionnaire – and will also discuss a few general guidelines that will help you write effective surveys and questionnaires regardless of how they are to be deployed.

Branching

In a questionnaire 'branching' is the term used when the respondent is asked a question and based on their answer they are then asked a follow up question or asked to skip to later question.

Although a requirement in some situations branching in many cases can be eliminated altogether and the questionnaire streamlined and made more 'respondent friendly'.

Take the following example:-

The above is an extreme example of branching. The respondents are having to think, and even where the survey software supports an automatic branching facility it introduces a needless level of complexity.

The following demonstrates how this question could be just as easily re-phrased.

This second question/answer format covers all possible permutations, simplifies the survey and ensures that all respondents follow the same clear path.


Scale


Possibly to help simplify the design of printed survey a scale was often used as a way to rate a particular response.

For example:-

With online surveys in particular you can eliminate the need to have a scale as the composing tool will automatically format the headings for you.

This second approach is more intuitive for the respondents as they don’t have to mentally translate their opinion into a scale and it also allows for the introduction of an important additional category ‘No comment/Didn’t attend’.

Subjective Responses

Care should be used when using units of measure that are subjective. Take the following example.

Although all respondents should have no problem answering the above question it will be unclear when analysing the results as to what were the individual definitions of ‘Not very often’, ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Often’. Some respondents may have interpreted ‘Sometimes’ as meaning once a year, others once a month.

When using units of measurement that can be subjective it is better to qualify your own interpretation to ensure that all participants respond using the same
scale.

Making Questions Mandatory or Voluntary


Unlike a printed questionnaire with an online survey you have the option to make questions mandatory, i.e. where the respondent must respond to a particular question before moving on to the next question. When analysing the results it is always better to have had a positive response than to have no response.

It is often a common assumption that to make a questionnaire more ‘respondent friendly’ then it is good practice to make all questions voluntary. However, providing the respondent with a positive 'No comment' option will show the participant that you appreciate that they may not wish to answer a particular question but will also ensure that the survey results can be properly analysed.


When a response to a question is made voluntary an unanswered question is more difficult to analyse.

The following is an example that might be taken from a delegate feedback questionnaire with the question being made voluntary.

With the above format there is no way of knowing from unanswered questions if the respondent didn't answer intentionally, if they accidentally missed the question or if they dropped out of the survey completely.

A better method would be to make the question mandatory and to add additional options:-

This will ensure that all respondents are canvassed and that incomplete surveys can be identified as being incomplete and not confused with those respondents who did not wish to comment or who did not attend the film.

When analysing the success of a survey it is useful to be able to see if respondents failed to complete a survey and where they dropped out; was it prompted by a particular question or the length of the survey? Such information can be used to improve the design of future surveys.

There are some question/response formats that should not be made mandatory. For example:-

As a rule the above type of question should not be mandatory as a ‘no response’ would in this context be a valid answer.


The following example of a check box should not be mandatory as a 'no response' would again be valid:-

However, there are many advantages in modifying it slightly so that it can be made mandatory.

Free Text

Questions that require a free text response, that is where the respondent is not asked to choose from a list of possible replies but able to write any response they like, should be used sparingly.

There are some questions where free text is essential for example requesting contact numbers and email address.

However, take the following example:-

This type of question is likely to get responses that are in units of years, months, days and weeks, as well as miscellaneous comments such as ‘A few years’, ‘Not long’.

If this information is important for analysis it would make that analysis very difficult, the larger the volume of respondents the more difficult the analysis.

The above question would be better as radio buttons:-

Here in designing the questionnaire a decision has been made as to what criteria is to be used when analysing the data and the format has now made this analysis automatic by grouping the respondents into those chosen categories.

Designing the Questionnaire

When designing an online questionnaire you do not need to start at the beginning. For example if your survey contains standard demographic questions at the start of the survey such as name, age and place of residence you can leave these until you have finalised the body of the survey and then add them at the last minute.

This allows you to focus on the main purpose of the survey and keeps the survey lean so that manipulating the survey, changing the order of the questions, modifying the text is both easier and quicker.

Using Survey Galaxy’s template library you can store common series of questions and available responses and add them in the final stages of designing your survey.

Keep in mind that many of the restraints imposed when designing printed questionnaires such as page length, page width and numbering are not present, or are fully automated, with online surveys.

The Webmaster's Assistant

There are many tools available to a webmaster to analyse website traffic allowing them to monitor the number of visitors, see what pages have been accessed and even the length of time each visitors spends accessing the website.


However, despite the considerable data available what is missing is anything to tell the webmaster what the visitor was thinking. Did they like or dislike the site? Was the layout easy to understand or just plain confusing? Did they find it easy to navigate and maybe the most important thing, did they find the information they wanted?


A website may be generating sales but why are some people that visit the website not buying anything? Was it because they didn't like what was being offered or they couldn't find what they wanted?


Website surveys provide webmasters with an excellent and accurate method of answering these types of questions. Direct feedback from the website visitors cuts to the chase, no need to guess, just ask the visitors themselves how they found the site and if they found what they were looking for.


With an online survey webmasters can find out:-


How often do people visit the website?

How did they arrive at the website?

Are they accessing the website for business or pleasure?

Did they find the information they were looking for?

How easy did they find navigating the website?

Would they recommend the website to others?



A good website survey will be brief and will gather information that once analysed will provide valuable information to help improve the website.


Another alternative to a traditional survey is to embed one or two survey questions within the website after specific procedures. For example at the end of the registration process the visitor can be asked if they found the procedure quick and easy; after ordering an item they could be asked if they found the ordering procedure and payment methods to their liking. To ensure that the questions don't become repetitive to regular visitors the website can be programmed so that the questions are only asked once per registered user.


Website surveys take the mystery out of working out what visitors think of a website and using online survey websites such as www.SurveyGalaxy.com they are quick and easy to design and once implemented will really become the webmaster's assistant.

To see a sample website survey please follow this link:-


http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPublishes.asp?survey_id=1182