Double Duty: Using online surveys to collect data and increase sales

Creating a web-based survey
Unless you know HTML, online surveys can be tough to create. So, why not use an inexpensive online survey provider? They're cheap, fast, and if you know how to type, you can do an online survey.

But even with survey providers, you still need to design the questionnaire. Here are a few tips:

1. Start with your audience. Who's your target audience? Who are you trying to reach with the survey? For example, if you are targeting single men in their 40s, you need to tailor the survey toward their needs and situation.

   Which of your products should they be considering? What kind of info do you need to improve your sales to them? Are you looking to boost HSA sales or LTC products?

2. Structure. Everyone gets turned off by long questionnaires. So keep it short and simple, something that can be completed in other five minutes. No more than 10 questions total! You can have open-ended questions, but the majority of the questions should be yes/no or rating the importance of issues.

3. Privacy and purpose. Tell people at the beginning of the survey what it's for-such as to improve your product offering, educational material or service. You should also restate your privacy policy, to assure them you won't be sharing their identities or contact information.

   For example: "To better serve our clients' needs, we're taking a quick survey of (your county's or region's) concerns about health insurance. Please take a moment to complete this brief questionnaire. Per our privacy policy, your contact data and information will not be shared with any other parties without your written permission."

4. Question objectives. Before writing questions, it helps to establish your survey's objectives. Are you looking to sell more life insurance to your target audience? Your survey is not just a practice in doing a survey. It's to further your marketing goals.

5. Specific questions. Once you know where you want the survey to go, your questions will be easier to design. For example, if you're trying to sell more life insurance policies to single men in their 40s, have the questionnaire filter for men in their 40s-who don't have life insurance.

   Here are a few questions you could ask them to get them thinking about your products:

   • Do you have life insurance?
   • What kind of life insurance products have you considered?
   • Have you heard of 'HSA' plans?
   • Are you insurance costs less than $XXX per month?

Surveys plant the seed for the sale, turning prospects into closings
Just getting your target audience to consider your product or service is big, because you've gotten them to start the basic sales process.

You've planted the seed in their minds for an eventual sale. Now you have to make sure someone else doesn't reap what you sowed.

Review your data to get a better understanding of your prospects. Figure out what you need to do to get them from just thinking about it to actually closing a sale.

Do they just need to be asked a few more times? Schedule calls, emails and invitations in your calendar.

Do they need more information? Send it to them, or perhaps schedule and invite them to an information seminar.

Finally, to increase the response (and conversion) rate, you should add a bonus or reward to the survey request. For example, consider raffling off gift certificates to a local restaurant for two or three of the people who complete the questionnaire.

Long-term application
Finally, surveys should be part of your long-term marketing campaign. Schedule a survey at least once a year, if not each quarter. It's an inexpensive way to stay on top of your prospects-and mine your mailing list for additional sales.