There are plenty of reasons why small businesses conduct surveys. Well-formed surveys can provide invaluable data, show customers that the brand cares, and solicit invaluable customer feedback. When used on employees, surveys can help the business form better practices and onboarding strategies, or boost engagement in the company.
No matter what your reason is to conduct a survey, you should know that this process does not have to be complex at all. Some businesses skip on doing this type of research because they find it too costly or time-consuming. However, with the wide range of survey tools at your disposal, this is easier and more affordable than ever.
What is a survey tool and why you need it
Surveys come in many forms, but they have one big purpose – to improve the business’ performance and reputation. BusinessNewsDaily describes surveys as a method to “efficiently collect honest feedback, opinions, and responses… and use that information to improve different areas of the business”.
When you collect feedback from customers, you get an insight into their needs, satisfaction, and useful data that can potentially grow your small business. When you collect if from your team, you can learn how to make them happier in the workplace, help them with their professional development, and retain the best talent in your company.
How can a survey tool help you with this, you might wonder?
Survey tools allow businesses to easily and rapidly create original, great-looking questionnaires and interviews. The process that would normally take days of your time can take only a few minutes with the right survey tool once you have the ready questions you want to ask. You’ll be using wizards or templates to create the surveys, which eliminates the need to worry about order, font, or overall design.
Moreover, some of the great survey tools provide a variety of other services such as email distribution, distribution on social media, etc.
Top survey tools you should consider for your small business
As a small business, you can definitely benefit from some insight into how well you are performing and what your audience/ team needs. The best time to start working on your data collection is today, and the following survey tools can make this a lot easier.
1. 123 Form Builder
123 Form Builder is one of the best-rated tools for survey creation and distribution nowadays. It’s a highly innovative yet easy-to-use tool that automates many data collection workflows and processes. Thanks to the many great features it offers, 123 Form Builder has reached over 2 million users in a record time. The forms you can create with it are simple to build and maintain thanks to an interactive drag and drop interface and a variety of solutions.
On this website, you can pick between hundreds of templates for different purposes and industries. If you wish to collect information about patients fast and securely, their HIPAA compliant online forms can be found in over 200 different templates. You can also choose between hundreds of banking, business, e-commerce, education, financial, governmental, entertainment, HR, marketing forms, etc. The list goes on and on and includes the majority of industries your small business might be operating in.
How does this work, you wonder?
You can go through their choices of a template, select your favorite, and fill out the fields. Once you’re done, you can set up email notifications and use this tool to distribute your new form. This tool makes data collection and management easier than ever. It eliminates the need to create, export and import, format, and design your surveys – and much more.
Reasons to choose 123 Form Builder
- Safety and security of the highest level
- Complete control over your data
- Over 1,900 templates to choose from
- Simple yet highly robust tool
- Numerous integrations including Dropbox, Shopify, PayPal, Salesforce, and more
- Affordable pricing at different levels – free version available
2. Zoho Survey
Zoho Survey is an affordable, long-time popular tool for making surveys. Its free version is more limited than the paid plans, but you can get access to ten-question surveys and up to 100 responses.
This tool offers fewer options compared to the first in our list – a bit over 200 templates for you to choose from. The options are also of good quality and users can benefit from features like social sharing, web embed, and real-time responses.
Zoho is considered a safe tool to use since it utilizes password protection and HTTP encryption. It’s mostly used by small businesses due to the limited template options and features. If you have a smaller audience base for your business, it is very cost-effective and easy to use. At a low monthly price, you can get unlimited surveys and questions, and collaboration tools.
If you opt for the more expensive, enterprise plan, you’ll also get access to features like white-label, CRM integration, user management, and piping logic.
Reasons to choose Zoho Survey:
- Free, albeit limited version is available to all
- Low pricing of most of their plans
- Integration with various tools for collaboration, CRM, and help desk
- Can scale to offer more features with higher-priced plans
- 200+ quality templates to choose from
3. Survey Monkey
Survey Monkey has existed and thrived in the business world for quite some time. Some tools have surpassed it in terms of popularity, including our first two choices, but this one still remains one of the best.
Survey Monkey has several tier levels from basic to enterprise, as well as a variety of features to offer businesses of all sizes. Based on your business size, you can select a tier that meets your needs, or use their free version that includes unlimited surveys with up to 10 questions and 40 responses.
More advanced, paid features include built-in advanced analytics, survey distribution, data analysis, filter choices and comparisons, data exports, reporting, etc.
The one downside for this tool compared to others is the pricing. Survey Monkey remains one of the higher-priced solutions, which makes it a bit tricky for small businesses thriving to grow. Their plans start at over $1,000 monthly.
Reasons to choose Survey Monkey:
- Established and tested survey tool
- Has a free version with unlimited surveys, but limited questions and answers
- 24/7 high-rated support service
- Plenty of features and templates that are unlocked in different tiers
4. Examinare
Examinare is one of the most reliable, quality survey tools today. With over a decade of great reputation in different markets, this tool has proven itself worthy of a spot on this list. It is used to manage feedback, facilitate the creation of questionnaires, and analyze business data.
Which features you can use in it depends on the plan you select. Examinare is not a very cheap option, but its entry plan can be considered affordable. It costs $45 per user per month, with a free trial version for seven days.
Even so, if you want to use the variety of features that Examinare offers and is praised for, you should be prepared to pay more for the higher tiers. In the templates, users get plenty of question types from Osgood-scale to gradient scale to free text, and they can also add images, sounds, and instructions in the forms.
Lastly, this tool facilitates the distribution of the surveys via email, social media channels, QR codes, Web, and mobile.
Reasons to choose Examinare:
- Long reputation on the survey trade market
- Top-rated support via chat, email, and phone
- Numerous survey forms in different designs
- Offers distribution at selected tiers
5. Question Pro
Last but not least, Question Pro is a famous tool used by small businesses. It’s a simple tool to run, which makes it ideal for newbies. It has a limited number of templates, but all of good quality. The offerings fit well with the pricing, which is quite cheap with this tool. The professional plan costs only $15. Still, you should be aware that the options here, as well as features, are more limited compared to the previous solutions.
It’s very easy to start and finish a survey on this tool. You just need to pick your template and fill out the details. The tool allows you to import a Word document to facilitate this process, and it offers unlimited surveys with up to 100 responses.
The advanced tools you can enjoy if you opt for a paid plan include Q&A piping, data export, theme custom, and global password protection.
Reasons to choose Question Pro:
- Nice free version with limited features
- Several paid, but cheap plans with more numerous features
- Scales to enterprise tools for when your startup grows
Wrapping up
The tool you’ll choose, as well as the questions you’ll ask in your surveys, is the key to collecting the right information. Without a great survey, you cannot expect to get useful or accurate answers. So, tread lightly and consider all of your options. Start by choosing a tool that fits your business’ mission and budget best, and use it to create – and possibly distribute your surveys in the right places.
