Surveys are conducted to gather information for better decision-making. With the advent of the Internet and the recent introduction of Web survey tools, businesses, large and small, are able to implement online surveys to gather immediate customer, employee and audience feedback and use the data to make strategic decisions.

The Web is now used by organizations to collect hundreds of millions of completed surveys annually for many applications from customer and employee satisfaction to market research and course evaluations. Conducting a survey online will dramatically reduce the costs over traditional surveys. Response rates are typically higher on the Web because surveys are easier to fill out and respondents can complete them at their convenience.

Additionally, online surveys significantly improve the quality of the results you receive. Survey response options are controlled and validated while the survey is being completed eliminating data entry errors and ensuring a higher quality response. Web-based surveys save analysis time because the data is collected automatically and the results are immediately analyzed and charted.

However, online surveys can prove so popular that their spread within a large organization creates its own set of challenges. Organizations typically go through five stages in the adoption of Web feedback systems. They are: a Web pilot to eliminate the data collection and data entry costs of paper or telephone surveys; continuous feedback from more frequent surveys; individualization, such as by customer service or sales departments responding to individuals rather than constituencies; diffusion, the spreading of Web surveys to multiple departments; and systemization, a coordination of survey efforts across departments, spearheaded by the IT department. This last stage is enabled by enterprise feedback management (EFM) systems.

To illustrate the phases and benefits of a Web feedback management system, the following is the story of how a large automobile manufacturer traveled through the Web survey stages and ultimately implemented an EFM system.

The IT department of the manufacturer implemented online survey software to replace their paper- and telephone-based survey systems, which were conducted in multiple languages worldwide. After testing in the IT department, the manufacturer recommended the survey software to their training division, which used it to obtain feedback on their programs. The training department began to survey more often, enabling decisions on which courses to keep and which to drop or improve to be made in days instead of literally years. The department set triggers to flag dissatisfaction of a key customer, such as a dealer, thus individualizing its responsiveness.

The purchasing department got wind of the effectiveness of the online surveys, so they adopted the software and used it to survey their supply chain, to find ways to improve and streamline procurement practices. Then the communications department got involved, realizing that many groups within the company could benefit from online surveys. The communications department recommended that the company acquire an enterprise feedback management system, and replace the variety of survey tools they had been using. This ability to oversee and control the distribution of survey data, had the additional benefit of helping the manufacturer comply with privacy laws.

Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) Systems

The high-end survey software vendors have recognized that the success of online survey software has created new challenges across the organization. Departments cannot learn from the aggregate respondent knowledge they’ve gathered if they are not all involved. Today there are three EFM system vendors:

• Perseus Development Corp.’s SurveySolutions
• FIRM, Inc.’s ConfirmIt
• CCS Design’s ResearchExec

With an EFM system, IT managers can centrally manage and control the survey practices of their organization. They have full control of the design, implementation, distribution, and analyses of the feedback process. An EFM system supports multiple workgroups and allows individuals within workgroups to share and review questionnaires and survey results. Importantly, it allows Web-based reporting from a secure, centralized environment.

As an IT professional, the control of the design, implementation, distribution, and analyses of the feedback process is important to your operation. It is critical for you to manage a centralized, yet distributed feedback process for the success of the entire organization.

About the Author:

Jeffrey Henning is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Perseus Development Corporation, the industry leader in Windows-based and PDA-based survey software. Mr. Henning has extensive experience in the software development and market research fields. Prior to beginning Perseus, Mr. Henning was a management consultant with BIS Strategic Decisions (now Forrester) in the United States and Europe, where he analyzed and researched trends in the personal-computer hardware and software markets. Perseus SurveySolutions® is used by over 16,000 customers worldwide, including over 23% of the Fortune 100. The company recently announced a version supporting enterprise feedback management. For more information, go to: www.perseus.com