Designing and implementing a post-event survey for your vendors does not have to be difficult or time consuming. All you need to do is make a few simple choices in order to create a valuable survey that will provide you with the results you need.
Choice #1: Method
Paper vs. Online/Mobile App: Let’s skip the debate and go ahead and let you know that an online/mobile app survey is the best choice. It’s simple and efficient for the vendor to fill out and for you to compile and interpret the data. We recommend using Cognito Forms, especially if you plan to implement multiple surveys and are willing to pay for simple and easy to manipulate reports. A free alternative commonly used is Google Forms.
Choice #2: Strategy
Choosing a strategy for your survey will lead to generating the kind of results you need. Consider using one of the two suggested formats for your next survey.
Conditional Logic/Skip Logic: This method ensures a tailor-made survey based on answers to previous questions. For example:
Question 1: Did the event meet your sales expectations?
Answer: Yes or No
Question 2 (Yes response from Question 1): Please tell us how this event met your sales expectations.
Question 2 (No response from Question 1): Please tell us the areas we did not meet your expectations.
Multi-Page Forms: This concept falls in line with the conditional logic format by breaking up the survey on different pages. From a psychological standpoint the user is willing to be engaged on each page and not worried about how many more questions until the end. The user can keep track of progress and have a sense of accomplishment after completing each page of questions (limit the number of questions per page).
Choice #3: Incentives
Consider offering an incentive for completing your survey. Be careful when deciding what kind of incentive so as to not bias or influence the feedback. For example, if you were to offer a free space at your next event, you most likely will only get responses from those that are fully satisfied with your event.
Cash, Gift Card, or Out of the Box: The two most common options are offering cash or gift cards. Depending on the participants of the survey, you will want to be creative in what you will offer for their participation. Think outside the box and be willing to try something new and fresh like creating your own coffee blend and sending it to every participant, not just one lucky person.
Say “Thank you”
Always make sure to thank those that participated. Make sure you choose a new method saying “thanks” each time, especially your repeat participants. There are several ways to say thank you, and one of the most memorable ways is to send a handwritten note. It shows that you value your vendors enough to take the time to make it personal.
Share your results
One final thought as you consider and prepare your post-event survey is to have a plan for sharing the results. Your participants want to know that their voice has been heard. Plan to share with them what actions were taken as a result of the feedback you generated. Also, explain why certain actions were not taken. Let your vendors know that they have been heard.
