You’ve created the perfect staff survey … but how do you prevent people from deleting your email? Here are ResponseStar’s tried and tested tips for increasing your response rate to survey participation.
Engage your audience in advance Let them know you genuinely want to listen to their views and are planning to act on the feedback you receive. Describe the purpose of the survey and how their response will inform future decisions and priorities.
Share actions taken in response to survey feedback If you regularly conduct surveys, one of the best ways to improve response rate is to share the impact of your surveys and demonstrate how responses lead to actions.
A simple “You said …, We did …” message is hugely effective and could be used in the invitation email as evidence that feedback is acted upon.
Let them know you will be contacting them An expected email is less likely to be deleted. Ensure senior leaders are aware and talking about the survey to their teams ahead of sending out the invitation email.
Make the survey anonymous, if possible If you can ensure anonymity, this will certainly improve your response rate and the honesty of the feedback you receive. Provide clear reassurance to your participants of how you can protect the confidentiality of their response.
Consider your subject line carefully For optimum response rate, be clear and straightforward about why you are contacting them. Use the minimum number of words.
Make the survey invitation about the recipient, not you. Explain the benefits from their perspective, for example how their feedback will help inform the priorities and improvement initiatives across the company.
Avoid unnecessary grammar, emojis or capitals that SHOUT AT PEOPLE! Keep text clear and simple.
Don’t nag Avoid using ‘reminder’ in the subject line when you are sending your reminder email.
Send from a personal email address This works better than sending from an impersonal or auto-generated address, which may end up in the Spam folder.
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