Quick eight-part customer survey

Want to get preliminary feedback on your product or service idea? What better way than to ask your customers directly? Administering a small convenience sample of 20-30 consumers or industrial buyers is a good starting point to get well-rounded feedback.

Here’s an eight-part sample customer survey:

1. Describe your product or service idea to the respondent.
2. Note their reaction to your idea – what they liked/disliked about it, problems it would solve for them, needs that would be satisfied, and other comments about your idea.
3. What benefits would they get from buying your product or service?
4. What price would they pay?
5. How often would they buy your product or service?
6. What level of service and support would they expect you/your company to provide?
7. Do they currently buy a similar product or service to yours? If so, from whom? Why? What do they like/dislike about the company that offers the product or service they currently buy?
8. Collect demographic information (things like age, sex, and income) from your respondent to help you analyze your data and, later, to segment your market more conclusively.

There you go – quick, painless, and infinitely informative!