Benefits of Multi-Company Surveys Part 1

Not long ago we discussed how and why research can benefit from studying not only your company, but also your competitors' – all with the same survey. You ask a question to the respondent in the beginning of the survey that finds out what companies the individual has frequented, and from there you ask identical questions about each company they select in order to learn both about your company and about your that of your competitors. This style of survey has numerous advantages over a traditional company survey, that usually only asks about your current organization, making it a style of survey that you will need to consider when you are moving forward with your research ideas.

Some of these advantages include: Competitor Data Obviously its key advantage is to see how customers view your chief competitors, and how your own results measure up. Receiving a 9 out of 10 in satisfaction is less valuable if your competitors receive a 10 out of 10, and it's possible that how you compare to other companies is actually more important than how you score on your own survey. It also gives you a starting point for further questions.

If customers are more satisfied with a feature on a competitor product, even though you have a similar feature on your product, you can take that information and create new research that tries to understand why that feature is viewed more favorably, so that eventually you can create a more appreciated feature yourselves. Competitor data when measuring identical areas is very valuable. Loss of Central Tendency When comparing two or more products and companies to each other, it becomes less likely that the respondent is going to fall into the trap of central tendency – giving something a lower (or higher) score simply because they don't want to give something or someone one of the extremes – especially after the survey has taken a while.

When customers are comparing two identical features in their mind, if one is given a 6 out of 7, and they view another item as "better" than the initial item, they are more likely to give it the 7 out of 7 it deserves, because they will not give two unequal items equal values. It's not a guaranteed solution for this common phenomenon, but it's certainly a potential one. In the next article, we'll explore some of the additional benefits of using a multi-company survey in your research.