Survey Software

Questions to ask when selecting survey software

With many survey providers to choose from, it can be challenging to know where to begin to identify the right survey platform to meet your needs.

So, whether you’re relatively new to surveys, or a long-established user. If you need to create lots of surveys and research is a major part of your business, there are some essential things you need to consider if you’re to find a solution that can meet your immediate and future needs.

To help you with this, here’s a list of key questions you need to be thinking about.

What data security and data protection assurances can they offer me?

Many providers may claim to offer the highest levels of data security and data protection, but this only becomes more obvious with any further details they can provide about this.

Compliance with GDPR and the Data Protection Act are minimum requirements, along with more standard security provisions such as firewalls, anti-virus and encryption in transit and at REST. But if you’re to gain the greatest level of security assurances about how your data will be managed, accessed and stored, you need to look out for accreditations such as ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus. And if they can offer any extra security assurances that meet the needs of a particular industry such as the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit, for healthcare, that will be of huge value.

In addition, you need to ask where your data is hosted. A provider may be UK based, but host your data in a different country, which is subject to different laws, potentially posing serious implications for the security of personal data. You would be much better off with a provider that stores and provides backup of your data on UK based servers.

What about software performance and ease of use?

While this might already seem an obvious area for discussion, you need to get as much information and clarity as you can.

From what range of templates, question types, advanced logic and survey metrics are on offer, to distribution and collection options, design and branding, reporting and analysis tools and integration capabilities. You need to get as much clarity as you can on the range of features and performance that a solution can deliver for you, so you know if it will be easy to use and quick to get the data insights you need.

Will they be able to meet my integration needs?

If you’re looking to grow your range of surveys and deploy them right across your organisation, you’ll need to be working with a provider that can meet your current and future integration needs.

Whether you’re using surveys for customer research or using them to better understand your employees or the needs of the wider market. Whatever it is, to get the greatest value from your data insights you’ll need your survey software to be seamlessly integrated with the essential systems that help drive your business.

From API access and webhooks to Zapier and Google Tag Manager. You need to know what tools and support a provider can offer you, so you can ensure they’ll get everything working seamlessly for you.

What about sharing and working with others?

Again, if you’re looking to grow the number of surveys you send out and the size of your teams to manage this, you’ll want a package that offers good teamworking and collaboration tools.

Look at the full range of survey plans offered by every provider and the capabilities that they offer in this area and have some questions in mind as you’re doing this. How easy is it to share surveys, questions and contact lists with others including colleagues and others outside your business? How simple is to add or remove users and set restrictions over what different users can do and see?

What reporting and analysis tools are available?

Creating your survey, distributing it and collecting your data is essential, but being able to analyse and report on your data findings is equally as important, as that will ultimately impact the decisions and actions you take.

From the range of features that are available to you to view, analyse and segment your data, to any tools that allow you to share and schedule reports and export data. Depending on your type of business, and whether you’re a large organisation, SME or work in academia, there are many factors that can influence how your teams operate and therefore the tools you need for an efficient reporting process. So, it’s important to have only this in mind when you’re looking at options for survey software.

What level of support can they offer me?

While the level of support you need will depend on your own particular requirements, if you’re a heavy user of surveys, you’ll want access to the strongest, most tailorable support package.

From onboarding, training and access to dedicated account managers and customer success teams, to the quality of support, SLA response times and the range of media channels they can be reached on. You’ll need to get a better idea of how closely you will be supported and how quick and simple it is to get the answers you need. So, you need to be asking about the provision and capability of those services, so you can ensure you’ll always get the quality of support that you need.

How accessible are the tools that they provide?

Accessibility is another essential requirement to consider, particularly if you work for a government body or in the wider public sector, where accessibility compliance is mandatory.

Given that about 1 in 5 respondents have a disability, you’ll want to know that the tools and template themes on offer ensure your surveys are accessible for these respondents too. Things to look out for with a potential survey provider include compliance with accreditations such as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), which represent the widely accepted standard for web accessibility.

How strong are their survey design options?

A healthy response rate is critical, if you’re to get the data insights you need. So, you need all the tools at your disposal to make your survey stand out and entice recipients to complete your survey.

From options available to customise your survey’s design theme and apply your own branding, colours and logos, to customising your domain and incorporating a responsive design to ensure engagement across all device platforms. Think carefully about all the options available to you before choosing a survey provider to work with.