Mary Crogan, Senior Business Marketing Manager for online survey from Constant Contact, joins hosts Anita Campbell and Brent Leary to discuss how online surveys can actually act as a GPS system for your small business. They can help guide you and your small business along the most direct and efficient path to your goals. Surveys are cost effective, fast, easy and are useful mechanisms for gathering customer feedback.

Surveys can help you chart the right course for your business - and can take you inside the mind of the mostly silent majority.

Below are the questions we asked Mary:

• (2:04) First Mary, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you do at Constant Contact?
• (2:41) What is your background in business?  How did you come to get involved with the Constant Contact survey product?
• (3:10) So you are a marketing expert and have now translated that to the online survey world then?
• (3:34) Now most people know Constant Contact from the email marketing service provided.  Is the online survey tool something new?
• (4:20) What type of customers does Constant Contact have?
• (5:04) How big of a business do you need to be to use an online survey?  Can any size business, large or small, use an online survey?
• (5:36) What is so valuable about an online survey?  What value does it bring to a small business?
• (6:57) What if you are not used to giving online surveys?  How do you get help to figure out what kinds of questions to ask and how to use the survey?
• (8:03) Do you provide sample questions so people can get started?
• (9:24) What kinds of questions should a small business be asking of its customers?  Can you give us a few examples?
• (11:06) Is there an optimal length for putting together an online survey?
• (12:31) Should you create a survey that requires someone to complete all of the questions, or is it better to limit the number of “required” questions?
• (16:05) For small businesses that are new to online surveys, what kind of participation rates can they expect?
• (17:14) So you find out what’s interesting enough for them to take five or ten minutes to complete a survey?
• (17:36) So what’s the process a small business would take to build an online survey?
• (19:25) How do you go about soliciting those respondents?
• (20:51) How many respondents do you need to have to get a good feel to make actionable decisions afterwards?
• (21:54) What do you do with the data gathered from the survey?
• (22:58) Do people expect to see action taken quickly?  What’s a good time frame to follow up on what you’ve found in your survey?
• (24:12) Can you give us one example of how an online survey can work for a small business?
• (26:34) Are there any guidelines as to how often you should survey your customers?
• (27:52) Mary, where can people find out more on the web?

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- Listen to Mary’s full interview now by clicking the red and yellow player below -