What is an Automated Phone Survey?

An automated phone survey consists of dialing a list of numbers and delivering pre-recorded multiple choice questions.

The questions are answered by pressing numbers on a phone keypad.  Next, the results are compiled in real time.

As a result, the company or organization receives valuable information.

The Value of Automated Phone Surveys

Surveys have been used for centuries to gather important, helpful information.

Over time, technology has advanced greatly and today’s surveyors have a tremendous advantage over their colleagues from just a few years ago.  

The latest survey technology can be found “in the cloud” and can be easily accessed online. Compiling data can now be done in a fraction of the time it used to take.  

In addition, technology has improved the accuracy of results because of the ability to target a variety of different groups with different surveys.

Furthermore, the option to rotate answer choices or even the sequence of the questions has also had a large impact on the possibilities available to surveyors.

Conducting Political and Voter Surveys

Political campaigns and elected officials frequently use automated surveys to take the pulse of the electorate.

Also, surveys can be conducted regarding local or controversial projects that will affect peoples’ lives.

For example, a major city was looking to reconfigure their highway system and off ramps to cut down on bottlenecks and commute times. They used an automated phone survey to gather data about the commuters’ experience with traffic issues and drive times.

Then, the city then used the survey results to aid them in developing a plan to address the issues. 

Conducting Business and Customer Service Surveys

Companies often survey their customers after they have completed work for them. They gather information to evaluate the customer’s experience in order to improve their best practices.

Company personnel generally conduct follow-up calls soon after the service person leaves the customer’s home or office in order to get feedback while it is still fresh in their mind. 

However, having staff to conduct these survey calls is time consuming and expensive.

Therefore, automated surveys are a cost effective and easy alternative which provide feedback in a much shorter time frame.

How Does Automated Polling Work?

Voters and customers answer your survey questions by pressing keys on the phone to rate the service provided by your company.  

Therefore, this process is quick and easy for the customer.  

The system tabulates the customers’ keypresses in real-time and are immediately available in a call report.

In addition, questions can be formatted to include what the industry calls “skip logic” or “conditional branching.” 

This means the second question will be based on how your customer answers the first question.

For example, The survey asks, “Do you like sports?” and presses #1 for yes.

Then, the survey asks, “What do you enjoy more, baseball or football?” 

However, if the customer presses #2 for no, the next question would be about a completely different topic.

Your surveys can be simple yes or no questions, multiple choice answers, open-ended requiring a voice response or they can be configured to allow customers to press a key to be transferred to a live operator.  

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

Overall, automated customer satisfaction phone surveys offer you a tremendous tool in monitoring feedback and providing valuable insights into consumer trends. 

It is the best way to get quick, accurate and reliable data about what your customers are thinking.

In addition, they are the best way to understand what they want.

What to Consider Before Sending Automated Surveys

1)  What do you want your message to say? 

First, your script is the most important element. Use clear and concise language your recipients can understand.

2)  How do you want your customers to respond? 

Do you want branching capabilities built in, or do you want recipients to answer questions in a set sequential order.

3)  Should the answer choices be rotated? 

Decide if you need answer choices rotated to prevent answer bias.  This will be highly dependent upon the type of automated survey you are conducting and the script.

Next, We will help you determine what will give you the best outcome based upon your script.

4)  How many complete responses do you want to receive?  

You may want to dial through your whole list to get as many responses as possible, or you may only be looking for a specific sample size.

5)  When should you send out the surveys? 

The day of the week you want to try to reach your target audience as well as the time of day or evening.   This may be dependent upon the makeup of your call list, and we can advise you on best practices.

6)  Is this survey part of a series? Will this be a recurring survey?

7)  Are these cellphone numbers or home numbers? 

It is against regulations to send automated calls to cell phones unless your customers have “opted-in” to receive them.

Therefore, If  your customer provides a cell phone number as their contact number, you must get their permission to call them.   

For this reason, we identify whether each number is a home number or a cellphone number.

However, if you have not gained their permission, our system will automatically scrub out mobile numbers.

What Are the Advantages of an Automated Phone Survey?

There are many features and advantages of using automated phone surveys for polling purposes:

  • You will save a lot of money by not using live agents.
  • We deliver the results quickly.
  • Our system can contact thousands of people in a matter of minutes.
  • We can rotate survey questions to eliminate bias.
  • The system can change the follow-up question based on the previous answer.

Why Our Phone Survey Service is the Best 

1)  We proudly offer the best customer service.

We are here to consult and help you every step of the way. 

Often, our clients have us set up and manage their automated surveys, so they can focus on their campaign or business.

Meanwhile, we get to work gathering and organizing the survey results for you.

Once we have completed the service, we deliver a detailed report.

2)  We use your local number for the Caller ID.

People are much more likely to answer a call from a local number, as opposed to a long distance or toll-free number.

For this reason, we always use a local number to boost response rates.

3)  A survey can be custom-made to give you the data you are looking for. 

You can have any number of multiple choice questions with any number of different responses people can choose from. 

This customization allows you to get the data you are looking for. 

We recommend you keep the number of survey questions and response options to as few as possible.

Recipients lose interest and often do not complete the survey if it is either too long or confusing.

4)  Surveys can also include “branching.” 

Branching gives contacts the next question depending on how they answered the previous question.

Moreover, you can rotate answer choices and the answers themselves.

5)  Automated phone surveys can be delivered in a recorded human voice, or as text to speech. 

We highly recommend a human voice because it is much more personable and easier to relate to. 

Accordingly, you can record your survey right over the phone and we can help you every step of the way.

6)  Target your specific audience.

It doesn’t matter how you break it up or separate your list. 

For instance, you can sort by geography, political affiliation, age, or gender. 

As a result, you will get direct answers from specific targeted groups and easily compare how different constituencies react and respond.

7) Receive a detailed report.

We offer automated phone surveys that will help you get a clear picture of your customers needs and thoughts.

Visit our phone survey page directly to get more information or give us a call at 888-387-8636 to get a FREE QUOTE.