Why surveys that matter, matter to us
By Keren Flavell — Founder & CEO, Townhall App
I feel uncomfortable when people want to use Townhall to ask traditional survey questions of their stakeholders. They want to ask the same old set of questions about themselves, where they ask for good/better/best responses.
No wonder people are bored with those surveys and don’t choose to engage.
Instead, we’re helping our customers get BETTER engagement and participation, by BEING engaging.
How?
1. Be empowering
Give your audience the chance to have an impact on your decisions. This means handing over the reins of control to the widest stakeholder audience available.
If people can collectively change the things that impact them, they will return again and again to take part.
You need to be clear about how their contribution will be acted upon. When are decisions being made, by who, and how their vote will count.
2. Think to the future
Rather than get reviews of how you have done (backward looking), ask them what they want to see in the future and how you could do better.
Consider how much more interesting it would be for someone to have their say on what they want for the next conference theme or speaker, than asking about what they thought of this years conference.
Ask people, “What are your ideas for how we can improve”. This gives you the chance to crowd-source suggestions to act upon, rather than the checklist of a performance review, which bores people beyond distraction.
3. Ask questions that matter because many people respond
Understanding popular opinions and the variances of who believes what, is interesting to most people.
Participating in a Townhall question that shows how my own view aligns or differs from the other voters, makes things interesting.
This is why we insist on results being public, giving the participant a bonus for their time to respond to the question.
It also increases the likelihood they will share the question with their friends.
4. Think of it like a Townhall meeting
Imagine if you’ve asked people to travel from their homes on a cold, windy night to attend a Townhall meeting in your city or precinct, and you asked them how often they visit the farmers market.
This fits into that boring category of market research questions that are not really interesting to your stakeholders, just to you.
Instead, ask them, “Should all produce at the farmers market be organic?”
Or, “Should dogs be allowed into the farmers market?”
This will trigger a response and get people debating between one another.
It’s democracy in action, where the majority leads decisions and future actions.
Keren Flavell is the founder and CEO of townhall app, a tool designed to empower the collective voice.
