Surveys: How to get people to fill them in?

random.stranger

I have a tight budget and will be doing my own survey to check if there is a big enough market for my product & to profile potential customers.

I have already done some limited surveying on boards & by pestering friends, but it is now time to go into the big bad world.

I was planning on going out and asking people to fill them in at Airports, bus stations, train stations etc. (anywhere there's a queue really).

I want to touch as wide a range of people as possible, from business people to backpackers.

I was considering putting up a cash prize, but I have a limited budget (maybe up to €500 prize money) & don't think I would have enough to interest a successful business person.

Also, are there any legal implications of running a draw?

How do people go about running a draw so that its transparent?

Has anybody done this themselves?

Any advice appreciated

Is there a way you can just test the market by buying a few samples first ? Or is this simply not the case ?

patftrears

random.stranger wrote: »

I have a tight budget and will be doing my own survey to check if there is a big enough market for my product & to profile potential customers.

I have already done some limited surveying on boards & by pestering friends, but it is now time to go into the big bad world.

I was planning on going out and asking people to fill them in at Airports, bus stations, train stations etc. (anywhere there's a queue really).

I want to touch as wide a range of people as possible, from business people to backpackers.

I was considering putting up a cash prize, but I have a limited budget (maybe up to €500 prize money) & don't think I would have enough to interest a successful business person.

Also, are there any legal implications of running a draw?

How do people go about running a draw so that its transparent?

Has anybody done this themselves?

Any advice appreciated

Don't know what your product is or who your target market is.
You could try sticking a product up on ebay, see how many offers you get.
Put up a few google ad words see how many hits you get.

If the above is not possible identify clearly your target market and contact them directly.

Lplated

Surveys are handy but you need to be careful of them - for eg, asking someone if they would buy product X is a whole different kettle of fish to getting them to buy it.

If you know who your target customers are, that should dictate how/where you do this. For eg, if you are planning on selling through a supermarket, then hanging around (with permission) a shopping centre would be a good idea. If its a product aimed at car mechanics, then call/ring motor garages etc....

random.stranger

Deleted User wrote: »

Is there a way you can just test the market by buying a few samples first ? Or is this simply not the case ?

Thanks Entrepreneur. Afraid not, it's a product, which will require investment for patents, tools made for injection molds etc.

patftrears wrote: »

Don't know what your product is or who your target market is.
You could try sticking a product up on ebay, see how many offers you get.
Put up a few google ad words see how many hits you get.

If the above is not possible identify clearly your target market and contact them directly.

Thanks Pat, I'll give that a try.

Lplated wrote: »

Surveys are handy but you need to be careful of them - for eg, asking someone if they would buy product X is a whole different kettle of fish to getting them to buy it.

If you know who your target customers are, that should dictate how/where you do this. For eg, if you are planning on selling through a supermarket, then hanging around (with permission) a shopping centre would be a good idea. If its a product aimed at car mechanics, then call/ring motor garages etc....

Thanks Lplated, what you say makes a lot of sense, I'll certainly keep it in mind.

Maybe I should write the survey so that people have to rate features in order of preference, rather than just asking them would they buy it.

Talk to Mickk , do a search for his name on here, he's in the process of doing something like that... best of luck

random.stranger

Thanks TheEntrepreneur. Some great reading in Mickk's posts.

conolan

I remember many years ago someone turned up on my doorstep doing market research on a new product. He had a prototype with him, and had it loveingly wrapped in a cloth. Looked like it was his new baby. BIG mistake. I looked at it, answered his questions, and told him I though it wasn't a runner.
Afterwards my wife ate the head off me ".. so mean to nice guy... etc"
She and many others would have given him encouraging words and possibly helped him on his way to losing a fortune.
I suggest you get someone else to ask the questions, someone who doesn't care whether it works or not.
Reduce the number of questions to 10 or less (easier to get someone to answer) and then you won't need the prize.

HealthyWay

As mentioned above, the key is to identify the target market and then go to wherever they are likely to be buying the product. Kepp the survey short and simple and most people will give you honest feedback.

random.stranger

Great stuff, thanks conolan & HealthyWay.

@ LPlated & conolan: I certainly take your advice on board re surveying. I will have to do the surveying myself, because of budget limitations.

I think I can get around people telling me what I want to hear by asking them to rank the features they desire (some which my product will have, some which it won't). Hopefully I will be able to identify a target market from these results.

Definately valid criticism & taken on board.