SIX RULES FOR BETTER FORMS

How BETTER DESIGN and PROCESSING can improve response rates and give you survey forms THAT WORK

FORMS: BORING, BUT IMPORTANT

surveys

claims…

orders

applications

customer feedback

FORMS are the basic tools of marketing and customer relationships

EVERY FORM tells you something valuable about your customer

BY GETTING YOUR FORM DESIGN AND PROCESSING RIGHT, YOU CAN:

Boost customer satisfaction scores with faster responses

Increase form submission and gain greater customer insight

Improve return on marketing investment

WHY DESIGN AND PROCESSING MATTER

• The better the design, the higher the response

• It makes it easier to complete the form

• It makes it easier to extract the information, especially if you are using an automated system

70% of organisations consider that scanning and capture improves the speed of response

by x3 or more ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT (AIIM)

BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR OBJECTIVE

RULE 1

Keep the questions focused on the objective

Decide what you want to learn from the completed forms

FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE

RULE 2

PHRASE YOUR QUESTIONS IN LANGUAGE THEY WILL UNDERSTAND

Think about where they will be:• At home (they may

have more time)• At work (they may

have less time)• At a shop, or a restaurant,

or other venue (it may not be so easy to fill in a long questionnaire)

KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

RULE 3

Keep the language simple and direct

The more complex the form, the lower the response rate, and the higher the abandonment rate

“Surveys should take five minutes or less to complete…

On average, respondents can complete five closed-ended questions per minute and two open-ended questions

per minute…”SURVEYGIZMO.COM BLOG: SURVEY RESPONSE RATES

START EASY TO BUILD TRUST

RULE 4

For example, the first questions in a research survey for a car manufacturer might include:

Make sure your first questions are easy to answer, and very clearly about the topic of the survey

What is the make and model of the car you usually drive? Make Model How long have you been driving your car?

Less than 6 months Less than 1 year Less than 3 years Longer than 3 years

MANAGE THE FLOW

RULE 5

Group questions on the same topic together

Vary the format of the questions – some multiple choice, some closed, some open

Use ‘filter’ questions to guide people past questions that do not apply to them For example: ‘Is your car diesel or petrol?’ before a series of questions about diesel cars

DON’T FORGET THE BASICS

RULE 6

Tell them what to do when they’ve finished

Include any data protection or compliance information Give them

enough space for each answer

Tell people how to complete the form

Say thank you

GETTING FULL VALUE FROM YOUR FORMS

THE FASTER YOU GET THE INFORMATION, THE FASTER YOU CAN TAKE ACTION

• Fulfil orders quickly• Respond promptly to

enquiries or complaints• Make better-informed

decisions, based on timely intelligence

Automated forms processing allows

organisations to respond to incoming forms

up to six times faster AIIM

Organisations all over the globe, of every size, are doing better things with their documents, information and business processes, thanks to Canon

WHAT TO DO NEXT

canon.co.uk/for_work

Speak to Melanie Willis on 01235 433 493 or email melanie.willis@cuk.canon.co.uk