B2B surveys and how to run them in 3 easy steps
B2B surveys are questionnaires as they call them sometimes, are usually part of B2B market research. The companies that would usually run a B2B survey could be private equity firms, corporate companies, or asset managers. Before they invest in a company or even during the investment process if they want to expand to different segments of the market or different geographies, they will probably run a commercial due diligence survey to accumulate data and back up their decisions.
As it is clear now, Global B2B surveys are an indispensable tool for investment decisions. We can now discuss the 3 easy steps to run a B2B survey:
1. Choose the right B2B survey provider or panel provider
There are hundreds of companies that could run a B2B commercial due diligence survey for you. The idea is to find the right one for your particular needs. Some panel providers are focussed on quantity of answers and mostly are good at B2C surveys. This is because they have thousands of people in their system that they send out the survey to. It is very low cost and they do not really care how many emails they distribute. Even if the survey is irrelevant to the receiver, they will still send it over. Since filtering out the ones that are relevant is a very time consuming and expensive process, they would rather get a huge pool of answers that might be irrelevant completely. Thus, the quality of answers needs to be considered too. In conclusion, you need to understand what kind of panel provider you are looking for and how do they look for the respondents in order to understand the quality of service.
2. Structure the survey and compile the questions
The structure of the survey needs to be thought through. You can usually script questions initially and understand overall the idea behind the survey. Then, the survey needs to be properly structured or in other words programmed. Finally, you could potentially run the survey on some test people and see if the answers and logic in the structure actually makes sense.
3. Find the right respondents
As we have already discussed getting the right data is crucial in the process of a B2B survey. Even if you have already picked the survey provider you would need to understand if the responses are actually relevant. In other words, the target population needs to be very niche and very accurate. Some B2B survey providers are more detailed in selecting their niche populations because they have AI tools and some other technologies that help them find the exact people you are looking for. Thus, it is crucial to get the responses from the people that will produce good quality and relevant answers for you. In short, choose the right B2B survey respondents.
To run a B2B survey for commercial due diligence is relatively easy. You just need to follow those three simple steps that we outline in this article. Choose the right panel provider to get the most relevant company for your needs. Then, structure the survey properly. Finally, choose the correct target audience and population. Be sure to outline who you want to ask those questions specifically. The structure of the survey needs to be thought through. You can usually script questions initially and understand overall the idea behind the survey. Then, the survey needs to be properly structured or in other words programmed. Finally, you could potentially run the survey on some test people and see if the answers and logic in the structure actually makes sense.