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Panel+ 3.0 : Advanced user Tip #2

Keep your panelists engaged using email.

Did you know that you can send emails from within your surveys? Ok, you may have known that already, but have you given any thought to why you would want to do this? I can think of three simple reasons off the top of my head.

ONE: thank your panelists for taking time out of their busy days to complete your surveys. This may sound like overkill, but you would not believe the number of panelists we have had write our support addresses thanking US when this has been done. These panelist's emails are much more positive than the ones we get from panelists wondering if their survey responses were recorded properly, or if they were really finished the survey. Let them know!

TWO: further your recruiting dollars. Every person out there that joins your panel has friends and family that may be equally as interested. Now, of course this technique depends heavily on the type of panel you are recruiting, and how random you want your sample to be. However, if you were recruiting a panel of expecting Mothers, for example, it would be quite easy to send out an email at the end of each survey asking your panelists to forward a link to their friends, or even their entire Lamaze class.

THREE: trigger a follow-up action. If a respondent takes the time to inform you of how disappointed they were in a product or service they received, they have provided you with an opportunity to easily turn their experience around. Trigger an email informing the respondent that the customer service department will be receiving the results of your survey and will look to improve their service around the specific areas in question. This will quickly help to reinforce your customer responsive image. Don't forget to actually send the results to your customer service department though.

In case you've gotten this far, and still aren't quite sure what we're talking about, go to the questionnaire builder. Under the far right icon there is an option to 'send an email'. From there, all you need to do is enter your email text, and each panelist will be sent a copy when they reach the email item in your survey - the end is usually a good place to put it.

So, as you can see, keeping your panelists engaged is as simple as good manners - my Mother always told me to send thank you notes. Consult your manual or call your Vision Critical representative to learn more about the new features in Panel+ 3.0.

Posted on February 15, 2005
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