“Be skeptical of surveys”- Gary Halbert

The Boron Letters, Chapter 8

Gary was so profound on the true effectiveness of surveys in marketing that he even first mentioned in Chapter 7 that, “to locate those hot buttons, you don’t have to ask people or take surveys.”

This got me into thinking what makes Gary Halbert ‘mad’ about surveys?

Is it one of the best way to gather information about your target market?

But before we answer the question, let us define what survey is in a marketing point of view.

Survey is a method of market research with the purpose of gathering information about a particular niche, gathering feedbacks for product and to validate the assumptions you have made in your marketing plan.

(Wheeew! That’s a lot!)

There are two types of questions usually asked during surveys.

Closed-Ended Questions and Open-ended questions.

Yes or No?

Let’s discuss close-ended survey questions. These are questions that provide respondents with a fixed number of responses from which to choose an answer. (methods.sagepub.com)

Examples of these are two point questions like “Yes or No”, “Satisfied or unsatisfied.” And multiple choices (a,b,c,d).

And I ‘think’ this kind of questions that makes Gary mad.

He even emphasized that “surveyed people were trying to give the ‘right answer” instead of answering what truth is. Why is that?

Because, as G. Halbert explained, we “have a slightly shrewd idea of ourselves. We often try to convince others and ourselves that we are something we are not, something we an idea we ‘should’ be.”

Well, G. Halbert has said it all about the limitations of closed-ended surveys. But how about open-ended questions?

Ask.

Open-ended survey questions give the respondents the chance to answer in their own words, adding depth and context to results (Surveymonkey.com)

When it comes to effective utilization of Open-Ended Question, Ryan Levesque is the man.

Ryan Levesque is an entrepreneur and author of the book Ask: The counterintuitive online formula to discover exactly what your customers want to buy…create a mass of raving fans…and to take any business to the next level.

He popularized the concept of Ask Formula (framework) and Survey Funnel Strategy. (step-by-step blueprint).

Based on Survey Funnel Strategy, there are 4 primary pillars of surveys.

1. The Deep Dive Survey

2. The Micro-commitment Bucket Survey

3. The “Do You Hate Me’ survey

4. The “Pivot” Survey

All of them are created based on open-ended survey questions like asking the

“What your biggest struggle about [topic]?”

This question is so effective that respondents can be emotional and open to their problems, challenges, and things that hold them back. The opposite of how people answer closed-ended questions.

According to R. Levesque, the Ask Formula and Survey Funnel Strategy “has generated over $100 million in online sales across 23 different industries.”

Takeaways

Of course, there’s a lot of discussions when it comes to this topic. So should you not rely on surveys like what G.Halbert says or use surveys as what R. Levesque?

The answer is both. Use closed-ended questions to gather information about the demographics (age, sex, location) of your potential market.

And used open-ended questions to validate the psychographics (pains, struggles, values, dreams) of your potential market.

Results from these two surveys will definitely fulfill the purpose of surveys — to validate your marketing plan.

If you want great answers, ask great questions.