Pollfish surveys: how it works and how to set it up

People look at Pollfish surveys when they want answers from people who are not on their own list: a market they have not entered, a buyer type they have never sold to, a price point nobody has tested. That is a different job from surveying your own clients, and confusing the two wastes money in both directions. This article answers one question: when do you need an outside survey panel, and when will a survey sent to your own contacts on the levelpartner.ai platform answer the question better and act on it too?

Two kinds of survey question

Some questions can only be answered by strangers. Would homeowners in a new region use a fixed-fee estate agent? What do finance directors at firms you have never worked with look for in a consultant? For these you need respondents who do not already know you, and a panel or research tool is the usual way to reach them.

Other questions are about people you already have. Why did past clients stop buying? Which service would existing clients add? What made recent prospects choose a competitor? A panel cannot answer these, because its respondents were never your clients. Your own contact list can, and the answers come with a name and a phone number attached.

Most companies with flat revenue have more of the second kind of question than the first. The quickest growth usually sits in the client base you already have.

What to check when choosing a panel tool

If you do need outside respondents, compare tools on the job rather than the brochure. Ask these questions of any provider, including Pollfish.

• Can you target the exact audience you need, in the countries you sell to, by role, region or life stage?
• How does the provider screen out careless or fake responses?
• What does a completed response cost, and is there a minimum order?
• How quickly do results arrive, and in what format?
• Who owns the data, and can you use it in your own reports?

We do not quote other vendors' prices or features here. Check each provider's current terms against this list before you commit.

Before you start

For a survey of your own contacts, you need access to Sites, Contacts and Automation. Build a segment of the people you want to ask, using tags or filters, and check they have agreed to hear from you. Write down the decision the survey will inform and the two or three answers that would change it. Create custom fields for the answers you want stored on each contact.

How to set it up

1. Go to Contacts and click + Add smart list.
2. Choose filters for the group you want to ask, then click Apply.
3. Click Create to save the smart list.
4. Go to Sites, then Surveys, and create a survey.
5. In the Survey Builder, put email on the first slide.
6. Add one question per slide, then one open question.
7. Save, preview and submit a test response.
8. In Automation, add the Survey Submitted trigger to a new workflow.
9. Under Filters, set Survey is to this survey.
10. Add an If/Else action that branches on the deciding answer.
11. Tag each branch, then publish and save the workflow.
12. Send the survey link to the smart list in an email campaign.
13. Review responses under Sites, Surveys, then Submissions.

Why your own list often beats a panel

A panel response is anonymous. You learn that a share of people prefer one option, and then you have to design a campaign to find them. A response from your own list is attached to a contact. You learn that a specific client prefers that option, and your team can call them this week.

The trade-off is reach. Your list only tells you about people like your past clients. If the question is whether a new type of buyer would want you, your list cannot answer it, and an outside panel can.

Time and cost to run

A survey to your own list costs only the messaging at usage rates and two or three hours to set up. Reviewing results and assigning calls takes another hour or two. A panel survey costs the provider's fee, and its results still need someone to turn them into a decision.

When not to survey at all

If you only want to test one offer, run the offer on a landing page and count the enquiries. Behaviour beats stated preference. If you have fewer than fifty clients, talk to the ten most valuable instead of sending a survey.

For building the survey itself, see building an online survey that drives follow-up. Staff surveys follow different rules on anonymity, set out in running an employee net promoter score survey. And to keep survey answers usable later, mapping every answer to a contact field applies here as well.

Troubleshooting

Responses do not match existing contacts. People type a different email from the one you hold. Send the survey link from the platform and ask for the email they received it on.

Very few people reply. The list has not heard from you in a long time. Send a short note first, then the survey a few days later.

Answers cluster on the middle option. The question gives people an easy way out. Remove the neutral option or ask about past behaviour instead.

The team does not act on results. No tasks were created. Make the workflow assign a task for every answer that needs a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Does the platform connect to Pollfish?

We do not list connections we cannot confirm. Check the App Marketplace in your account for current integrations.

Can I use a panel and my own list together?

Yes. Ask the same core questions of both, then compare. Differences show where your clients are unlike the wider market.

How many responses do I need?

Enough that one more response would not change your decision. For a choice between two options, a few dozen considered answers often settle it.

Is it legal to survey my own contacts?

Generally yes, if they have agreed to hear from you and you follow the email and SMS rules in your market. Check your consent records before sending.