Every niche market copes with increasing competition over time. That puts added pressure on your sales process, especially when market saturation threatens to encroach upon your revenues. It is more important than ever to attract prospects and move them through a qualification funnel. Surveys, when used wisely, can be leveraged to generate qualified leads who are ready to take the next step in your sales process.

Below, we'll explain how to use surveys for lead generation. You'll learn how to build your questionnaire based upon the data you need to collect from your audience. We'll also explain how to maximize your response rate and reduce your abandonment rate using a multi-page format.

Identify The Data You Want To Collect

The first step in developing a lead generation survey is to define your scoring criteria. Not all prospects are created equal. Some will be more qualified (or "hotter") than others. The challenge is to design your questionnaire in a way that allows your most qualified prospects to rise to the top of the list for immediate follow-up. Meanwhile, those who are less-qualified can be shuttled into lower priority campaigns so they can be pushed further through your sales funnel.

Every organization is different, of course. The data your company needs to collect as part of your scoring criteria will differ than others. For many businesses, the qualification process begins with simple information, such as name, email address, and phone number. Once you and your marketing team have determined the criteria that qualifies a prospect as a high-priority lead, the next step is to design your survey.

Use A Multi-Step Surveying Process

Ideally, the people who respond to your questions will not only complete your survey, but also provide answers which are accurate. If you present all of your questions on one page, you'll sabotage your lead generation goals. The fact is, respondents typically need to be coaxed into participating. Given the "opportunity" to complete a long 1-page questionnaire, many will balk. Splitting your questions into a multi-page format offers two distinct advantages.

First, respondents are more likely to participate if they are only asked to submit a few pieces of non-intrusive information (i.e. name and email address). Second, a multi-page format allows you to better prioritize prospects. Those who complete the first page of your questionnaire are scored as low priority leads. Those who complete the second page are scored with higher prioritization. In effect, the more data respondents offer by completing multiple pages, the higher prioritization with which they're scored.

Increasing Response And Qualifying Prospects

Respondents abandon surveys for a number of reasons. For example, they may be intimidated by the volume of questions they're asked to answer. Or, the questions and available response options may be poorly constructed and as a result, lack clarity. As you probably suspect, the more prospects who complete your questionnaire, the higher your sales conversion rate. To that end, one of your main objectives should be to reduce your abandonment rate.

Splitting your survey into a multi-page format will help. Two or three non-intrusive questions on the first page let prospects identify themselves with a small degree of qualification. Even if they choose not to participate further, they can be funneled into a "soft" marketing campaign (for example, a monthly newsletter). Meanwhile, respondents who choose to complete subsequent pages (providing more targeted information along the way) will identify themselves as more highly prioritized. Immediate follow-up with them may be appropriate.

Surveys can be a powerful tool for generating leads if they're used properly. Identify your scoring criteria and design a multi-page process to increase response rates and better qualify prospects. Doing so will let you and your marketing team move leads more efficiently through your sales funnel.