Customer feedback, surveys, application forms, claims, order forms – the better the form the better the response. Here's how to make your forms tell you something valuable about your customers.

1. SIX RULES
FOR BETTER
FORMS

2. How BETTER DESIGN
and PROCESSING can
improve response rates
and give you survey
forms THAT WORK

3. FORMS:
BORING,
BUT
IMPORTANT

4. surveys
claims…
orders
applications
customer
feedback

5. FORMS are the basic
tools of marketing and
customer relationships

6. EVERY FORM tells you
something valuable
about your customer

7. BY GETTING YOUR FORM DESIGN
AND PROCESSING RIGHT, YOU CAN:
Boost
customer
satisfaction
scores
with faster
responses
Increase form
submission
and gain
greater
customer
insight
Improve
return on
marketing
investment

8. WHY
DESIGN
AND
PROCESSING
MATTER
• The better the
design, the higher
the response
• It makes it easier to
complete the form
• It makes it easier
to extract the
information,
especially if you
are using an
automated system

9. 70% of organisations
consider that scanning
and capture improves
the speed of response
by x3 or more
ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION
AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT (AIIM)

10. BE CLEAR ABOUT
YOUR OBJECTIVE
RULE 1

11. Keep the
questions
focused on
the objective
Decide what
you want to
learn from the
completed forms

12. FOCUS ON
YOUR AUDIENCE
RULE 2

13. PHRASE
YOUR
QUESTIONS
IN
LANGUAGE
THEY WILL
UNDERSTAND
Think about where
they will be:
• At home (they may
have more time)
• At work (they may
have less time)
• At a shop, or a restaurant,
or other venue (it may
not be so easy to fill in a
long questionnaire)

14. KEEP IT SHORT
AND SIMPLE
RULE 3

15. Keep the
language
simple
and direct
The more complex
the form, the lower
the response rate,
and the higher the
abandonment rate

16. “Surveys should take
five minutes or less to complete…
On average, respondents can
complete five closed-ended
questions per minute and
two open-ended questions
per minute…”
SURVEYGIZMO.COM BLOG: SURVEY RESPONSE RATES

17. START EASY
TO BUILD TRUST
RULE 4

18. For example,
the first questions
in a research
survey for a
car manufacturer
might include:
Make sure your
first questions are
easy to answer,
and very clearly
about the topic
of the survey

19. What is the make and model of thecar you usually drive?
Make Model
How long have you been drivingyour car?
Less than 6 months Less than 1 year Less than 3 years Longer than

20. MANAGE
THE FLOW
RULE 5

21. Group questions
on the same
topic together
Vary the format of
the questions – some
multiple choice, some
closed, some open
Use ‘filter’ questions
to guide people past
questions that do not
apply to them
For example: ‘Is your car diesel
or petrol?’ before a series of
questions about diesel cars

22. DON’T FORGET
THE BASICS
RULE 6

23. Tell them what
to do when
they’ve finished
Include any
data protection
or compliance
informationGive them
enough
space for
each answer
Tell people
how to
complete
the form
Say
thank
you

24. GETTING FULL
VALUE FROM
YOUR FORMS

25. THE FASTER
YOU GET THE
INFORMATION,
THE FASTER
YOU CAN
TAKE ACTION
• Fulfil orders quickly
• Respond promptly to
enquiries or complaints
• Make better-informed
decisions, based on
timely intelligence

26. Automated forms
processing allows
organisations to respond
to incoming forms
up to six times faster
AIIM

27. Organisations all over
the globe, of every size,
are doing better things
with their documents,
information and business
processes, thanks to Canon

28. WHAT TO
DO NEXT
canon.co.uk/for_work
Speak to Melanie Willis on 01235 433 493
or email melanie.willis@cuk.canon.co.uk