AND THE SURVEY SAID…

Posted by Heidi on September 8th, 2008

“I figure if Hallmark can create holidays to sell greeting cards, I could create a holiday to sell flowers.” ~ Heidi Richards

Did you know that July is “National Doghouse Repairs Month®” and the third Monday in July is “National Get Out of the Doghouse Day®?” In fact, I started this holiday as a way to promote my retail florist (I figure if Hallmark can create holidays to sell greeting cards, I could create a holiday to sell flowers).

It all began when a customer walked into my flower shop and said, “Help, I’m in the doghouse.” I then said, “You’re in the right place – We specialize in doghouse repairs.” And the slogan was born.

So I started doing reasearch around the idea of GETTING OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE. The first thing I did was look to see of there was already a similar holiday that would help us promote our retail florist. There didn’t seem to be anything closely resembling “Get Out of the Doghouse DAY.” So I decided to create the holiday.

My immediate goal was to raise awareness of this little known observance. To do that I had to think of a way to create a “buzz” among as many people as I could without costing tons of money in advertising. It did that and so much more. Read on…

Around that same time I read an article while on a flight to Columbus, Ohio , entitled “Easy Criers.” It said that men who ride motorcycles are 5 times more likely to cry during a romantic movie than men who do not. That was according to Progressive Insurance who surveyed 1,000 men. I thought that if Progressive could survey 1,000 men then so could my staff and I! And we did! We interviewed more than 1000 people over the course of 3 months conducting about 85% of the surveys in person and 15% online.

The first two years of “National Get Out of the Doghouse Day®” we hosted contests to promote the holiday asking customers to send us their best dog tale. The contest was somewhat successful but didn’t create the “buzz” I was looking for. So in 2002, together with my team at Eden Florist & Gift Baskets, we created a survey. We quickly learned that surveys can be an excellent way to create buzz! We asked anyone and everyone to participate in answering the questions.

Most of the questions in the survey are of a demographic nature. Except two. Have you ever been in the Doghouse and what do you do to get out of the doghouse? That’s when the real FUN begins because some of the responses are hilarious. In fact, some people are shameless when answering, even providing “graphic” answers that would make a nun blush.

So, how DO you survey 1,000 people? Here’s what we did:

We interviewed customers who ordered flowers, people who attended chamber meetings and trade shows, as well as business colleagues. I even interviewed people while standing in line at the grocery store, at restaurants, also in the waiting room of a hospital while visiting a family member (shameless, I know), and even on the airplane ride to and from Columbus, Ohio. Carrying and conducting this survey was a great conversation starter and succeeded in “creating the buzz” I was hoping for. We have made people laugh, reflect, and yes, even gotten some new customers which of course, was our original intent.

To see the results of the survey read our survey results at http://www.edenflorist.com/doghousesurveyresults.asp and the article I wrote based on the results: http://www.edenflorist.com/doghousearticle.asp

Here are TEN Tips to ensure a successful outcome for your survey:

1. Think about what it is you want to accomplish when composing the questions. As Stephen Coney says, “Begin with the end in mind.”

2. Make the questions easy to understand and brief. I re-worded the first survey after a customer didn’t understand one of the questions.

3. Keep it brief. I believe no more than 10 questions (multiple choice with one or two open-ended) will elicit the greatest response.

4. Ask demographic questions such as gender, age, and whatever else necessary to segment your market.

5. Catch their attention! Use something that stands out, such as colored paper when mailing the survey or handing it out. During the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, my team and I walked around eliciting respondents, carrying hot pink clipboards with smiley faces and daisies all over them!

6. Give them something (a reward) for participating. We gave a coupon for free flowers; a rose during the trade show and those who participated online had the choice of several special reports.

7. Follow up! Phone calls, waiting for the responses, interviewing respondents in person, all ensure greater participation.

8. Discard those surveys that are incomplete or appear greatly inflated as they may throw off the results.

9. Conduct the survey in person, via fax, on line, and in mailings to get the greatest response. I asked folks to ask their friends and business associates. In return, I gave them something extra for the trouble (even though most people were glad to do it). This really worked to create a buzz among many offices.

10. Make it FUN! Ask at least one interesting question, instead of the usual boring survey questions. The question, “What would you do to get out of the doghouse? prompted a lot of responses.” Even though this question was the whole purpose of the survey, most people still responded with a smile or a chuckle.

The results of the mass media distribution were unbelievable! Since the inception of “National Get Out of the Doghouse Day®” (and month) we have received attention from a variety of media across the nation. Among them are “The Intelligencer” (New Jersey), “The Herald” (Miami), “The Sun Sentinel” (Fort Lauderdale), every year I have been interviewed on several radio stations and most important – we have experienced a definite impact on our bottom line!

If you would like to participate in our survey or see a copy of it, visit our website http://www.edenflorist.com/doghousesurvey.asp. The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Dan Waldron said,

September 8, 2008 @ 9:16 am

Hello.

I would like to put a link to your site on my blog roll if you want to do the same for mine. It would be a good way to build up both of our readerships.

thank you.