The utility of a survey is heavily dependent on the quality of the B2B market research questions it poses. The professionals who take B2B surveys don’t have the time to complete surveys full of redundant or confusing B2B market research questions.
The best B2B survey marketing research questions are the ones that help you understand who your audience is, where they are, what they want, and how they think. Successful B2B survey questions also strikes a balance between being thorough enough to be useful to the researchers and straightforward enough to make completing it feel worthwhile to the respondents. Different B2B market research questions are appropriate for different use cases. You wouldn’t, for instance, want to ask questions related to how your product fits into the market when what you really need to know about is your customers’ experience with your product. Customers probably can’t answer questions about product-market fit. Instead, you should ask competitors these questions.
While B2B survey questions can vary between industries and audiences, some are broadly applicable regardless of the field. Here are the top B2B market research questions for each of the main B2B research use cases.
Product-market fit: I want to get feedback on a new product or service
Product-market fit is the moment in development when customers are willing to pay for a product because they’re convinced it offers a solution to an important problem. Achieving product-market fit is essential for the successful introduction of a product. B2B surveys can provide valuable information to help reach that milestone. These types of B2B survey questions are essential to include on surveys concerned with product-market fit.
1: What are some of the biggest product gaps in the market right now?
2: Please sort the following features/attributes below into groups of must have, nice to have, and not important. You can also pose this as a matrix question: Please rate the importance of the following features/attributes in your purchase decision.
3: How satisfied are you with this product/how likely are you to recommend it?
4: For products or features that already exist, consider the following questions.
i: Please think about this function or feature of the product. Before today, were you aware of this function or feature?
ii: When was the last time you used this function or feature? Alternatively, this could be asked as: How often do you use this function or feature?
iii: How important is this function or feature to you?
iv: How satisfied are you with this function or feature?
v: If you could no longer use this function or feature, how would you feel?
5: For surveys on potential product concepts, the following questions are more appropriate.
i: Consider the following product concept. What is your initial reaction to this concept?
ii: Compared to other products that are currently available, how unique is this concept?
iii: How believable is this concept?
iv: How relevant is this concept to you?
v: What do you like least about this concept?
vi: How likely are you to purchase this product?
Customer voice: I want to hear about my customers experience
Sometimes, B2B surveys are aimed at helping companies better understand the experiences of their customers. Hearing first-hand accounts of customer experience with a product lets a business know what their customers like and find useful about the product and what they could do without. These are some of the best B2B market research questions you can ask to gauge your customers’ perceptions and priorities.
1: How long have you been a customer of this company?
2: What do you like best about this product?
3: What do you like least about this product?
4: How do you use this product? Alternatively, you can phrase this as “What do you use this product for?” with a multiple choice or pick list response.
5: Would you recommend this product to a friend? Why or why not? Alternatively: How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?
6: Which of the two designs, logos, descriptions/pitches resonates better?
7: Which of the following are the biggest focuses for your company in the next x years?
Competitive benchmark: I want to understand my competitors performance
The third vital use case of B2B research is competitive benchmarking. Staying ahead of your competitors means understanding where they’re at: who their customers are, what their customers like about them, what products or services they offer, etc. These B2B market research questions can help the company providing the survey better understand the competition.
1: What brands/companies are you familiar with from the following list?
2: Are you a user of any of this company’s products?
3: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your experience with this company?
Just as vital as knowing the right questions is making sure you have the right people to ask and answer them. NewtonX matches the world’s toughest questions with the only minds who know the answers. We find the right subject matter expertise from an open network of 1.1 billion professionals. To do this, we use the most sophisticated search engine in the research industry– the NewtonX Graph. It identifies the exact audience for our clients’ questions. Our process ensures every professional is 100% verified, so you can ground your work in true expertise and make strides with confidence. As the world’s leading B2B market research company, we field large-scale quantitative surveys, facilitate qualitative interviews, engage in long-term consultations, and create customized research plans. NewtonX partners with the world’s top consultancies, marketers, and technology companies. Together with our clients, we’re ushering in a new standard of truth in B2B research.
