Introduction

A due diligence survey is a valuable tool for business owners and managers who want to better understand their market. This kind of survey can help you identify new opportunities for growth, uncover weaknesses in your product or service offerings, and create more effective sales conversations with buyers.

What are the benefits of using a due diligence survey?

A due diligence survey is a great way to get more information about your market, improve the quality of your sales conversations, and improve your sales process.

Here are some other benefits:

• You can better understand how customers perceive you and what they like most about you. This will help you identify areas for improvement. Let's take the case of a market research project that attempts to understand customer behaviour. For example, if customers say that they appreciate the convenience of being able to order online but struggle with shipping costs, then this could be an opportunity for you to offer free shipping at certain times or locations. One way that you would know that customers struggle with this is through a due diligence survey.
• The information gathered from the due diligence surveys can enable companies to have higher conversion rates within their marketing campaigns. This is because it allows them access into who exactly their audience is instead of just guessing based on generalised surveys or past data sets alone.
• You can decide which product or services need improving. Based on this, you can see if they're more relevant in today's market. So, due diligence surveys are also a good way to assess product-market fit.

Then, you can use the information from due diligence surveys to improve your sales process. If you want to increase revenue, then it's important that your sales team is equipped with the right tools and training. The data from these surveys will help you identify what needs improving so that salespeople are able to close more deals. In addition, you'll be able to increase overall customer satisfaction levels. You should also use the data from due diligence surveys to improve your products and services.

The role of a due diligence survey in research

A due diligence survey is not a sales tool. It is a research tool and should be treated as such. Using a due diligence survey solely as a sales tool can lead to poor results for your business. In addition, it can even damage your relationship with the prospect.

A due diligence survey should answer questions like:

• What are the prospects’ needs?
• How do they want to solve their pain points?
• What other solutions have they considered in the past?

How can you position your product or service so they will buy it? The answers to these questions allow you to better understand your prospect, which is critical for any sales relationship.

If you are using the due diligence survey as a research tool and not getting the results you want, it’s time to change your approach. You need to stop asking questions that will lead to a “yes” or “no” answer. Rather, start asking open-ended questions that allow for more in-depth discussion. If you want to learn more about survey methods, check out this guide.

What should you ask in your due diligence survey?

A due diligence survey is designed to reveal more information about the market. Some of these questions might come from your own research, while others will be based on the feedback you've received in your market survey. Here are some examples:

• How many customers will this product appeal to?
• What type of customer use case do they have?
• What does their buying cycle look like? (How often do they buy, and how much are they willing to spend)

Ask your customers what's most important when choosing a product or service like yours. If there were no limitations on budget or time constraints and you could choose any service available today, what would make it perfect for solving whatever problem you had at hand?

Where do people go when they want to solve this problem? What are the biggest challenges in solving this problem?

What would make our product stand out from the competition? Based on your answers and research, you might discover that there is a need for a new product or service.

How do you distribute and use your due diligence survey?

Once you've created your due diligence survey, it's time to distribute it. In order to target the right people, you'll want to send your survey to the following:

• Clients who've already bought from or worked with you. You should have an email address for them and they're already familiar with what makes you great as a business. This is so that they'll be able to give more helpful feedback than someone who isn't a client yet.
• Potential customers or clients within the industry in which you operate (e.g., people who work in car dealerships). These are people who could potentially use your products or services if only they knew about them.
• Competitors' past and current customers or clients so that they can tell if there's anything unique about their experience with your competitors that would make them want to do business with one over another (or not).
• Current clients who've been with you for at least one year and have purchased from you at least twice. These are the most loyal customers, so they'll be able to give the most useful feedback about how well your business is performing.

When should you conduct due diligence research?

Due diligence research should be conducted on a regular basis, but it’s most important when:

• You are contemplating investing in a new product or service.
• A decision about a new market entry has to be made.
• You want to gather sentiment on a product or service.
• A decision about whether or not to buy another company and its assets, including intellectual property rights (IPRs) has to be made.
• You are considering a joint venture with another company or selling off one of your divisions.
• The impact of an acquisition has to be assessed

For an interesting read on due diligence, check out this article by the FT that poses the question of how due diligence practices have become questionable for investing.

You can use a due diligence survey to get better information about your market

A due diligence survey is a tool for market research that helps you understand your market, customers, competitors, and partners better.

If you’re selling a product or service in a new market, it’s important to find out as much as possible about the customers who might buy what you have to offer. A due diligence survey is an opportunity for customers to give their opinions on the industry they work in and the people they do business with. You can use this information to improve both your sales conversations and future products or services that you create.

A due diligence survey is a tool for market research that helps you understand your market, customers, competitors, and partners better. If you’re selling a product or service in a new market, it’s important to find out as much as possible about the customers who might buy what you have to offer. Learn more about identifying your target market in this article by Forbes. 

Keen to know more about these types of surveys and their role in market research? Contact us today to see how we can help. On the other hand, if you're interested in becoming a respondent in these types of surveys, we've got you there too! Sign up today to become a survey respondent.

An example of a due diligence survey 

Now that we've talked about due diligence surveys, let's talk about a case study of a global due diligence survey that we recently conducted. As part of a research project with Oxford’s Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre (GCSCC), we conducted a market research survey to know how cybersecurity threats have evolved during and after the pandemic. We surveyed 7330 adults all around the world to answer the question of how these threats impacted work-from-home practices. Among other topics, we looked at how the internet has impacted the post-pandemic workplace. Our research methodology consisted of administering the survey through our proprietary AI-based technology. The global survey took place from the period of 22 June to 2 September 2022 and covered 133 countries, focused on gathering sentiments from respondents about cybersecurity issues and their workplace.

Want to learn more about the case study? Check out our post 'The rise in Cybersecurity problems: have they been a barrier or enabler to Work From Home?'.

Conclusion

In the end, a due diligence survey is an investment that can pay off big time. The survey is a way to improve the bottom line of your company. It’s a tool that can help you get better information about your market, improve the quality of your sales conversations and increase revenues.