Let’s say you manage a boutique hotel in Port Antonio and want to understand why some guests return and others don’t. A short online survey sent after check-out can tell you. Here’s how to build and run it, step by step. The same method works for a staff pulse survey in a Montego Bay contact centre or a member survey for a Kingston association.
1. Write down the decision you want to make
A survey without a purpose produces data nobody uses. Our hotel wants to decide whether to invest in airport transfers, the restaurant or the spa next year. Every question should help with that decision.
2. Draft no more than ten questions
- An overall rating: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?”
- Ratings for specific services: room, restaurant, transfers, staff.
- One open question: “What one thing would have made your stay better?”
- Where the guest lives, as a drop-down, so you can compare North American, European and Jamaican guests.
Avoid leading questions such as “How much did you enjoy our wonderful beach?” and don’t ask two things in one question.
3. Build it in Mailpro
Open the survey builder, add your questions and choose the formats: scales, multiple choice or text. Add branching logic so that guests who didn’t use the transfer skip those questions, and low scores trigger a short “why?” follow-up. Brand it with your logo and colours, then preview it on a phone.
4. Explain how you’ll use the answers
At the top, say who is asking, what the survey is for, roughly how long it takes and whether answers are anonymous. Jamaica’s Data Protection Act, 2020 expects personal data to be collected fairly and for a specified purpose, and a clear introduction also improves response rates. If you’d like respondents to join your newsletter, add a separate opt-in question rather than assuming consent.
5. Choose how and when to send
For guests, the best moment is a day or two after check-out, while the stay is fresh. Set this up as an automated email triggered by the departure date. For international guests, schedule the send for their morning: Jamaica stays on Eastern Standard Time all year, so during North American daylight saving time, Toronto and New York are an hour ahead. A text message to a +1-876 number can work well for local respondents, especially for very short surveys.
6. Nudge once, not five times
Send one reminder to people who haven’t answered after a few days. Repeated reminders annoy guests and may lead to complaints. Our FAQ on improving survey participation has more tips.
7. Analyse and act
Use survey statistics to view results by question and filter by segment. Perhaps European guests rate the restaurant highly while North American guests mention transfer waiting times. Read every open-ended answer; one comment can reveal something no rating would. Then decide, act and tell guests in your next newsletter what you changed.
Keep survey data tidy
Delete or anonymise responses you no longer need, restrict access to those who analyse them, and don’t reuse answers for unrelated purposes. Mailpro keeps survey data on Swiss infrastructure outside US jurisdiction, and it is never sold or rented.
For more survey ideas and features, return to online surveys in Jamaica.