Terms

Closed Question

A closed question is a type of query that requires a respondent to choose an answer from a limited, pre-defined set of responses, such as 'yes' or 'no' or from a list of multiple-choice options. This format is primarily used to gather quantitative data in surveys and questionnaires, as the structured responses are straightforward to analyze statistically and identify trends.

Examples of Closed Questions

Closed questions come in several formats, each tailored to gather specific types of structured feedback. They range from simple binary choices to more complex scales and rankings. These formats guide the respondent toward a clear, quantifiable answer.

  • Dichotomous: Questions offering two opposing answers, such as "Yes/No" or "True/False."
  • Multiple-choice: Questions that provide a list of options from which the respondent can select one or more answers.
  • Rating scale: Questions that ask respondents to rate an item on a numerical scale, like rating satisfaction from 1 to 5.

Advantages of Using Closed Questions

Closed questions are straightforward for respondents, speeding up data collection. Their simplicity leads to higher completion rates and makes people more willing to answer sensitive questions. This format also ensures responses are consistent and relevant.

The main advantage is the ease of analysis. Quantitative responses can be easily converted into charts and graphs for clear visualization. This simplifies data comparison across groups, allowing for efficient, evidence-backed conclusions.

Closed Question vs. Open Question

The choice between closed and open questions hinges on your data collection goals and the depth of insight required.

  • Closed: These questions provide a limited set of answers, generating quantitative data that is easy to analyze. They are ideal for large-scale enterprise surveys where consistent, comparable data is needed for statistical analysis. However, they can restrict respondent expression and may miss nuanced feedback.
  • Open: These questions allow for free-form, detailed responses, providing rich qualitative insights. They help companies understand the “why” behind customer behavior but are more time-consuming to analyze. They are best used to gather in-depth feedback or explore new ideas.

Common Uses in Surveys and Interviews

Closed questions are a cornerstone of quantitative research, widely used in surveys to gather structured data efficiently. In interviews, they serve to confirm specific details or narrow down topics. Their primary function is to collect data that is easy to categorize and analyze across large groups.

  • Surveys: Ideal for large-scale data collection where statistical analysis is key.
  • Interviews: Used to gather specific facts or confirm information quickly.
  • Quantitative Data: Essential for collecting numerical insights and measurable feedback.
  • Consistency: Ensures all respondents answer from the same options, making data comparable.

Tips for Crafting Effective Closed Questions

To create effective closed questions, use clear and simple language that is easy for respondents to understand. Ensure your response options are distinct, cover all likely answers, and don't overlap. This clarity helps gather consistent, quantifiable data and reduces ambiguity, leading to more reliable insights for analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions about Closed Question

Can closed questions be biased?

Yes, they can introduce bias if options are leading or incomplete. To avoid this, ensure options are mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive, and phrased neutrally. This keeps the data objective and reliable for analysis.

When should I use closed questions over open questions?

Use closed questions for quantitative data collection, like large-scale surveys where statistical analysis is needed. They are ideal for validating hypotheses or measuring satisfaction, providing structured, comparable data efficiently.

How many options should a multiple-choice question have?

While there's no strict rule, 3 to 5 options are generally effective. This range provides enough choice without overwhelming the respondent, ensuring balanced and meaningful data collection for most survey scenarios.

Other terms

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Average Revenue per User

Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is a key performance indicator that calculates the average revenue generated from each user or subscriber.

Average Revenue per User

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.

Email Marketing

Sales Director

A Sales Director leads a sales team, develops strategies, and is responsible for meeting a company's revenue targets.

Sales Director

CPQ software

CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is a sales tool for creating accurate, configurable quotes for complex products and services.

CPQ software

CRM Analytics

CRM analytics is the process of analyzing data from your CRM to uncover insights that help you better understand and serve your customers.

CRM Analytics

Objection Handling

Objection handling is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns or hesitations about a product or service to move a deal forward.

Objection Handling

B2B Intent Data

Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.

B2B Intent Data

Remote Sales

Remote sales is selling from a distance. Reps use digital tools to connect with prospects and close deals without meeting them in person.

Remote Sales

Open Rate

The open rate is the percentage of recipients who opened an email. It's a primary indicator of a subject line's effectiveness.

Open Rate

Lead Velocity Rate

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) is the growth rate of your qualified leads, measured month-over-month. It's a key indicator of future revenue.

Lead Velocity Rate

Average Revenue per Account

Average Revenue per Account (ARPA) is the average revenue generated from each customer account, usually measured on a monthly or annual basis.

Average Revenue per Account

Data Pipelines

A data pipeline is a set of automated processes that move raw data from various sources to a destination for storage and analysis.

Data Pipelines

Lead Enrichment

Lead enrichment adds third-party data to your raw lead lists, creating fuller prospect profiles for more effective and personalized outreach.

Lead Enrichment

Regression Analysis

Regression analysis is a statistical method for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.

Regression Analysis

Sales Compensation

Sales compensation is the total pay a salesperson receives, including salary, commissions, and bonuses, structured to motivate performance.

Sales Compensation

Content Delivery Network

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a system of distributed servers that deliver web content to users based on their geographic location.

Content Delivery Network

Price Optimization

Price optimization is the process of finding the ideal price for a product or service to maximize profitability or other business objectives.

Price Optimization

OAuth

OAuth is an open standard for access delegation. It lets you grant apps access to your data on other services without sharing your password.

OAuth

Channel Marketing

Channel marketing is a strategy where a company sells its products or services through third-party partners, like resellers or affiliates.

Channel Marketing

Digital Sales Room

A Digital Sales Room is a private online space where sellers share all relevant content with buyers to streamline the sales cycle.

Digital Sales Room

Sales Forecast Accuracy

Sales forecast accuracy is a key metric that compares your predicted sales revenue against the actual sales revenue you ultimately achieve.

Sales Forecast Accuracy

Account

An account is a company or organization that you're targeting for sales. It can be a prospective, current, or even a past customer.

Account

Complex Sale

A complex sale features a long sales cycle, multiple stakeholders, and a high-value transaction, demanding a strategic, consultative approach.

Complex Sale

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation is the process of attracting potential customers to your business with valuable content and tailored experiences.

Inbound Lead Generation

Data Hygiene

Data hygiene is the practice of ensuring your customer data is clean, accurate, and up-to-date by removing duplicates and correcting errors.

Data Hygiene

Hadoop

Hadoop is an open-source framework designed for the distributed storage and processing of extremely large data sets across clusters of computers.

Hadoop

Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a free incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact details, like an email, to generate sales leads.

Lead Magnet

Contract Management

Contract management is the process of creating, executing, and analyzing contracts to maximize performance and minimize financial risk.

Contract Management

Funnel Optimization

Funnel optimization is the process of improving each stage of the customer journey to maximize conversions and drive revenue growth.

Funnel Optimization

Challenger Sales

The Challenger Sales model is a methodology where reps teach prospects, tailor their pitch, and take control of the sales conversation.

Challenger Sales

Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric measuring customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend your company or product to others.

Net Promoter Score

Weighted Pipeline

A weighted pipeline forecasts sales revenue by assigning a closing probability to each deal based on its stage in the sales funnel.

Weighted Pipeline

Marketing Operations

Marketing Operations (MOps) is the engine of a marketing team, managing the technology, processes, and people to run campaigns effectively.

Marketing Operations

Economic Order Quantity

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is the ideal order quantity a company should purchase to minimize its total inventory-related costs.

Economic Order Quantity

Private Labeling

Private labeling is when a company rebrands a product made by a third-party manufacturer and sells it as their own.

Private Labeling

Sales Intelligence

Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.

Sales Intelligence

Bad Leads

Learn about bad leads, including identifying bad leads, warning signs of bad leads, impact of bad leads on sales, & strategies to minimize bad leads.

Bad Leads

Targeted Marketing

Targeted marketing focuses on specific consumer groups whose needs align with your product, allowing for more personalized and effective messaging.

Targeted Marketing

Sales Territory Management

Sales territory management is the process of grouping accounts into territories and assigning them to reps to maximize sales and market coverage.

Sales Territory Management

Data-Driven Lead Generation

Data-driven lead generation is the process of using data insights to identify, attract, and convert high-quality leads into customers.

Data-Driven Lead Generation

Product Champion

A product champion is an internal evangelist who drives a product's adoption and success by ensuring it solves real problems for their team.

Product Champion

Sales Coach

A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.

Sales Coach

Predictive Lead Generation

Predictive lead generation uses data and AI to find prospects most likely to buy, helping teams focus their efforts on high-value leads.

Predictive Lead Generation

AI-Powered Marketing

AI marketing uses artificial intelligence to analyze data, automate decisions, and deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.

AI-Powered Marketing

Landing Pages

A landing page is a standalone web page created for a marketing campaign. It’s where a visitor “lands” after clicking an ad or email link.

Landing Pages

Mobile Compatibility

Mobile compatibility ensures your site or app works flawlessly on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, for a seamless user experience.

Mobile Compatibility

Account-Based Selling

Account-Based Selling is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing treat high-value accounts as markets of one, using personalized outreach.

Account-Based Selling

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing creates a seamless, unified customer experience by integrating a company's various communication and sales channels.

Omnichannel Marketing

Amortization

Amortization is the process of spreading out a loan or the cost of an intangible asset over a specific period for accounting and tax purposes.

Amortization

Value Chain

A value chain is the series of business activities required to create and deliver a product or service, from conception to the final customer.

Value Chain

Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is a model illustrating the customer's journey from initial awareness to the final purchase, narrowing down leads at each stage.

Sales Funnel

Business Development Representative

Learn about business development representative, including skills and qualifications for BDRs, & roles and responsibilities of a BDR.

Business Development Representative

Marketing Play

A marketing play is a repeatable tactic used to achieve a specific marketing goal, like generating leads or driving engagement.

Marketing Play

Incident Response

Incident response is an organization's systematic approach to managing and mitigating the aftermath of a security breach or cyberattack.

Incident Response

Dark Funnel

The Dark Funnel describes customer buying activities that are untrackable by companies, such as private chats and word-of-mouth referrals.

Dark Funnel

Sales Dashboard

A sales dashboard is a visual tool that centralizes and displays key sales data, metrics, and KPIs to help teams track performance and goals.

Sales Dashboard

Sales and Marketing Analytics

Sales and marketing analytics involves measuring and analyzing performance data to maximize effectiveness and optimize return on investment (ROI).

Sales and Marketing Analytics

End of Quarter

“End of Quarter” (EOQ) refers to the final weeks of a business quarter when sales teams rush to meet quotas, often leading to a flurry of deals.

End of Quarter

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a premium tool helping sales teams find and engage with the right leads and accounts on the LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Buyer Intent

Learn about buyer intent, including understanding buyer intent signals, strategies to capture buyer intent, & buyer intent vs. customer interest.

Buyer Intent

Target Buying Stage

The Target Buying Stage identifies a prospect's position in the buying journey, from initial awareness to the final decision to purchase.

Target Buying Stage

Customer Segmentation

Customer segmentation is dividing customers into groups based on shared traits. This allows for more targeted and effective marketing efforts.

Customer Segmentation

Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behavior is the study of how individuals select, buy, and use products and services to satisfy their needs and desires.

Consumer Buying Behavior

Service Level Agreement

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract defining the level of service between a provider and a client, including metrics and penalties.

Service Level Agreement

Account-Based Marketing

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.

Account-Based Marketing

Sales Enablement Technology

Sales enablement technology refers to software and tools that equip sales teams with the resources they need to close more deals efficiently.

Sales Enablement Technology

Cost Per Impression

Cost Per Impression (CPI) is the price an advertiser pays for each time their ad is displayed to a user, irrespective of clicks.

Cost Per Impression

Objection Handling in Sales

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

Objection Handling in Sales

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Competitive intelligence (CI) is the ethical gathering and analysis of market data to inform strategic business decisions and gain an advantage.

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Sales Pipeline

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process, from the first contact to the final sale.

Sales Pipeline

Stress Testing

Stress testing is a type of software testing that determines a system's robustness by pushing it beyond its normal operational capacity.

Stress Testing

Batch Processing

Learn about batch processing, including benefits of batch processing, best practices for implementation, & common use cases.

Batch Processing

Microservices

Microservices is an architecture where apps are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other over APIs.

Microservices

Closing Ratio

Closing ratio is a key sales metric that shows the percentage of leads or proposals that result in a successful sale.

Closing Ratio

Infrastructure as a Service

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage, and networking resources on-demand.

Infrastructure as a Service

Customer Buying Signals

Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.

Customer Buying Signals

Customer Data Analysis

Customer data analysis is the process of examining customer information to uncover insights that drive business decisions and improve experiences.

Customer Data Analysis

Intent-Based Leads

Intent-based leads are potential customers whose online actions—like searches or content engagement—signal a clear interest in buying a solution.

Intent-Based Leads

Sales Pipeline Management

Sales pipeline management is the process of organizing, tracking, and managing potential deals through every stage of your sales funnel.

Sales Pipeline Management

Firewall

A firewall is a digital barrier that protects a network by monitoring and controlling traffic, blocking unauthorized access and malicious content.

Firewall

Trade Shows

Trade shows are events where companies in a specific industry showcase their latest products and services to find new customers and partners.

Trade Shows

Sales Methodology

A sales methodology is the framework that guides how your sales team approaches the entire sales process, from prospecting to closing deals.

Sales Methodology

Sales Script

A sales script is a pre-written guide of talking points that helps salespeople navigate conversations with potential customers.

Sales Script

Trigger Marketing

Trigger marketing uses customer actions or events to automatically send highly relevant, personalized messages at the perfect moment.

Trigger Marketing

Video Prospecting

Video prospecting is the sales technique of sending personalized videos to potential customers to grab their attention and secure more meetings.

Video Prospecting

Real-time Data Processing

Real-time data processing is the method of analyzing data the instant it's generated, enabling immediate actions and decision-making.

Real-time Data Processing

User Interface

A User Interface (UI) is the point where humans and computers interact. It encompasses all visual elements like screens, icons, and buttons.

User Interface

SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid tactics to increase a website's visibility in search engine results.

SEM

Smarketing

Smarketing is the process of aligning your sales and marketing teams. This integration focuses on shared goals to improve lead quality and drive revenue.

Smarketing

Omnichannel Sales

Omnichannel sales is a strategy that integrates all physical and digital sales channels to create a seamless, unified customer experience.

Omnichannel Sales

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and data from digital attacks, theft, and unauthorized access.

Cybersecurity

LPI

LPI, or Lead Per Inquiry, is a key metric that measures how many leads are generated from each inquiry in a marketing campaign.

LPI

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.

Workflow Automation

Mid-Market

Mid-market companies are businesses larger than small businesses but smaller than large enterprises, often defined by revenue or employee size.

Mid-Market

Chatbots

Chatbots are AI-powered programs that simulate human conversation. They interact with users via text or voice, typically for customer support.

Chatbots

X-Sell

X-Sell, or cross-selling, is a sales strategy of selling additional, related products or services to an existing customer base.

X-Sell

Sales Funnel Metrics

Sales funnel metrics are key data points that track how effectively you're moving potential customers from awareness to a final purchase.

Sales Funnel Metrics

Warm Outbound

Warm outbound is a sales strategy for contacting prospects who've shown interest in your brand through prior engagement, like website visits.

Warm Outbound

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

Demographic segmentation divides a market into groups based on traits like age, gender, and income, allowing for more targeted marketing efforts.

Demographic Segmentation in Marketing

Win/Loss Analysis

Win/Loss Analysis is the process of systematically tracking and analyzing the reasons why you win or lose deals with prospective customers.

Win/Loss Analysis