B2B Surveys: How to Research the Market Without Hiring an Agency

B2B research does not always require an agency, a large budget, or an 80-slide report. If the task is practical—for example, testing demand, understanding customer pain points, or comparing your company with competitors—a short online survey with carefully selected respondents may be enough.

The main thing is not to confuse a quick B2B survey with large-scale market research. It will not provide a complete picture of the entire industry or replace strategic consulting. However, it can help you quickly test a hypothesis, understand the language used by your target audience, and determine whether an idea has a solid foundation.

In B2B, the quality of the sample matters more than the number of responses. One answer from a business owner, commercial director, or head of procurement may be more valuable than a dozen random responses from people who are not involved in selecting the product.

When a B2B Survey Is Suitable

An online survey works well when you need to quickly identify a direction for decision-making. For example, you may want to understand which problem customers are currently trying to solve, why they choose competitors, which criteria they use when making a purchase, and how well a new service fits their needs.

A survey is suitable for three tasks:

  • testing a hypothesis about a customer pain point;
  • assessing interest in a new product or service;
  • collecting data about competitors, selection criteria, and current processes.

However, there are limitations. If you need to understand the motivations of a purchasing committee in depth, examine a long sales cycle, or explore hidden conflicts between different roles, a questionnaire alone may not be enough. In that case, it is better to combine a survey with interviews.

In quick research projects, the process usually works like this: first, conduct a short survey with 30–100 relevant respondents, then hold 5–10 interviews with the most interesting participants. For quantitative B2B surveys, research companies often refer to 100–150 completed questionnaires as a practical minimum for making preliminary conclusions. However, when testing an early-stage hypothesis, you can begin with a smaller sample as long as you do not present the results as representative market statistics.

Start Not with the Questions, but with the Decision You Want to Make

A poor B2B survey begins with the phrase: «Let’s ask customers what they think.» The form then includes everything at once: brand awareness, price, competitors, pain points, position, budget, comments, and a request to provide a phone number.

A good survey begins with a management question.

For example:

  • whether to launch a new pricing plan for medium-sized businesses;
  • whether there is demand for post-implementation support;
  • which arguments should be used on a landing page;
  • why customers choose competitors;
  • who inside the company should be approached first with the product offer.

The structure of the questionnaire follows from this decision. If you are testing demand, there is no need to ask detailed questions about brand awareness. If you are researching competitors, you should not overload the form with questions about future product features.

One survey = one main objective. This makes the data easier to interpret and the questionnaire easier for respondents to complete.

Method 1. JTBD Survey: Identify the Job the Customer Is Trying to Get Done

JTBD, or Jobs to Be Done, helps you focus not on customer characteristics but on the task for which they choose a product. According to this approach, a company does not purchase a CRM system, training, or a lead management service. It purchases a way to solve a specific problem under particular circumstances. The Christensen Institute describes JTBD as an approach that reveals the circumstances and forces that move people and organizations toward or away from particular solutions.

This is especially useful in B2B. The buyer is not looking for a product for its own sake. They want to reduce managers’ manual work, speed up lead processing, decrease the number of errors, demonstrate the department’s effectiveness to senior management, or meet a customer requirement.

A JTBD survey helps uncover this actual job.

A poor question: «Which CRM features are important to you?»

This question forces the respondent to think in the language of the product. They may list integrations, reports, and statuses, but you will not understand why they need any of them.

It is better to ask:

  • «What task made you start looking for a new solution for managing leads?»
  • «What became the biggest obstacle in the previous process?»
  • «What needs to change in the team’s work for you to consider the implementation successful?»
  • «What workarounds are you currently using?»
  • «What will happen if this problem remains unresolved for another six months?»

A good JTBD survey does not ask whether respondents like or dislike something. Instead, it reconstructs the context: what happened, what became inconvenient, who participated in the selection process, which alternatives were considered, and why the current solution was chosen.

Method 2. A Problem Interview in Questionnaire Format

A traditional problem interview is conducted by voice or in a meeting. However, part of its logic can be transferred to a questionnaire. This is useful when you need to quickly collect preliminary material from many companies and identify which respondents are worth interviewing in greater depth.

It is important not to turn the questionnaire into a collection of abstract ratings.

A poor question: «How relevant is sales department automation to your company?»

This question is too broad. One respondent may think about CRM, another about email campaigns, a third about sales scripts, and a fourth about hiring managers.

It is better to make the question more specific:

  • «Which tasks are currently performed manually by your sales managers?»
  • «How much time does the team spend each week transferring data between systems?»
  • «Where do errors occur most often: in leads, invoices, reports, or data transfer between departments?»
  • «Who usually notices the problem first: managers, the department head, accounting, or the customer?»
  • «Have you already tried to solve this problem? What did not work?»

Questions like these provide more than opinions. They generate useful material for product development, offers, and sales. You begin to understand where the customer’s pain lies, which words they use to describe the problem, and why existing solutions fail to address it.

Method 3. Screening Respondents Through a Form with Conditional Logic

The main mistake in B2B surveys is collecting responses from unsuitable participants. If you are researching the purchase of industrial equipment, responses from specialists who only operate the equipment but are not involved in selecting the supplier will not be particularly useful. If you are testing demand for a service aimed at HR directors, random responses from employees without a management role will distort the picture.

That is why a B2B survey begins with screening. These are the first questions that determine whether a respondent is suitable for the research.

An example of screening questions:

  • «Which industry does your company operate in?»
  • «How many employees does your company have?»
  • «What role do you play in selecting solutions of this kind?»
  • «Does your company currently use a similar tool?»
  • «Are you planning to replace or implement such a solution within the next 6–12 months?»

The form logic then determines what happens next. If the respondent is not suitable, the form gently ends the survey. If they meet the criteria, it displays the main group of questions.

This saves time for everyone: respondents do not complete irrelevant surveys, and the company does not receive noise in its data. Screening is especially important in B2B research because the right respondent must have relevant experience, authority, or influence over the decision. Professional research companies also identify screening as one of the key stages of a B2B survey.

Examples of Questions for Different Objectives

Objective 1. Test a Hypothesis

Suppose you believe that manufacturing companies need a service for automatically collecting orders from dealers.

Do not ask directly: «Would you buy our service?»

In B2B, people often answer such questions politely rather than accurately. A respondent may say «that sounds interesting» even though the company has no budget, no responsible decision-maker, and no urgency.

It is better to look for signs of a genuine need:

  • «How do dealers currently send orders to your company?»
  • «What problems occur during this process?»
  • «How many employees are involved in processing a single order?»
  • «Have there been cases where an order was lost or processed incorrectly?»
  • «Have you already tried to automate this process?»
  • «Who within the company is responsible for changes of this kind?»
  • «Do you have a budget for similar solutions this year?»

If respondents acknowledge the problem, have already tried to solve it, and understand who makes the decision, the hypothesis looks stronger. If they consider the problem insignificant and view the current process as acceptable, it may be too early to launch the product.

Objective 3. Research Competitors

Questions about competitors are easy to formulate poorly. If you ask «which service is better,» you will receive subjective ratings without context. It is more useful to study the selection criteria.

Examples of questions:

  • «Which solutions are you currently using?»
  • «Why did you choose them?»
  • «Which alternatives did you consider?»
  • «At what stage of the selection process were some solutions rejected?»
  • «What works well in your current solution?»
  • «What frustrates or limits the team?»
  • «Which features turned out to be unnecessary?»
  • «Which capabilities are missing?»
  • «What would need to change for you to consider switching to another solution?»

This group of questions helps you understand not only the list of competitors but also the logic behind the customer’s choice. Sometimes it turns out that a company is competing not with another service, but with Excel, an in-house solution, a contractor, or the habit of changing nothing.

How to Avoid Ruining a B2B Survey with Poor Wording

In B2B, people answer questions in a professional context. They value their time and quickly close the form if the questions appear vague.

Avoid three types of questions.

The first type is leading questions.

Poor: «Do you agree that automating lead processing helps a business grow faster?»

Better: «What changed after you automated lead processing, if you have already done so?»

The second type is questions that are too general.

Poor: «What are your pain points?»

Better: «At which stage of lead processing do delays occur most often?»

The third type is questions about future intentions that are not linked to actual actions.

Poor: «Are you planning to use a service like this?»

Better: «Has your company discussed implementing a service like this during the past six months?»

The closer a question is to actual experience, the more reliable the answer will be. People are poor at predicting their future behavior, but they are better at recalling recent actions, problems, and decisions.

How to Structure a B2B Questionnaire

A practical questionnaire for quick research may consist of five sections.

  1. The first section is screening. You determine whether the respondent is suitable based on their role, industry, company size, and participation in decision-making.
  2. The second section covers the current process. How does the company currently handle the task, who is involved, and which tools are used?
  3. The third section covers problems. Where do delays, errors, expenses, dissatisfaction, or manual work occur?
  4. The fourth section covers alternatives. Which solutions have already been tried, why were they rejected, and what is currently being used instead of the product?
  5. The fifth section covers interest and readiness for the next step. Is the respondent willing to discuss the solution in greater depth, provide their contact details, participate in an interview, or join a pilot project?
  6. This structure does not overwhelm respondents and provides data that can be used in product development, marketing, and sales.

How Many Questions to Ask

For a quick B2B survey, 12–18 questions are usually enough. If there are more questions, it is better to divide the form into steps and use open-ended questions only where they are genuinely necessary.

Not every question should be required. In B2B, respondents may not know the budget, may not remember the name of a competitor, or may not be authorized to disclose certain information. If such fields are required, some valuable participants will simply close the form.

Open-ended questions should be used selectively:

  • at the beginning, to hear the customer’s language;
  • after a rating, to understand the reason;
  • at the end, to give respondents an opportunity to add something important.

It is more convenient to collect the remaining data through answer options, scales, and multiple-choice questions. This makes the results easier to compare.

What to Do with the Responses After Collection

A quick B2B survey does not end when the data is exported to a spreadsheet. The responses need to be analyzed by segment.

Compare responses:

  • by role: business owner, department head, specialist;
  • by company size;
  • by industry;
  • by the current method used to solve the problem;
  • by level of urgency;
  • by readiness to participate in a pilot or interview.

Look for recurring patterns rather than an overall average. For example, small companies may complain about price, while medium-sized businesses focus on integrations and security. End users may want convenience, while managers want control and reporting.

Analysis usually produces three results:

  • a list of genuine problems;
  • a customer vocabulary for landing pages and sales;
  • segments that should be interviewed or used for testing the offer.

How to Launch This Type of Survey in QForm

You do not need to involve a developer to conduct quick B2B research. In QForm, you can create a form or quiz without coding and publish the survey on a separate page, embed it on a website, distribute it through a link, or share it using a QR code. The platform supports forms and quizzes, while responses can be collected in the built-in CRM system.

Respondent screening can be conveniently built using form logic. For example, if a person is not involved in selecting the solution, the form can display a brief completion screen. If the respondent matches the required role and company size, the form can direct them to the main questions.

Different scenarios can be created for different objectives. A JTBD survey can be designed as a multi-step form with sections covering context, problems, and alternatives. Demand assessment can take the form of a short quiz with questions about the current process, budget, and readiness to participate in a pilot. Competitor research can be conducted as a questionnaire combining answer options and open-ended comments.

After responses have been collected, the data can be processed in the user account, transferred to a CRM, and exported for analysis. QForm also supports integrations, notifications, and lead management, so the research results do not remain in a separate spreadsheet but can become part of the team’s usual workflow.

If the research is conducted by a team rather than one person—for example, by marketing, sales, and product departments—filters, roles, and collaborative work with responses are useful. Each department can then view the data relevant to its work: marketing sees the audience’s language, sales sees readiness for a conversation, and the product team sees recurring problems and requests.

Conclusion

B2B research does not have to be lengthy or expensive. If a company has a clear hypothesis, access to its target audience, and a carefully designed questionnaire, it can obtain its first useful insights without hiring an agency.

The main thing is not to try to learn everything at once. Start with the decision you need to make, select suitable respondents, ask questions about actual experience, and distinguish opinions from evidence of real behavior.

QForm helps you build the technical side of this process: create a form without a developer, configure screening through conditional logic, collect responses, send them to a CRM, or export them for analysis. As a result, a B2B survey becomes more than a one-time questionnaire. It becomes a practical tool for testing hypotheses, identifying demand, and understanding the market more accurately.

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