In partnership with
You ran the survey. You’ve got 200+ responses.
And now you’re staring at a spreadsheet like it personally offended you.
Most people may turn the data into a cute slide deck. Or, dare I say, present it in a meeting.
Then… absolutely nothing changes.
I’m not throwing shade. It’s not laziness. It’s just that turning “insight” into action can feel like a whole extra project.
So here’s a simpler way to do it.
The 4 Things You Need to Pull from Survey Data
If you’ve got open-ended responses, your job is not to manually highlight phrases until your eyes fall out.
Use AI as your assistant. Any tool works: SurveyMonkey AI, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini.
Ask it for these four outputs:
Themes: “What are the main themes in these responses?”
Percentages: “Group similar responses and tell me what % mention each theme.”
Friction: “Tag responses as positive, neutral, or negative. What are the common worries in the neutral/negative ones?”
Clean data: “Flag low-quality or off-topic responses so I can exclude them.”
This will help you with implementing the funnel that use every time I review one of my reports.
The 4-step Action Funnel
Once you’ve got themes + percentages, run them through this funnel:
1) The Signal
What keeps showing up? This is your pattern. The thing that shows up across responses even when people phrase it differently.
Look at your theme list and circle the top 2–3.
Then pull 10 example quotes for each theme.
If you can summarise the theme as a sentence that starts with “I need…” or “I want…”, you’ve got your signal.
2) The Friction
What’s the biggest barrier or fear? This is the reason people don’t act, even if they like the idea. It usually shows up in:
neutral answers ("sounds good, but…")
negative answers ("I tried it and…")
objections in plain language ("I’m worried it won’t…")
How to spot it fast:
Filter to neutral + negative responses.
Ask AI: “What worries are repeated the most?”
Turn each worry into a testable statement.
3) The Leverage
What’s the highest ROI change you can make with the resources you’ve got? This is the part where you stop trying to fix everything and pick the one move that will change the outcome.
If the signal is about what they want, leverage is what makes that want easier.
If the friction is about trust, leverage is proof.
If the friction is about effort, leverage is removing steps.
Example (membership/course): If the signal is “I want confidence and lateral thinking” and the friction is “I don’t have time / I feel overwhelmed”, leverage might be:
a 7-day sprint format
one clear “start here” path
a progress log that makes completion feel doable
4) The Quick Win
What’s one tiny action you can test in the next 7–14 days? Identify one test you can run.
Beta a single integration before building the whole ecosystem.
Create one “does it work in hard water?” proof asset before launching a full content series.
Rewrite one landing page hero based on the top 2 themes and see if conversion shifts.
The best HR advice comes from people who’ve been in the trenches.
That’s what this newsletter delivers.
I Hate it Here is your insider’s guide to surviving and thriving in HR, from someone who’s been there. It’s not about theory or buzzwords — it’s about practical, real-world advice for navigating everything from tricky managers to messy policies.
Every newsletter is written by Hebba Youssef — a Chief People Officer who’s seen it all and is here to share what actually works (and what doesn’t). We’re talking real talk, real strategies, and real support — all with a side of humor to keep you sane.
Because HR shouldn’t feel like a thankless job. And you shouldn’t feel alone in it.
The 30-Day Measurement Plan
if you thought you were already done, well, let me tell you, you were mistaken, because I want to check our assumptions. Pick two metrics that match what you learned. Then after 30 days, run a micro follow-up survey with two questions:
“What’s working for you?”
“What’s one thing that would make you more likely to recommend this?”
Use AI again to compare themes + sentiment. If sentiment is improving, you’re on the right track. If it’s not, congrats: you just saved yourself from scaling the wrong strategy.
YOUR HOMEWORK ✍️
Take your last survey (or competitor reviews, or customer interviews) and ask AI: “What are the top 2 themes, and what seems to be the biggest point of friction?”
Rewrite one thing based on the top 1–2 themes (landing page hero, onboarding email, pricing page FAQ, or ad headline) and run it for 7–14 days.
Ship one quick-win fix for the biggest friction (remove a step, add a “how it works” explainer, create a proof asset, or add one missing integration), then measure impact for 30 days.
Need some help? I created a Notion + Google sheet worksheet to help you run the full review.
I genuinely believe surveys are not for “interesting insights.” They’re for decisions.
So next time you run research, instead of asking “What did we learn?”, change your mindset to…“What are we changing because of this?”
And, if you want to see the full framework in action, make sure to check our YouTube video below.
Always cheering you on (and gently nudging you to take action),
Fab
GRAB A COPY OF MY NEW BOOK 📖
Fifteen years of marketing experience condensed into one book. The Customer-Driven Marketing Handbook is about building relationships using marketing as your superpower. But also a book about being human in your marketing, regardless of the tools, trends or changes that this crazy world throws at us.