My first reaction to this product was not a positive one. I installed the software, flipped open the manual and started to design a test survey. The first few steps were easy, but when I started trying to add questions where a user could select more than one option (e.g. what kind of surveys do you use in your business: select all that apply) I discovered that this feature was only available in another version of the software, Survey Tools for Windows, for which I would have to pay US$60 to analyze every 100 answers collected.

To confirm that I was doing things correctly I called the person who had sent me the software and quickly got a call back - after hours on a Friday evening - from the company founder, Bill Steinberg. It was Steinberg's passion for his product and his explanation of what set it apart from the competition that made me decide to reconsider my first opinion.

Yes, Steinberg explained, The Survey Genie product was limited in the type of questions a user could ask. You are limited to just 3 demographic questions in each survey (e.g. How many employees work in your company: 1-4; 5-9; 10-24; 25-50; 51+) and you cannot ask open ended questions, create questions on the fly (as opposed to storing them in a database, which is how the product is designed to work) or add new analysis scales - all of which you can do in the Survey Tools for Windows product.

However, Steinberg argued, those features coupled with his software's powerful analysis and reporting features are equivalent to what you would find in a $10,000 product. The Survey Genie, he explained, was a more limited version set at a price point small business owners could afford (the current retail price is US$395 for the Gold version).

One positive of The Survey Genie is that it generates both web and email surveys that can you can use without having to pay a web developer to create the programming code. It also has a mechanism that lets you import responses directly into the software without having to enter survey responses manually. When it comes to the quality of information Steinberg argues that his product is in a class of its own, providing analysis of a kind not available in competing products like SurveyMonkey.

For those who want to ask different types of questions with varying answer scales, Steinberg suggests that the cost of $60/100 users is worth it for the quality of information you will receive. You can save money by only choosing to enter a random selection of survey responses, for example 200 out of 2000 that may have been collected, and still expect the results to be accurate as long as the responses you input are randomly selected.

As for customer service, Steinberg also explained that he provides free telephone support for the Survey Tools for Windows, which accounts for part of the higher cost and he has never had anyone ask for a refund. If his willingness to call back on a Friday evening is an indicator of the kind of support he provides I would have to give the company an excellent rating in this area.

Should you decide that you need all the features of Survey Tools for Windows and do not want to pay $60/100 users on an ongoing basis, you always have the option of buying an unlimited version of the product. Costing just under US$5K if seems like a lot to pay for a software product, but when compared to what it would cost you to hire a consultant to conduct one or two surveys it really isn't much at all.