By Jennifer Heldt Powell, Boston HeraldThe Dockside Restaurant has some unusual items on its menu. Along with the traditional pizza and hamburgers, there are five entrees that are fewer than 500 calories including a shrimp skewer dish with sesame noodles and a vegetarian Panini.

These healthier options are the direct result of asking customers their opinions through online surveys.

Restaurants and other small businesses have long relied on comment cards and talking to customers to get feedback, but online tools allow them to reach more people on a broader range of topics.

“Feedback equates to smart choices for your business,” said Mary Crogin, Constant Contact’s senior business and marketing manager for online survey. “It really comes down to having confidence in the decisions you are making for your business.”

It’s sort of like GPS for your company.

Retailers can find out how their staff are doing, what products customers might want for the holidays, or get an idea for a new location. Service providers can get client feedback or ideas on how to tailor what they offer.

Surveys can be run an ongoing basis, like a modern-day comment box, or they can be limited to a one-time event.

They are certainly becoming more popular with the growth of the Internet. Nearly every large company prints out receipts begging for feedback. It’s just as easy for a small business to get into the game as well.

Surveys are not as cheap as just talking to customers in your store, but they’re not too expensive. Constant Contact, for instance, allows customers to set up as many surveys as they want for $15 a month. It’s limited to 5,000 responses total.

A survey can be set up in under 30 minutes, but it may take longer to craft the questions correctly to get a useful response. It also takes time to read the responses and figure out what it all means.

The Dockside’s Lisa Urbaczewski said it’s worth it.

“The most expensive thing in a restaurant is an empty seat,” she said.

She has used surveys several times over the last couple of years to ensure that seats stay filled.

“It’s opened up a whole other avenue of developing a one-on-one relationship with our customers,” she said.

She’s asked customers about their experience, the food and most recently about ideas for a new Mexican concept.

Quick, electronic surveys may not meet strict standards needed for research, but if done right, they can provide guidance and insight.

The trick is to keep the questions simple and ask only what you need to know rather than everything you want to know, said Constant Contact’s Crogin. A survey should take no more than five to 10 minutes.

It’s not necessary to offer an incentive, but it will likely help garner more responses. It could be anything from an entry into a contest to a discount on a future purchase.

While it may be tempting to ask customers about all aspects of the business, it’s probably best to limit queries to avoid burnout. Otherwise, the only people you may hear from are those with too much time on their hands.