Surveys can significantly impact a company's direction, but their quality depends on sound survey design and analysis. The guide aims to teach readers techniques used by Zapier's data scientist to build an effective survey, including designing questions that are clear, concise, and free from bias, selecting respondents who accurately represent the population, and using appropriate statistical methods for data analysis. The guide emphasizes the importance of avoiding biases in surveys, such as sampling bias, and notes that inferential statistics with surveys can be difficult and often impossible to generalize to a population. By following these techniques, readers can learn actionable insights from their survey results and make informed decisions about their company's direction.