Customer feedback management services

Customer feedback management (CFM) online services are web applications that allow businesses to manage user suggestions and complaints in a structured fashion. A 2011 study conducted by Aberdeen Group showed that companies using customer feedback management services and social media monitoring have a 15% better customer retention rate.

Methodology

Various online CFM services use different approaches. The aim of most methodologies is to measure customer satisfaction, with some models also measuring related constructs including customer loyalty and customer word-of-mouth (see Webreep Model). The methodology behind each service has an important impact on the nature of the service itself, and is the main differentiator between them. The main feedback management methodologies are listed below.

Feedback analytics

Feedback analytics services use customer generated feedback data to measure customer experience and improve customer satisfaction. Feedback data is collected, then, using key performance indicators and feedback metrics, turned into actionable information for website improvement. Feedback analytics services provide website owners with the ability to create feedback forms that can be customized to fit the website and placed on all pages. This allows the website's users to submit feedback when they encounter a problem or have a feature request. A feedback button is visible at all times on each of the site's pages. Feedback analytics provide page- and website- level actionable data, and enable a website owner to read and manage feedback, as well as to get back to the users. The feedback is only made accessible to the website owner. This means that websites using feedback analytics are not exposed to the potential harm to their brand that feedback made public may cause. Feedback collection can be passive (using a feedback button), or active (using a feedback form set to appear in certain conditions), or both. The ability to choose the location of the button, as well as the frequency and conditions of the pop-up make feedback analytics a relatively non-intrusive approach from the point of view of the website user. Due to its measurable nature, feedback analytics data can be integrated with web analytics data, allowing website owners to understand what their users are doing on their site (using web analytics) and why they do it (using feedback analytics), in one single interface.

Surveys and polls

Surveys and polls provide website administrators with a high-level understanding of user behavior on their site. By asking users a set of pre-defined questions using a pop-up questionnaire (sometimes criticized by website users for being an annoyance), surveys can provide a statistical review of their answers. Surveys and polls are also characterized by their focus on the “site-level”, providing answers about the users' experience on the site as a whole and the website's general performance. With answer to questions such as “Where did you hear about our site”, “What are you looking for” or “How old are you”, website owners are able to get a high-level understanding of their site’s users, though not to find and fix specific issues at the page-level. Since survey data is statistical, it is a methodology that works best for large websites with significant traffic, meaning that not all lines of businesses can benefit equally from it.

Idea management

Idea management systems allow website users to suggest ideas, report problems, and vote for other users' ideas. Resembling a live forum, and displaying open discussions between users, idea management systems can reduce support efforts, allowing users to share their common knowledge, and to know if a problem or a solution has been reported previously. The idea management approach may also be useful for businesses looking to have their users publicly vote for their next development steps. A downside of public user management systems is the potential brand damage, when, for instance, users' complaints are displayed on a regular basis.

Feature comparison

The leading idea aggregator based on feature set and number of unique visitors in 2009 was Get Satisfaction.

Legend

• Who voted: displays the users who voted on an item, but not each user's vote
• Human friendly URLs: /product/Suggestion_name. Human-unfriendly URLs: /akira/dtd/6320-2416, /pages/general/suggestions/7841
• Merge suggestions: more than deleting duplicate suggestions, merging adds votes from the merged suggestion into the main one
• Custom URL: DNS aliasing a subdomain like feedback.mycompany.com to the subdomain of the online feedback service (e.g. mycompany.cfmsite.com)

Name	Price	Voting	Who voted	Categories	Tags	Human-friendly URLs	Custom layout	Merge suggestions	Moderation	Integration	Single sign-on	Custom URL	API	Feedback privacy	Alexa traffic rank
BetaEasy	free and paid plans	Yes	will be available in next update	will be available in next update	tags added by moderators, automated tags will be added in next release	Yes	will be available in next update	will be available in next update	Yes	Available for web applications and desktop software. Ready-made integration components for software. E-mail updates, feedback widget, RSS feed, notification API, Open API for custom integration	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	520,447
Get Satisfaction	Free and paid editions	+1 with total and "best points" voting for specific replies	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes with Enterprise option	Yes	Yes	Salesforce, Facebook, Zendesk, Pivotal Tracker, Parature, Google*Apps, Twitter, e-mail notifications, site widgets, open API for custom integration	Yes with Connect	Yes with any paid plan	[2]	yes with private feedback option or login-required community	2,066
Idea Informer	Free	Yes	Displays users who comment on ideas	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Widget, RSS, API	Available on request	Yes	Available on request	Protected accounts available. Admins can choose to screen feedback
IdeaScale	free and paid plans	thumbs up/down with breakdown	No	custom-defined	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	paid plans only	e-mail updates, facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds (new topics, new comments), Widgets	Yes	paid plans only	paid plans only		62,6802012-Feb
Kampyle	free signup, Free & Premium service packages	1-5 grading to opening question	Users choose to leave their emails, or are recognized automatically	Fully customizable categories and sub-categories			Branded, fully customizable feedback form in 'look and feel' and content		Yes	Integration with web analytics services, and others available			Premium Service Packages only	Feedback is only visible to website owner	12,760
OneDesk	Free and paid plan	Customers can vote on feedback	?	?	Yes	Yes	Branding, can choose theme and configure options	No	Yes	Widget, button	?	Yes		Yes	408,464
Rant & Rave	Non-free Subject to consultation with client [3]	SMS, IVR, Email and Web Widget [4]	Can be seen through the real-time dashboard[citation needed]	Multi categories generated using our award winning Sentiment Engine[citation needed]	Displayed on the real time dashboard[citation needed]	[citation needed]	Dashboard can be set up to represent an organization's brand	?	[citation needed]	e-mail updates, API, feedback widget, RSS feed	[citation needed]	domain aliasing	[citation needed]	?	6,266,127
SimpleFeedback	Free trial. Multiple paid plan options	Ratings	Opt-In	Customizable feedback types and categories	Automatically generated		Customizable brand and text. Many form customization options	Group similar feedback into trackable issues		Websites, WordPress, iOS applications, developer API			Available on all plans	Feedback is only visible to website owner	2,217,474
UserEcho.com	free and paid plans, free for opensource	Yes	optional	Fully customizable feedback categories	tags added by moderators	Yes	misc customization options	Yes	Yes	SSO-single sign-on, E-mail updates, feedback widget, RSS feed, notifications	Yes	Yes	in progress coming soon	Yes	81,179
UserThought.com	Free	1-5 rating system	Yes, users choose to leave their emails	Fully customizable feedback categories			Branded, fully customizable feedback form & widget		Yes	Easy 1 HTML line integration	Available on request		Yes for enterprise package	Feedback is only visible to website owner	2,682,689
UserVoice	Yes, tboth free & paid editions	Yes, but only vote "for" ideas	Yes + ability to export user data	Yes	No	Yes	Branding and white label available	Yes - Currently in Beta	Yes	e-mail updates, API, feedback widget, RSS feed	Yes w/ paid edition :: otherwise OpenID, GoogleID, Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, MySpace	Yes, domain aliasing	Yes, there's a public API coming and an enterprise edition	Yes - Invitation only, Single Sign-On or filtered by email domain	5,144

See also

• Enterprise feedback management
• Interactive customer evaluation
• Customer experience