Customer Satisfaction Software

Customer satisfaction is a crucial metric every business should track and analyze because satisfied customers are likely to become loyal clients who can even bring new customers by spreading word of mouth. On the flipside, dissatisfied customers can damage brand reputation and hurt revenue.

However, gathering data and measuring customer satisfaction is not easy, especially if you’re doing it manually, such as with spreadsheets or pen and paper surveys.

Customer satisfaction software is designed to help businesses understand customer needs to prevent churn and make sure their customers have the best experience possible.

Measuring customer satisfaction is important to ensure customer loyalty, increase word-of-mouth, reduce customer churn, improve online reviews, and increase overall revenue.

To help you get started, we have done the research on key features, benefits, customer groups, and other considerations you should have in mind while evaluating customer satisfaction software.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What is customer satisfaction software?
• Common features of customer satisfaction software
• What type of buyer are you?
• Benefits of customer satisfaction software
• Key considerations when selecting customer satisfaction software
• Market trends

What is customer satisfaction software?

Customer satisfaction software ensures businesses develop and foster healthy relationships with their customers which increases overall revenue and reduces churn. This software is often used by sales, marketing, and customer service teams. The primary function of customer satisfaction software is to enable businesses to monitor their customers’ satisfaction by providing formalized reports based on, primarily, customer satisfaction surveys.

Analyzing customer feedback trends in Zendesk Help Desk (Source)

Customer satisfaction software is closely related to customer experience software, customer relationship management software, customer service software, and survey software, but the key differentiator is that customer satisfaction software is focused primarily on providing businesses with more robust survey tools from recommending questions to complete 360-degree feedback of results.

Common features of customer satisfaction software

Customer satisfaction software offers features that help you gather and analyze customer feedback. Here's a closer look at the common features:

Analytics	Analyze customer feedback and patterns to determine which customers are at the highest risk of churn so that your team can make preventative plans instead of reacting to unhappy customers.
Automation	Automate key processes such as call scheduling, sending reminder emails, and assigning accounts to employees in order to save time on tedious tasks.
Complaint monitoring	Identify potential at-risk customers with complaint monitoring so that you can intervene earlier in order to prevent churn.
Feedback collection	Collect feedback from a variety of sources in one place so that you can get a more holistic view of what your customers like and don’t like about your current business practices.
Survey management	Create and distribute surveys to collect feedback from customers to better understand their wants and needs so that you can provide the best customer service possible.

What type of buyer are you?

To find the customer satisfaction software that is right for your business, you have to be aware of some basic things buyers like you look for in such a tool. Below are the three common buyer groups and their chief concerns: 

• Small businesses (annual revenue < $50 million): Small businesses will almost never need the full suite of customer satisfaction solutions used by larger organizations. Instead, you should focus on narrowing down your feature shortlist to determine exactly what your business needs from the software. The last thing you want is to pay for features you won’t need or use, so going into vendor demos with a clear idea of what you need from the software to improve your business is crucial.
• Midsize businesses (annual revenue $50 million to $1 billion): These are growing companies that are looking to expand their customer base. As a result, they want a tool that has all the features that can help them effectively track, analyze, and capitalize on customer satisfaction.
• Large businesses (annual revenue > $1 billion): Very large businesses will often utilize larger suites of software that will include some sort of customer satisfaction software built into it or will employ a comprehensive customer experience software solution which has a large focus on customer satisfaction as well. These larger software suites can monitor the customer journey completely across the institution to facilitate personalized experiences for their customers. These solutions come with a ton of functionality and are only really necessary for businesses that will get the most out of the robust feature selection.

Benefits of customer satisfaction software

We’ve already talked about some of the benefits customer satisfaction software provides above, but here are some of the most notable ones.

• Better retention rate: Customer satisfaction software helps you run and analyze surveys to determine what issues your customers are facing during their interactions with your business. Understanding what makes customers happy or unhappy will help you develop strategies to improve overall customer satisfaction and reduce churn.
• Survey analytics at your fingertips: Running surveys is one thing, but understanding how to use the data you receive is another thing. In fact, Gartner has found that many organizations do not have a clear plan for what to do with survey data once it’s gathered (full content available to Gartner clients). One of the key benefits of using software for customer satisfaction is the robust analytics offered which enable you to see trends in the survey data. Easily pinpoint problem areas or areas of success to improve customer satisfaction.

Key considerations when selecting customer satisfaction software

While purchasing customer satisfaction software, observe these two considerations closely:

• Additional modules: While customer satisfaction software can be effective in gathering and analyzing feedback, there are other related tools such as customer service software and customer engagement software that can be useful for building a holistic understanding of your customers. Check the integration options across different solutions of each kind to ensure seamless data flow between them.
• Additional software costs: The cost of software is not always limited to a one-time fee or recurring subscription. There is an array of costs mentioned in the fine print, which could include phone support charges, data migration fees, and integration costs. Read the terms and conditions closely and clarify with the vendor to fully understand the true cost of using the tool.

Market trends

Below are some of the market trends that buyers of customer satisfaction software should be mindful of:

• AI-powered programs: One of the most popular AI-powered tools that can help in faster data collection is a chatbot. Embedding a chatbot on your website or within a software interface can allow customers to quickly fill surveys and let you know how they feel about your product or service. 
• Real-time analytics: An example of real-time analytics is a quick poll that helps in recommending products to customers when they are browsing your website. This ensures that customers are getting solutions and answers faster, which improves their overall satisfaction. 

Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and isn't intended as an endorsement or a recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.