Enterprise feedback management

Enterprise feedback management (EFM) is a system of processes and software that enables
organizations to centrally manage deployment of surveys while dispersing authoring and analysis
throughout an organization. EFM systems typically provide different roles and permission levels for
different types of users, such as novice survey authors, professional survey authors, survey reporters and
translators. EFM can help an organization establish a dialogue with employees, partners, and customers
regarding key issues and concerns and potentially make customer-specific real time interventions. EFM
consists of data collection, analysis and reporting.

Modern EFM systems can track feedback from a variety of sources including customers, market research,
social media, employees, vendors, partners and audits in a privatized or public manner.[1]

EFM systems can be applied by companies operating in different fields: e.g., systems provided by
Confirmit, CXGroup, InMoment, MaritzCX, Clarabridge, Medallia, NICE Systems, Netigate, Qualtrics,
QuestBack, Verint, QuestionPro, Zoho Survey (https://www.zoho.com/survey/), Qwary are used by more
than half of the Fortune 100 companies from business services, consumer goods, financial services,
government and public services, healthcare, manufacturing, media and communication, non-profit and
other associations, research and professional services, retail, technology, and travel, hospitality, and
restaurants industries.[2][3]

Background
The term enterprise feedback management was coined by Perseus Development[4] in 2004 and was first
popularized in 2005 by Gartner. Their definition of it was "formal tools for data collection and output
analysis".

Prior to EFM, survey software was typically deployed in departments and lacked user roles, permissions
and workflow. EFM enables deployment across the enterprise, providing decision makers with important
data for increasing customer satisfaction, loyalty and lifetime value. EFM enables companies to look at
customers "holistically" and to better respond to customer needs.[5]

Enterprise feedback management systems root from PA technologies. It is possible to infer about the PA
that they represent a part of such a vast field of knowledge as data mining. The forecast of the current and
future tendencies is based on the data already acquired. PA implies various types of modeling: clustering
(cluster analysis), decision trees, regression analysis, artificial neural networks, text mining, hypothesis
testing, etc. Predictive Analysis technologies are actually tools to transform data to information and then to
knowledge. This transformation was partly described in the article As We May Think written by Vannevar
Bush in 1945.

EFM applications support complex survey design, with features such as question and page rotation, quota
management and skip patterns and branching. The software typically offers advanced reporting with
statistical analysis and centralized panel management. EFM applications are often integrated with external
platforms, most typically with customer relationship management (CRM) systems but also with HRIS
systems and generic web portals.
Unlike low-end survey tools, EFM applications provides a workflow process with user roles and
permissions, so that users may be able to author a survey but require another user to approve it before it is
published. Such workflow ensures consistent survey quality and enforces respondent privacy and IT
security policies. Applications of EFM vary widely from HR, IT, Marketing, Sales and continues to expand
on its corporate implementation and scope. Departments within an organization can collaborate on
feedback initiatives, sharing results and gaining insights that enable the organization to listen, learn and
react to the needs of their stakeholders. A key part of the value of an EFM deployment is the development
of the business rules (i.e. who needs to see what feedback info) and which parts of the
customer/employee/partner facing process needs to be measured.

EFM today: current situation and emerging tendencies

Esteban Kolsky, when a research director at Gartner, described the market structure as follows: "The
market for these tools is a highly fragmented one, with no single provider. It's going to jumpstart a bunch of
acquisitions as larger vendors look to work EFM and surveying into their growth strategy." Since then,
technology companies such as Medallia and Satmetrix have received significant backing from venture
capital investors.[7]

The EFM market grew 60% to 70% in 2005 and 2006.[8]

Here are some of the ways in which EFM has been evolving:[9]

From Multi-Channel Customer Surveys to Multi-Channel Customer Feedback

In recent years, EFM solution providers have focused on rounding out their capabilities to conduct surveys
across multiple deployment modes: email, website, phone, IVR, SMS, paper, fax, kiosk. The next
generation of EFM solutions also enable companies to capture feedback from critical new sources including
social media, online communities, call recordings, contact center notes, and more, to get a true “360-degree
view” of the customer. The ability to monitor feedback via social media has become increasingly important,
as ever-growing numbers of customers are sharing their views via blogs, Facebook, Twitter, news sites,
forums, review sites, and video sites. With the help of responsive touch point tracker software, it is also
possible to receives reliable feedback directly at points of sale. As a result of mobile-friendliness the
feedback can submitted through both tablets and smartphones.[10]

From Siloed Insights to Integrated Insights

Capturing feedback is only the first step. Next generation EFM solutions also have the ability to generate
unique insights by integrating and analyzing multi-channel feedback. For example, users can compare
sentiment in social media data side-by-side with survey satisfaction and loyalty scores, and drill deeper than
ever into feedback sources at the response level (verbatim survey responses, call recordings, etc.) for greater
context. These insights enable companies to more easily identify the root causes of problems, determine the
most appropriate actions, and target investments to deliver the most impact on the bottom line.

From Simple Survey Alerts to Advanced Case Management Across Feedback Channels

The next generation of EFM solutions goes far beyond basic alerts triggered by negative survey responses.
Comprehensive EFM systems now offer full case management to respond efficiently to individual
customers’ problems and comprehensive case analytics across feedback channels. This enables
organizations to respond to individual customers in a highly efficient manner that optimizes the use of
scarce front-line and executive resources.

From Static Insights Seen by Few to Real-time Insights Accessible by All

In order to transform customer feedback into a strategic tool for driving competitive advantage, that data
needs to be readily on-hand at the point of daily decision making. The next generation of EFM solutions
automatically delivers the most relevant real-time feedback data to each user across the enterprise,
according to his or her role – executive, manager, customer service agent, etc. – without creating undue
burden for program administrators. For example, American General Life uses action management
capabilities to address service and quality issues throughout the organization in real-time, with survey
responses triggering email alerts and case management tools according to business rules. Action alerts allow
the company to be more proactive and more quickly address issues with customers – and because they
track issues at touch point levels, customer survey scores show directly how changes impact the customer
experience.

With the information from their customer feedback program, American General Life has identified
opportunities to reduce technology costs, avoid expenses, and optimize business processes. They track
scores and trends to understand how each business area can enhance the customer experience. As a result,
they have been able to increase overall customer satisfaction and positively impact customer retention.

One of the important trends of EFM development today is its producers going mobile.[11] For example,
Verint Technologies has introduced EFM mobile app. The possibility to manage feedback using portable
devices has a lot of significant advantages which will provide the company`s employees with ability of
collecting and analysing data conveniently and in time. The most important innovations are:

Optimizing Surveys for mobile devices. With these new technologies it is possible now to
work with EFM on tablets and smartphones;
Using Mobile Reporting. Necessary analysis can be carried out and managerial decisions
can be taken within specific time constraints;
Taking Advantage of Mobile Offline Surveys. While previous EFM versions have to be
connected to the Internet, this mobile service lets the researcher perform the analysis partly
offline and then sync the data with the Web app.
Increasing Response Rates with SMS. Researchers can reach their customers with SMS,
bulk messages, and reminders.

Criticism
Though EFM may seem a good tool for various data analysis, it has been suggested that "EFM is a
description of the past".[12] The main disadvantages of EFM could be that it focuses on the enterprise, not
the customer; insight across a variety of inputs should be examined, feedback would be too narrow field
here; the value of the system should derive from taking actions, not just managing surveys. The author of
the article Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) Is Dead[12] implies that "Customer Insight and Action
Platforms" (CIA) should be used instead of EFM.

See also
B2B Marketing
Business intelligence
Business-to-business
 Customer data management
Customer engagement
Customer feedback management services
Customer Intelligence
Customer relationship management
Customer satisfaction
Enterprise relationship management

References
1. "Resources Archive" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140311164025/http://www.mshare.net/
measurement/are_you_ready_for_enterprise_feedback_management.php). InMoment.et.
Archived from the original (http://www.mshare.net/measurement/are_you_ready_for_enterpri
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2. "Online Survey Software Tools and Solutions" (https://qualtrics.com/research-suite/#enterpri
se). Qualtrics.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
3. "DMG Consulting LLC | Enterprise Feedback Management Report" (https://www.dmgconsul
t.com/research-reports-enterprise-feedback-management/). DMG. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
4. "Perseus SurveySolutions/EFM Hits the Ground Running with New Clients Including
Caterpillar" (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20041209005239/en/Perseus-Survey
SolutionsEFM-Hits-Ground-Running-Clients-Including#.VdDcqHg7NRE).
Businesswire.com. 9 December 2004. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
5. "How to Improve the Customer Experience" (http://www.gartner.com/resources/154100/1541
95/how_to_improve_the_customer__154195.pdf) (PDF). Garner.com. Retrieved
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tions--Government-Adopt-Enterprise-Feedback-Management/20$6932). Sdcexec.com.
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7. Gage, Deborah (2012-09-26). "Medallia Aims to Improve Service at Big Companies With
$35M From Sequoia" (https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/09/26/medallia-aims-to-imp
rove-service-at-big-companies-with-35m-from-sequoia/). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved
2013-09-23.
8. "Angry and bored? You must be a customer: finding out what customers really think is a
crucial first step toward an improved bottom line. New technology may help. – CFO, The
Ma..." (http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15926678_ITM)
Accessmylibrary.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
9. "Call Center IQ - Call Center, Customer Service & Customer Relationship Management" (htt
ps://archive.today/20131218204952/http://www.customermanagementiq.com/operations/arti
cles/the-next-generation-of-enterprise-feedback-managem/%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D
1%82%D1%80). Customermanagementiq.com. Archived from the original (http://www.custo
mermanagementiq.com/operations/articles/the-next-generation-of-enterprise-feedback-man
agem/%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%80) on 2013-12-18. Retrieved
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10. "Enterprise Feedback Management" (https://www.feedbackstr.com/en/enterprise-feedback-m
anagement/). Feedbackstr.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
11. "Enterprise Feedback Management Mobile" (http://www.verint.com/solutions/voice-of-the-cu
stomer-analytics/products/enterprise-feedback-management-mobile/index). Verint.com.
12. "Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) Is Dead" (http://experiencematters.wordpress.co
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Matters. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 2016-07-21.

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