Report: Forrester names top CX feedback management platforms

The latest Forrester Wave has evaluated customer feedback management platforms and services and nominated the 12 most significant ones - Alida, Cisco Webex XM, Clarabridge, Concentrix, Confirmit, InMoment, Medallia, NICE, Qualtrics, Reputation, SMG and Verint.

The report shows how each provider measures up and helps customer experience (CX) and insights professionals select the right one to match their needs. The Customer Feedback Management Platforms Q2 2021 report highlights leaders, strong performers, contenders and challengers and is an assessment of the top vendors in the market.

Forrester's CX leaders

Looking at the leaders group, Forrester found Medallia leads in engaging stakeholders at all levels to be a part of the transformation and enables its more than 1400 enterprise and mid-market customers to take a programmatic approach which brings employees along on the CX transformation journey, whether in the C-suite or on the front lines.

Clarabridge was found to lead in text analytics and enabling an omnichannel view. The analyst firm said the vendors stands out from the pack when it comes to helping customers connect disparate data sources from various tools across silos like contact centre, digital and CX teams, creating a unified view. Along with its robust natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) capabilities, Clarabridge has also continued to introduce new capabilities like intelligent scoring, which objectively and automatically scores interactions - whether a call, chat, message or email.

Forrester said InMoment combines robust technology with services, partnership and value and gets a tick for its partnership ability and focus on delivering outcomes. SMG is a standout when it comes to developing insights and partnership and is committed to the innovation of its platform, delivering nearly 300 enhancements last year, exceeding what it had initially planned.

Qualtrics excels in flexibility, agility and partnerships, offering a breadth of technology features and capabilities - and continues to invest in its XM services to better enable its customers. When there is something that the vendor cannot do, the need can often be met through its robust partner ecosystem of technology and services providers. 

Strong performers

In the group of strong performers, Forrester reported Concentrix leans in on services to set customers up for success. According to the report, NICE provides a robust set of solutions to drive transformation, while Confirmit balances complexity with flexibility and cost. Verint offers an omnichannel solution with a strong focus on digital interactions, and Reputation focuses first on the power of unstructured data from reviews.

In terms of surveys, Cisco Webex XM’s broader solutions focus on collaboration to drive better CX. Rounding off the top 12, Alida sits alone as a contender and was found to marry voice of customer (VoC) and communities to create a comprehensive insights solution.

The key criteria for evaluation included scope and scale, technology used, practices adopted, budget and maturity and plans. Forrester’s Q2 2020 State Of VoC And CX Measurement Programs Survey was in field online in June and July 2020 to gather insights about VoC and/or CX measurement programs. Just shy of 600 respondents participated in the survey, and 307 completed the survey.

When it comes to choosing a customer feedback management platform, Forrester recommended opting for a solution which integrates multiple feedback sources to create a holistic view of the customer. The research firm noted how integrations play a critical role in VoC programs, helping connect customer feedback and data across the enterprise and bringing together multiple channels and lines of business to enable a multidimensional view of the customer.

In addition, a platform should be able to incorporate large volumes of unstructured data and provide high-quality text analytics; provide support and services which formalise processes, drive action and prove results through intelligence program design, key driver analysis, insight deep dives, business case development, goal setting and financial linkage - and evaluate the team that will be providing the services to make sure it’s a good match before making a decision.

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