The Market
The enterprise feedback management (EFM) category was characterized as "young" in 2010 after interactive voice response (IVR) was determined to be a critical component. Conducting surveys specifically through the telephone is a time-tested methodology.

However, many of the top vendors this past year are best known for strength across the channels, especially when it comes to leveraging social media. Bruce Temkin, managing partner of the Temkin Group, believes that, overall, the space has "taken off."

"I think most vendors had really good years," Temkin points out. "There is certainly a shift to becoming much more operational with data in terms of putting it to use and people actually acting on the data." Temkin also notes the increasing use of unstructured data within text analytics—a trend that is expected to gain even more traction over time.

The Leaders
Mindshare, which is an addition to this category, received a whopping 4.5 score in customer satisfaction. Temkin describes the CRM Market Awards newcomer as "[a] really good company at supporting its customers [that] has a strong focus on multilevel franchise as well as retail environments."

Mindshare's strong score of a 4.0 in the depth of functionality category was supported by Andrew McInnes, customer experience analyst at Forrester Research, who comments, "One thing in the depth of functionality category that stands out is that they offer a feature where companies actually input standard operating procedures into the system and when a certain type of feedback comes in, it might link to standard operating procedures."

McInnes explains that this feature highlights the trend in voice of the customer (VOC) programs or enterprise feedback management platforms of not simply collecting customer feedback, but, instead, actually driving action at the ground level.

RightNow Technologies saw a considerable decline in its scores this year compared with last year's highly esteemed triple 4.0s. The company's customer satisfaction dipped only slightly, to 3.8, but depth of functionality came in at 2.3 and company direction at 2.6. This marked the second year in a row in which RightNow's scores have seen a decline in this sector (the company scored a 4.7 in customer satisfaction in 2009).

Nevertheless, Temkin observes that RightNow is "probably the most thoughtful company when it comes to understanding SaaS [software as a service] and their dedication to an entire operating model when it comes to customer service."

McInnes observes that RightNow's EFM strength is that the company's platform is fully integrated into its entire product suite. Having this type of platform positions RightNow to collect customer feedback from a variety of channels, such as the Web, social media, and contact center, without compromising the ability to look at transactional data or the individual customer.

Vovici was named a One to Watch in 2010. Esteban Kolsky, principal and founder of ThinkJar, comments, "Vovici represents EFM." The company scored a middling score in all categories, with a 3.3 in customer satisfaction as well as depth of functionality, and a 3.1 in company direction.

About Mindshare Technologies
Mindshare drives operational improvement. Using Mindshare, companies improve operational excellence, foster consumer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and support employee retention. Our industry experts guide clients in building comprehensive enterprise feedback management (EFM) solutions. Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive reporting. Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries including travel, hospitality, restaurant, financial, salon, automotive, and retail. For information, visit www.mshare.net.