What is a Post-Call Survey?
Post-call surveys, sometimes referred to as CSAT or Customer Satisfaction Scores, are consumer feedback collection methods used by companies worldwide in various forms. This article will show you how to set up your CloudTalk phone system to automatically request and collect feedback scores from your callers directly after an inbound call.
In order to use post-call surveys in CloudTalk you will need:
A CloudTalk Essential plan or higher
Ownership of at least 1 number to which CSAT will be applied
All necessary sounds uploaded to your CloudTalk Dashboard by an admin. Recommended recordings before you begin:
A recording instructing the contact to stay and provide feedback after the call has ended
Another recording instructing the contact on how to provide feedback within your IVR system
A final recording that validates completion of the exchange by thanking the contact for providing their feedback
Note- currently the main way to use post-call surveys in CloudTalk utilizes External API to collect the results of your survey. It is therefore recommended to have some prior knowledge of API functionality and principles.
*An example of CSAT setup within CloudTalk's Call Flow Designer
How to build a Post-Call Survey in Call Flow Designer
Note: In the following guide, we'll try to keep the process as simple as possible to enable easy setup and use of Post-Call Surveys. If you're looking for more complex information on workflows, http requests and more, please refer to the suggested articles at the bottom of this page.
To get started, you'll first need to pick a number you would like to implement CSAT for
From the CloudTalk Dashboard, go into the Numbers tab and search for a number by country, name, or by the number itself using the search bar at the top of the page. The blue pencil icon will open the Edit Number page, where you can view the current Call Flow design for this number
Build or edit your pre-call Workflow
The + icon next to a step in the Call Flow allows you to add a new step while the cog icon allows a current step to be edited or deleted. CSAT structure is typically connected to a branch that follows a “Call” action (Call agent, Call preferred agent, Call group)
Find Call action survey should be attached to (Call agent /Call group/Call favorite agent).
Note- don't forget to inform your customer (either via your introductory recording or during your agent's conversation) that you'd appreciate them remaining on the line after their call has finished to answer your post-call survey!
Connect a caller input step within the “Answered” branch, typically this would be either a collect input step, or an IVR (Interactive voice response) step. Within the step, select a pre-uploaded recording to instruct your customer (contact) to provide feedback. This recording would typically feature instructions for the customer along the lines of 'on a scale of 0-5, with 5 being perfect, please rate our service today using your phone keypad'.
Note- for more information on collecting your survey information either via IVR or Collect Input- see the 'Caller input steps' section of this article further down.
For each IVR keyboard number added as an IVR result, you then need to create a HTTP Request action.
5. To forward these scores to a tool of your choice, click the + symbol to create the next action and choose HTTP Request. This action will ensure that the rating the customer has chosen is sent to the external API. Configure the HTTP Request step according to the API specification of the tool you would like to send the result of your post call survey to. The body of the request should contain the value of CSAT which corresponds to the IVR Keyboard Number selected, which should also align with the instructions in your recording. Along with the value scored by the customer, you can also include any other necessary data in the body of your request.
Endpoint
This is the URL to which you'd like your ratings to be sent. It is possible to store these in CloudTalk as an 'activity' within a customer's profile. Alternatively, you can use external applications (middleware) such as Zapier or Integromat (Make). To have your CSAT results sent to Zapier/Integromat, you'll need to enter a webhook link that connects the data to the intended platform. For some external tools like Nicereply, no middleware is needed (see related links at the bottom of this article for Nicereply information). In any case, you'll need to locate the correct http request link in the system you want to use, for the request you're trying to make. You may need to contact the relevant support teams for the system you're trying to use.
Caller Input steps- collect your results
When selecting the step in your Call Flow from which your survey results will be gathered, you have two options, Collect Input or IVR:
Using Collect Input:
Using the instructions at the beginning of this article, you should have a number set up in your CFD and ready to use. You'll now need to locate the calling action that you'd like your post-call survey to be attached to.
Connect the Collect Input step to the “Answered” branch of your flow. Within the Collect Input step, select a pre-uploaded recording to instruct your customer to provide feedback. You can search for the name of the appropriate recording while setting up or editing the Collect Input step.
Within the field “pattern”, you'll need to define the expected value received from your caller. Since Collect input allows us to use a wider range of options, we can use it to implement larger scales like 1-10, 1-20 etc. Note that this field is expecting a REGEX syntax to be entered. So for 1-5 scale we will use the following syntax \b[1-5]{1}\b where the rectangular brackets are defining the scale and the number in the curly brackets defines the number of inputs. The pattern is different for scales exceeding the number 10, as REGEX does not recognise 10 as a single number but as two separate digits. Therefore a 1-9 scale would use \b[1-5]{1}\b whereas a 1-10 scale would use \b[0-9]{1}\b|\b10\b.
Save this step and proceed to further set up the HTTP Request step after Collect input step. Within HTTP Request you will need to reference a value inserted within the Collect input step. To get this value, insert a reference in the form of {{input[<ID>].value}} into the value part of the body parameter. Don’t forget to <ID> with the actual ID of your collect input step.
Using IVR:
Locate the calling action that your post-call surveys should be attached to.
Connect an IVR step to your “Answered” branch as shown below. Within the IVR step, select a pre-uploaded recording to instruct your caller to provide feedback. As mentioned at the start of this article, a recording like this would typically feature instructions for the customer along the lines of 'on a scale of 0-5, with 5 being perfect, please rate our service today using your phone keypad'. You can search for the appropriate recording while setting up or editing the IVR step.
Save this step and proceed to the set up of HTTP Requests. You will need to set up separate HTTP Requests in each branch dedicated to each individual respective value.
Notes on using IVR vs Collect Input
As demonstrated above, both options have specific use cases and work slightly differently.
Collect Input enables you to implement a wider scale, as opposed to the IVR's limited 0-9 range. Once setup, Collect Input becomes easier to maintain moving forwards, as any changes made can be controlled using a single branch of your Call Flow Designer, as opposed to IVR in which changes will need manually inputting across the board for any affected branches.
While operating on a smaller scale and becoming visually complex at times in the CFD, IVR has the advantage of being a familiar system to you and to your customers. No knowledge of REGEX is necessary, making this the easier option to implement for less experienced users. IVR also enables you to customise your post-survey actions for specific customer ratings e.g playing a different sound for a customer who submitted poor feedback, tagging them so future agents are aware of their prior dissatisfaction with the service they received.
If you're struggling to decide which option may be right for you, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Support Team!
Sending data using your HTTP Request
In this section we will cover some of the options when sending post call survey results to external tools. When sending data via HTTP Request step, you can include a selection of data within the request. Read more about available options in our HTTP Request step article.
Storing Post-Call Survey data as a contact activity in CloudTalk
If you would like to store CSAT information in CloudTalk as an activity in a customers profile, you'll need to configure your HTTP Request according to the definition of the Create Activity endpoint, which you can find in our developers portal.
Don’t forget to include:
Contact ID reference in the Endpoint part of the HTTP Request. You'll need this in order to tell CloudTalk API which contact the new activity should be assigned to.
Name of the activity, simple and clear so it is easy for your agents to spot this information within a customer profile.
Inserted value within description of activity.
This type of implementation provides your agents with insight into previously submitted survey scores directly within a contact's profile, promoting a more personalized service. Please keep in mind CloudTalk does not offer an option to build reports based on activities.
Bonus application: As shown above, Failover for no key pressed allows you to determine a default IVR button outcome in the case that your customers forget to select an option or fail to hang up the call.
💡 Optional enhancement: After each HTTP Request action, add a Playback action containing your “Thank you” recording, for a better customer experience
Example: “Thank you for providing your feedback!“
Sending data to external tools
If you would like to send data to an external tool of your choice, you'll need to configure your HTTP Request according to the specification of the tool's API. If you are unsure what the necessary API is, it is recommended that you seek assistance from the relevant support team who will be able to advise you on the options within their system depending on your needs.
In order to connect to an external API, the HTTP Request requirements are:
Endpoint: HTTPS
Method: PUT, POST, PATCH
Authorization: Static authorization keys (Basic Auth or API key within URL)
Body: JSON body
In the case that the API of your choice is not compatible with these requirements, you will likely need to use external applications (middleware) such as Zapier or Integromat (Make) to store your data. This functionality is explained below.
Sending data to Zapier or Make
To have your survey results sent to Zapier/Integromat, you'll need to enter a webhook link that connects the data to the intended platform. Firstly, you'll need to prepare your 'Zap' or Make scenario. Typical scenarios with middleware solution would consist of the following:
Trigger - in most cases this would be webhook action. When this action is set up, a webhook url is generated. Copy this URL, as you will need to insert it later into your HTTP Request action in CloudTalks Call flow designer.
Action - this describes, through a scenario, how the data should be populated. Some of the typical actions include adding a row in Google Sheets or adding a row in Microsoft Excel.
Example of a Make scenario in order to store post call survey data info in Google Sheets
Once you have your Make scenario or Zap prepared, insert the generated webhook link into your HTTP Request in your post call survey set up within Call Flow Designer. When set up correctly, all data included in the body of your HTTP Request will be populated into a middleware solution and then forwarded to the tool of your choice.
If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please reach out to our Support team, we are always happy to help!