If you’re responsible for customer feedback, you know the real headache isn’t sending surveys—it’s making sense of what comes back. If you’re using AskNicely, you’ve already got a decent set of tools for wrangling those results. But the reporting side can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new or just busy. This guide walks you through a practical, step-by-step process for actually using AskNicely’s reporting tools—no fluff, no jargon, and no more staring at NPS charts wondering what to do next.
Step 1: Get Your Survey Data in Order
Before you dive into shiny dashboards, double-check your inputs. This sounds basic, but it’s the step everyone rushes—and regrets later.
- Check for incomplete surveys. AskNicely lets you filter out partial responses. Do it. Half-finished surveys skew results and waste your time.
- Look for duplicates. Especially if you’ve imported lists or merged accounts. Clean data saves headaches.
- Segment your data first. Think about what groups actually matter to your business—location, product line, customer type, etc. Tag or group your contacts before you start slicing and dicing in reports.
Pro tip: Don’t try to analyze “all responses” unless your audience is truly that broad. Garbage in, garbage out.
Step 2: Decide What You’re Actually Trying to Learn
AskNicely throws a lot of metrics at you—NPS, CSAT, open text, trending themes, and more. Resist the urge to look at everything at once. Start with a clear question:
- Are you trying to spot unhappy customers before they churn?
- Do you need to prove your team is improving service?
- Are you tracking a new initiative or product rollout?
Write down your goal. Seriously, type it somewhere. Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the weeds.
Step 3: Use the NPS Dashboard—But Don’t Stop There
AskNicely’s main draw is its NPS dashboard. It gives you your score, trend lines, and breakdown of promoters, passives, and detractors.
- Look at trends, not just the number. A single NPS score means little. Focus on whether it’s moving up, down, or flat over time.
- Segment the results. Use filters to break it down—by team, location, rep, or product. This is where problems and wins actually show up.
- Watch for volume. If your NPS drops but response volume plummets, it’s not necessarily a crisis. Low sample sizes can swing scores wildly.
What to ignore: Don’t chase decimal points. If your NPS goes from 45 to 46, no one’s world has changed. Look for bigger shifts or sustained trends.
Step 4: Dig Into Open Text Responses for the “Why”
Numbers tell you what is happening, but not why. AskNicely’s text analysis tools are helpful, but not magic.
- Use keyword/theme filters. AskNicely tries to group feedback into themes (e.g., “support response time,” “product bugs”). Scan for patterns.
- Read the actual comments. Automated sentiment is often wrong, especially with sarcasm or nuanced feedback. Don’t blindly trust the “positive” or “negative” tags.
- Export if needed. If you want to slice and dice with Excel or another tool, export the raw responses and do your own tagging.
Pro tip: Share a few raw quotes in your internal reports. Real customer words hit harder than any chart.
Step 5: Take Advantage of Tagging and Custom Fields
If you set up tags or custom data fields (like account manager, product line, etc.), now’s the time to use them.
- Filter by tag or field in reports. See how different segments stack up. Are new customers happier than renewals? Do certain products drive more complaints?
- Spot outliers. Don’t just look at averages—find teams or regions who are crushing it (or crashing).
What doesn’t work: Don’t create dozens of tags hoping something insightful will pop out. Tag what matters to your business. Ignore the rest.
Step 6: Build and Share Custom Reports
AskNicely lets you create custom dashboards and scheduled reports. This is where you move from “interesting” to “actionable.”
- Pin key metrics. Only include what you (or your boss) actually care about. Don’t clutter reports with everything AskNicely can show.
- Schedule regular reports. Set up weekly or monthly emails to your team. Automate the grunt work.
- Add context. If you’re sending reports, add a quick summary (in plain English) of what’s going on. People tune out endless charts.
Honest take: Don’t expect everyone to log into AskNicely. If it’s important, push it to their inbox.
Step 7: Set Up Alerts—But Don’t Overdo It
Real-time alerts for detractors or certain keywords are helpful, but too many notifications and people start ignoring them.
- Set thresholds. Get notified for truly urgent issues—like a major customer blasting you, or NPS tanking for a key segment.
- Route alerts smartly. Send them to people who’ll actually act, not everyone in the company.
Don’t: Turn on every alert just because you can. It’s the fastest way to get ignored.
Step 8: Close the Loop, Track Follow-Up
AskNicely has built-in tools for responding to feedback (especially detractors). Use them, but track what actually gets done.
- Flag responses for follow-up. Don’t let “we’ll get back to you” become a black hole.
- Log resolutions. If you fix a customer’s issue, note it in the system. You can filter reports later to see if follow-up works.
- Measure changes. Did your NPS or CSAT improve after you changed something? Don’t just guess—track it.
Step 9: Ignore the Noise—Focus on Real Patterns
Here’s where most people get lost. AskNicely’s reports can surface a lot of “noise”—random negatives, out-of-context scores, or patterns that aren’t really patterns.
- Don’t chase every blip. Bad week? Low response volume? Don’t panic. Look for repeated trends.
- Confirm with other data. If AskNicely says support is a problem, check your ticketing system. Don’t act on survey data alone.
- Don’t “game” the numbers. Resist the urge to push for higher NPS by only surveying happy customers, or ignoring tough feedback.
Step 10: Share, Act, and Iterate (Don’t Wait for Perfect)
You’ll never have “perfect” survey results. Get your findings out, act on them, and tweak your process as you go.
- Share insights, not just numbers. Tell people what matters and what you’re doing about it.
- Test changes. Try new things based on feedback—then measure again.
- Keep it simple. The best survey analysis is the one you’ll actually keep doing.
Wrapping Up
Analyzing survey results with AskNicely isn’t rocket science, but it does take discipline. Start with clean data, know what you care about, and use the reporting tools to spot real patterns—not just noise. Ignore vanity metrics and focus on what drives action. You’ll get more value by doing the basics well (and often) than chasing every new feature or metric. Keep it simple, keep it moving, and you’ll actually get somewhere.