Zoho Survey-
The journey so far!
It was 2009. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince had just made its way to the big screen and the excitement among fans was palpable. In a display of extraordinary athleticism, Usain Bolt had clocked 9.58 seconds in the 100-meter dash to become the fastest human being on the planet. Skinny jeans were a raging fashion trend and pick-pockets were having their best season ever.
Over in Zoho Corp’s Chennai headquarters, a few like minded people were contemplating their next SaaS product—a simple yet powerful survey tool to help companies understand customer expectations more clearly. This is the story of Zoho Survey. “Launched in 2013” as a simple survey tool, Zoho Survey went on to become a comprehensive feedback management platform. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’re sharing the tale of how it all began.
An opening
Paper surveys were long gone and most organizations had switched to online surveys. Companies that recognized the potential of feedback management were eagerly searching for platforms to fulfill their needs. There were plenty of options on the market, but none intended for users with basic or beginner technical skills. An easy-to-use and effortless-to-implement survey platform that could be used for in-depth analysis was desperately needed. The pioneers of Zoho Survey identified this gap in the market and got to work.
The building blocks of a dream
After thorough research, and a few rounds of trial and error, the Beta version of Zoho Survey was released in 2011. In 2013, the final version became available to the world to see, experience, and admire. It garnered a favorable reception. With drag-and-drop editors, multiple question types, and ready-to-use templates, survey creation and analysis became effortless.
By 2017, the Zoho Survey team had expanded from four people to more than 30 employees, including developers, marketers, and product managers. A dedicated customer success squad was set up to help users get the best possible experience out of Zoho Survey. Through frequent interactions, the customer success squad gathered deep insights into customer expectations. These insights would eventually be combined with the findings of market analysts to more precisely identify the trends and demands of the survey industry, so the team could develop relevant and valuable features. Soon, it became clear that Zoho Survey would become much more than a mere survey building tool.
Above and beyond surveys
Zoho Survey evolved into a one-stop platform that provided solutions for market research, as well as customer and employee feedback management.
The Survey team recognized that many users struggled to build a good sample size when conducting market research. To tackle this, Zoho Survey joined hands with an audience panel. Zoho Survey users could now create surveys, get research participants, and analyze reports—all in one place. While email distribution allowed users to send their survey campaigns from within the platform, cross tabbing, TURF analysis, and sentiment analysis made the analysis process feel easy and organized. With these features, Zoho Survey became a DIY market research tool.
People were using smartphones more than ever and it was vital that Zoho Survey be made available across all devices. In 2018, the Zoho Survey mobile app was released. Users could now create surveys and analyze reports on the go. The offline app was launched next, in 2020. It helped users collect responses without the internet. This meant users could carry out research in remote areas through field agents and kiosks.
In time, Zoho Survey added features like white labeling, word clouds, and multilingual surveys. These made Zoho Survey a go-to tool for companies looking to evaluate and improve the customer experience. HR departments loved the fact that they could carry out skill assessments, measure employee pulse, and conduct psychometric tests using one platform.
The here and now, and what lies ahead
Today, Zoho Survey is a leading player in feedback management. It integrates seamlessly with other Zoho apps, like CRM, Desk, Campaigns, and Recruit, making it an all-encompassing solution for carrying out qualitative and quantitative research, providing exceptional customer experiences, and building a productive and healthy workforce.
As we celebrate this milestone, we’re also looking toward the future. Extensive dashboards will soon make an entrance and will make bench-marking, an invaluable instrument for market research, even easier. Workflow automations will streamline processes and reduce the manual effort involved in repetitive tasks. This will help users provide exceptional customer experiences at every touchpoint throughout the customer journey.
There’s also great news for users in HR! You’ll soon be able to send rewards and coupons from within Zoho Survey, so you can build an engaging reward program for your employees.
Today we turn 10. Here’s to a decade of togetherness as we continue to grow, evolve, and reach new horizons. With your constant trust and support, we embark on the next chapter of our story. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each one of you for being part of the Zoho Survey family!
