AskNicely

What is AskNicely

AskNicely is a customer experience software designed for service-based businesses. Its main purpose is to help companies measure customer satisfaction, primarily using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) framework. The platform allows businesses to collect customer feedback automatically, provide real-time insights to frontline teams, and coach employees to improve service quality. By focusing on making feedback actionable, AskNicely helps motivate staff and connect their performance to business results like customer retention and revenue growth. The company was founded in 2014 and has its origins in New Zealand, now with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. It aims to simplify CX management for businesses that depend on their people to deliver great service.

AskNicely Features

AskNicely offers a set of tools focused on collecting feedback and empowering teams. Here are its key features:

• AI-Powered Surveys: Uses conversational AI to ask follow-up questions, gathering more specific and detailed qualitative feedback from customers without extra effort.
• Feedback Collection: Automates sending surveys like NPS, Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES) through email, SMS, or web links at key moments in the customer journey.
• Real-Time Dashboards and Leaderboards: Displays incoming feedback instantly on dashboards. Leaderboards show top-performing staff and locations, creating motivation through friendly competition.
• Actionable Coaching: Automatically identifies coaching opportunities from customer feedback and provides managers with clear suggestions to guide their teams.
• Workflow Integrations: Connects with popular CRM and helpdesk systems to trigger surveys automatically and sync feedback data, making it part of daily operations.
• Review Management: Encourages satisfied customers to leave reviews on public sites like Google, helping to improve the business's online reputation.
• Mobile App: Provides a mobile application for managers and frontline staff to access feedback, receive alerts, and respond to customers on the go.
• NiceAI Analysis: An AI feature that analyzes text feedback to identify trends, sentiment, and key topics, saving hours of manual analysis.

AskNicely Pricing Plans

AskNicely provides customized pricing based on the specific needs and scale of a business. The pricing is not publicly listed, and you must contact their sales team for a quote. The plans are typically structured in tiers to serve different business sizes.

• Essentials Plan: This plan is designed for smaller businesses or single teams starting with customer experience management. It usually includes core features like NPS surveys, real-time dashboards, and basic integrations.
• Professional Plan: Aimed at mid-sized businesses, this tier offers more advanced features. It might include multiple survey types, advanced workflow automation, coaching tools, and more integration options.
• Enterprise Plan: This is for large organizations with complex needs. It includes all features, plus dedicated support, advanced security, custom reporting, and API access for full customization.

AskNicely Free Plan

AskNicely does not offer a permanent free plan. However, they provide a free trial or a personalized demo for interested businesses. The demo allows you to see the platform in action with an expert guide, while a trial period lets you test the software's capabilities with your own data to see if it fits your business needs before committing to a paid plan.

How to use AskNicely

Getting started with AskNicely is a straightforward process focused on quick implementation.

1. Connect Your Data: First, integrate AskNicely with your CRM or business management software (like Salesforce or HubSpot). This allows AskNicely to know who your customers are and when to survey them.
2. Configure Your Survey: Choose the type of survey you want to send (e.g., NPS). Customize the question, branding, and thank you message to match your company's voice.
3. Automate Sending: Set up rules to automatically send surveys after key customer interactions, such as after a service is completed, a support ticket is closed, or a purchase is made.
4. Monitor Feedback: Watch the real-time dashboard to see feedback as it comes in. Identify promoters, passives, and detractors instantly.
5. Act on Feedback: Use the platform to respond directly to customers. Share positive feedback to motivate your team and use negative feedback as a coaching opportunity to address issues.
6. Track Performance: Use the reports and leaderboards to track your overall NPS score, team performance, and the impact of your improvements over time.

Pros and Cons of AskNicely

Here is a balanced look at the advantages and disadvantages of using AskNicely.

Pros:

• Simplicity and Ease of Use: The platform is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for frontline teams to adopt.
• Focus on Action: It excels at turning feedback into immediate, actionable tasks for employees and managers.
• Real-Time Feedback: The instant delivery of feedback helps teams address issues quickly and celebrate successes.
• Team Motivation: Features like leaderboards and public recognition of praise are effective for motivating staff.
• Strong Integrations: It connects well with a wide range of popular business tools.

Cons:

• Nontransparent Pricing: You cannot see pricing on the website and must go through a sales process.
• NPS-Centric: While it supports other metrics, its primary focus is on NPS, which may not be sufficient for companies needing a more complex, multi-channel CX program.
• Limited Advanced Analytics: Compared to larger enterprise CX platforms, its built-in analytics and reporting might be less comprehensive for deep data analysis.

AskNicely integrations

AskNicely integrates with a wide variety of business applications to automate workflows and sync data. Key integrations include:

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics
• Help Desk: Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk
• Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams
• Billing & Payments: Stripe, Chargebee
• Other: It also connects with hundreds of other apps through Zapier, allowing for extensive custom automation.

AskNicely Alternatives

If AskNicely is not the right fit, consider these alternatives:

• Delighted (by Qualtrics): A very user-friendly tool for collecting NPS, CSAT, and other feedback. It is known for its simplicity and fast setup, making it a strong competitor for businesses that want an easy solution.
• SurveyMonkey: A versatile survey platform that can be used for customer feedback but also for market research and employee engagement. It is more of a general-purpose tool with broader survey capabilities.
• GetFeedback (by Momentive): Focuses on integrating deeply with Salesforce to capture feedback across the customer journey. It is a great choice for businesses that are heavily invested in the Salesforce ecosystem.
• Nicereply: Specializes in collecting feedback after customer interactions on help desk platforms like Zendesk and Freshdesk. It is ideal for support teams looking to measure agent performance.

AskNicely API

Yes, AskNicely provides a REST API for developers. The API allows you to programmatically manage contacts, send surveys, and retrieve feedback data, enabling custom integrations with your internal systems. To get an API key, you typically need to be on a plan that includes API access. Once you have access, you can generate a key from your AskNicely account settings.

Here is a basic example of how to add a person using the API with cURL:

curl -X POST https://api.asknice.ly/v1/people \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "phone_number": "+15551234567"
}'

For complete details, you should consult the official AskNicely developer documentation.

AskNicely Affiliate program

AskNicely does not appear to have a public affiliate program where individuals can sign up to earn commissions for referrals. Instead, they offer a Partner Program designed for agencies, consultants, and technology providers who work with service businesses. Partners can refer clients to AskNicely and may receive benefits as part of the partnership agreement. If you are interested in becoming a partner, you should contact their partnership team directly through their website to discuss the opportunities available.