In the dynamic world of education, gathering and utilizing student feedback effectively is crucial for enhancing services and boosting engagement. Salesforce provides educational institutions with robust tools for collecting, analyzing, and acting on student feedback. Here’s how you can leverage Salesforce to improve your institution’s feedback processes:

Design and Deploy Custom Surveys with Salesforce

Salesforce’s Survey feature allows institutions to create and distribute custom surveys tailored to various aspects of student life. Here’s how to use it:

• Create Surveys: Use Salesforce Survey Builder to design surveys that address specific areas such as course evaluations, campus facilities, or student support services. You can include a mix of question types—multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended questions—to capture comprehensive feedback.
• Distribute Surveys: Surveys can be sent via email directly from Salesforce or integrated into your student portal using Salesforce Experience Cloud. You can also use Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud to automate survey distribution and follow-ups.
• Analyze Responses: Once surveys are completed, responses are collected in Salesforce and linked to individual student records. Use Salesforce Reports and Dashboards to visualize survey data, identify trends, and generate actionable insights.

Leverage Einstein Analytics for Sentiment Analysis

Salesforce’s Einstein Analytics offers advanced capabilities for analyzing qualitative feedback. Here’s how to utilize it:

• Integrate Feedback Sources: Import feedback from various channels such as open-ended survey responses, social media, or email communications into Salesforce.
• Apply Sentiment Analysis: Use Einstein’s natural language processing tools to perform sentiment analysis on the textual feedback. This helps categorize responses into positive, negative, or neutral sentiments.
• Visualize Insights: Create custom dashboards that display sentiment trends and identify common themes or issues. For example, a dashboard might reveal recurring negative sentiment about a particular service, prompting a review of that service.

Collect Real-Time Feedback with Salesforce Experience Cloud

Salesforce Experience Cloud (formerly Community Cloud) allows institutions to create engaging student portals and mobile apps for real-time feedback collection. Here’s how to implement it:

• Build Feedback Widgets: Integrate feedback forms or widgets into your student portal or mobile app. These widgets can prompt students to provide feedback immediately after key interactions, such as attending a workshop or meeting with an advisor.
• Real-Time Collection: Students can submit feedback directly through these portals or apps, ensuring timely and relevant input. Use Salesforce Mobile for app-based feedback collection to reach students on their preferred devices.
• Monitor and Act: Use Salesforce’s real-time reporting features to monitor feedback as it comes in. Immediate alerts can help your team address issues quickly and make necessary adjustments to improve student experiences.

Utilize Salesforce Reports and Dashboards for Data-Driven Insights

Salesforce provides powerful tools for analyzing feedback data through Reports and Dashboards. Here’s how to make the most of them:

• Create Custom Reports: Build custom reports to analyze feedback trends across different dimensions, such as by department, program, or student demographics. Include metrics like average satisfaction scores, response rates, and feedback volume.
• Design Dashboards: Use Salesforce’s Dashboard Builder to create visual representations of your feedback data. Dashboards can feature charts, graphs, and tables that highlight key findings and track changes over time.
• Make Data-Driven Decisions: Regularly review these dashboards to identify areas for improvement. For example, if feedback indicates dissatisfaction with academic advising, your institution can take targeted actions to enhance the advising experience.

Orchid Connect is a woman-owned Salesforce implementation firm with 30 years of experience serving associations, non-profits and small/medium businesses. We specialize in strategic and implementation services, go-to-market support, and ongoing support. To learn more, reach us at reachout@orchidconnect.com.