Qualtrics is a well-known customer experience (CX) vendor with a rich suite of functions recognized as category leaders by software authorities like Gartner.
While Qualtrics is an excellent choice for many businesses, its competitors have specific strengths that make them more useful for particular use cases.
So, whatever your CX goals are, there’s a platform out there to help you achieve them. And the reality is, some of them might do the job better!
We’ve reviewed some of the best options for customer experience management (CXM) software, including Qualtrics and its competitors, CustomerGauge, GetFeedback, Alchemer, Medallia, and QuestionPro.
A Closer Look at Qualtrics
Founded in 2002, Qualtrics is truly an end-to-end experience management platform.
The company offers different tools for managing product, employee, customer, and brand experiences. Since we’re reviewing CX software, we’ll focus on Qualtrics’s dedicated CX solution, Qualtrics CustomerXM.
However, for market and foundational research, Qualtrics CoreXM is a better choice.
CustomerXM helps brands collect customer feedback, analyze it, and take action based on CX data. It also supports omnichannel data collection and advanced predictive analytics.
Price: Qualtrics CustomerXM’s pricing starts at $1,500 annually
Best for: Businesses of all sizes, with its largest market share being enterprise brands
Top 3 industries: Financial Services, Retail, B2B.
Customer service G2 rating: 8.7 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.3
What Makes Qualtrics a Powerful CX Solution?
Qualtrics is a mature CX vendor, and Qualtrics CustomerXM has all the essential features needed to manage end-to-end customer experiences. The platform is suitable for all business models and use cases, whether B2B, B2C, or B2B2C.
Qualtrics CoreXM is also valuable for both commercial and academic needs.
The platform was particularly recognized by Gartner for its multi-departmental capabilities. Qualtrics has experience in helping its partners drive CX transformations across multiple departments, including marketing, sales, product, and customer support.
Something that’s very powerful about the software is its deep analytics to help CX teams filter, classify, and understand CX data. Teams can leverage Qualtrics’s text and sentiment to interpret data, and use predictive analytics to forecast sales and the impact of CX on revenue. The platform is highly customizable, supporting almost 50 languages and allowing users to create their own multimedia content.
When Should You Consider a Qualtrics Competitor?
Qualtrics is generally a great choice for any type of business. However, there are some good reasons to consider one of Qualtrics competitors, such as…
Costs. While Qualtrics is a powerful solution, its rich feature set comes at a hefty price. For example, CustomerXM’s pricing starts at $1500/user annually.
Specific use cases. Some tools are better suited for specific use cases. For example, GetFeedback is a great option for users looking to run their CX initiatives through Salesforce. Meanwhile, CustomerGauge is built specifically with B2B brands in mind.
Business needs. Different businesses have varying CX needs and goals, making some CX software a better choice over others. For example, B2B businesses that are focused on sales enablement and revenue growth may prefer CustomerGauge over Qualtrics.
Qualtrics vs Competitors: Gartner’s Perspective
Gartner’s 2020 Critical Capabilities Report assessed the top 14 CX vendors to evaluate how each performed in real-world use cases. The report vetted product capabilities like customer journey orchestration, advanced predictive and prescriptive analytics, and advanced case management from the leading B2B vendors.
In the report, CustomerGauge secured the highest score (3.42) for the enterprise B2B use case.
Medallia came in a close second with a score of 3.38, and Qualtrics ranked third with a score of 3.22. The remaining vendors scored below 3 for this use case, indicating that Medallia, Qualtrics, and CustomerGauge are significantly better suited for B2B needs.
Qualtrics vs Competitors: CXM Software Tools Compared
CustomerGauge
Price: Contact our team for details.
Best for: Mid-market and Enterprise B2B and B2B2C companies aiming to grow account sizes and reduce churn.
Top 3 industries: Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Technology, Manufacturing.
Customer service G2 rating: 9.6 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.6
Gartner ranked CustomerGauge as the best CXM vendor for B2B companies, making it a formidable Qualtrics competitor for B2B and B2B2C use cases.
CustomerGauge is purpose-built with B2B customer experiences in mind. The platform’s Account ExperienceTM methodology was designed specifically to help B2B businesses handle complex account structures that involve multiple stakeholders.
However, while most CX software focuses on data collection, CustomerGauge prioritizes taking action.
The platform allows teams to link CX to revenue, giving insights into the effects of CX initiatives on your bottom line. Tying CX to financial data also helps companies identify accounts that are ready to be upsold, cross-sold, and engaged in referral marketing.
The CustomerGauge platform lets CX teams:
Collect unstructured and structured data (such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), live chat logs, and product usage) from different channels and analyze it in one centralized platform.
Visualize account hierarchies and send targeted surveys at different account levels.
Set SMART goals and time targets to close the loop quickly, at every level.
Setup alerts for when accounts are exhibiting churn signals, so you can quickly take action. CustomerGauge is also the only platform that currently monitors absence of signal.
Prioritize fixing CX issues for your most valuable accounts.
Why Consider CustomerGauge Over Qualtrics?
Qualtrics is an exceptional end-to-end experience management software suitable for both B2B and B2B2C needs. It has excellent surveying capabilities, powerful reporting and analytics, detailed text analysis, and functionality to help you take action.
But if you’re a B2B brand looking to increase your bottom line and grow account sizes, CustomerGauge has the edge over its better known alternative. Recognized by Gartner for its excellent B2B sales-enablement capabilities, CustomerGauge’s account-based approach makes it the ideal CX platform for Midsize to Enterprise-level B2B companies.
CustomerGauge helps B2B brands analyze customer feedback and the drivers behind it, empowering CX teams to reduce customer churn and identify their most loyal accounts.
Another reason B2B brands tend to like CustomerGauge is because of the vendor’s excellent in-house support. In contrast, Qualtrics outsources most of its implementation and customer support.
So, CustomerGauge is an excellent choice for B2B brands. However, it admittedly falls short for B2C businesses.
Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo)
Price: Alchemer has two different offerings: self-service software and their VoC/CX platform. The former comes with three pricing plans, starting at $49/user/month, and you’ll need to contact them directly for a quote for the VoC/CX platform.
Best for: Mid-sized businesses.
Top 3 industries: information Technology and Services, Market Research, Education Management.
Customer service G2 rating: 8.6 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.4
Alchemer is a customer survey platform that helps growing businesses implement customer experience management (CXM) systems through its integration with CRMs and other software. The integrations allow Alchemer to collect insights, and users to design workflows, for managing CX across your operations. Founded in 2006, Alchemer remains one of the most flexible CX software in the business.
Alchemer positions itself as a middle-ground between simple surveying tools like SurveyMonkey, and robust CXM software like Qualtrics.
Alchemer is easy to use and intuitive, but it comes with deep analytics and insights that simple surveying software lacks. As a result, Alchemer is a popular choice for small-to-medium-sized organizations.
Why Consider Alchemer Over Qualtrics?
Alchemer’s positioning adequately reflects its capabilities. It is indeed a middle-ground between simple software like SurveyMonkey and advanced solutions like Qualtrics. So, Alchemer is an excellent choice for smaller organizations looking to implement CXM programs at an affordable price.
In Gartner’s Critical Capabilities report, Alchemer scored 2nd for enabling Mid-size businesses, but fell short for large Enterprises. It scored mid-table for B2C, B2B, and B2B2C needs, making it a well-rounded solution for smaller businesses of any model.
GetFeedback (Momentive)
Price: GetFeedback offers three plans (Essentials, Pro, Ultimate), and the Essentials plan comes with a free 14-day trial. For the paid plans, contact GetFeedback for a quote.
Best for: Mid-sized to large B2C Enterprises.
Top 3 industries: IT, Computer Software, Internet.
Customer service G2 rating: 9.0 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.5
GetFeedback is a surveying and CXM software owned by the parent company of SurveyMonkey, famous survey-building tool.
While SurveyMonkey is limited to surveying capabilities, GetFeedback helps customers manage their CX initiatives — but there’s a catch. GetFeedback works by integrating with Salesforce, so it's reliant on the CRM for CX management. Without the integration, it's simply a surveying tool.
This reliance on Salesforce is both a strength and a drawback. If you don’t use Salesforce, GetFeedback isn’t useful beyond simple surveying. But if Salesforce is already a part of your tech stack, GetFeedback can help collect granular CX data and drive CX initiatives.
GetFeedback is easy to use and comes with an intuitive UI. It also lets CX teams focus their data collection. For example, teams can collect feedback for a specific product or at a certain touchpoint. The platform also helps teams understand customer segments with the help of CSAT scores and other metrics.
Why Consider GetFeedback Over Qualtrics?
GetFeedback is an excellent choice if your team uses Salesforce, because the integration unlocks their own CXM capabilities. According to customer reviews, users typically find GetFeedback easier to use than Qualtrics, and their UI is more intuitive.
So, if Qualtrics’s complexity is overwhelming for your team, GetFeedback is a great alternative.
Medallia
Price: Contact Medallia for a custom quote.
Best for: Large Enterprises with complex structures.
Top 3 industries: Hospitality, IT, and Financial Services.
Customer service G2 rating: 9.0 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.5
Medallia is a mature CX tool and one of the biggest vendors by market share. The platform is easy to use and versatile, making it ideal for both basic and cross-functional tasks. In Gartner’s Critical Capabilities report, Medallia scored the highest for both its automated action capabilities and analytics and insight.
The vendor’s subdivision, Medallia Athena, uses AI and machine learning (ML) to identify patterns, issues and opportunities, and predict customer behavior.
Medallia is generally ideal for large Enterprises, especially ones with complex multi-enterprise structures. However, the software has expanded its focus to midsize businesses, offering prepackaged and templated solutions.
It’s particularly popular among Enterprises in the financial services, technology and telecommunications, and retail sectors.
Why Consider Medallia Over Qualtrics?
Medallia and Qualtrics are close competitors, so for many use cases (both B2C and B2B), either platform is a good option. However, for large Enterprises looking to invest in organization-wide CX transformation, Medallia is relatively more experienced in catering to enterprises with complex structures and hierarchies.
Thus, Medallia is an excellent Qualtrics competitor for large organizations to seriously consider.
QuestionPro
Price: QuestionPro’s Essentials plan is free, while Advanced plan costs $99/month, for one user. Contact QuestionPro directly for a quote for their Teams plan.
Best for: Small-to-medium-sized businesses looking for great value for money.
Top 3 industries: Higher Education, Non-Profit organization management, and Education Management.
Customer service G2 rating: 9.0 for Quality of Support.
G2 score: 4.5
QuestionPro is a CXM software with advanced surveying capabilities, including support for multilingual surveys, timed surveys, and different question types (e.g., price sensitivity questions).
QuestionPro has an interesting feature that most CX software lack: Community Management, which helps companies leverage customer insights for product roadmap feedback and co-creation.
The feature also lets companies manage panelists, ideal for surveys that last for a prolonged duration.
Why Consider QuestionPro Over Qualtrics?
QuestionPro primarily targets mid-sized companies looking for great value for money. The platform offers many features that more mature CXM platforms do, including omnichannel data collection and automated actions, at a fraction of the cost.
So, QuestionPro is an attractive option for growing businesses looking for a reliable, trusted CXM partner (with 24/7 support).
However, QuestionPro’s analytics fall short compared to tools like Qualtrics, with QuestionPro lacking advanced features like video and predictive analytics. Moreover, the platform scored quite low for Enterprise B2B needs in Gartner’s Critical Capabilities report.
Thus, it’s not ideal for B2B businesses, especially larger ones.
CustomerGauge: A Qualtrics Competitor Built for B2B Needs
CustomerGauge is the CX management software of choice for B2B businesses. The platform is designed to help brands:
Understand what customers at all account levels are thinking.
Take the right action to reduce churn and set SMART goals to stay consistent.
Know which accounts are primed for upselling, cross-selling, and referral marketing.
CustomerGauge’s account-based approach makes it the ideal CX platform for Mid-sized and Enterprise-level B2B companies as it helps businesses prioritize taking action to reduce churn and grow account sizes.
Ready to fight churn and grow your bottom line? Demo us here!
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