PeopleSoft clicks with Zoomerang

Zoomerang zPro is delivering fast, responsive surveying for internal and external audiences at PeopleSoft.

At PeopleSoft Inc., the worldwide leader in enterprise software technology based in Pleasanton, California, their Marketing team is learning how Zoomerang zPro can help them better understand the needs of their sales force, customers and business partners.

Scott Danish, Director of Marketing, PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management, started using Zoomerang zPro recently. "I received a survey, and I thought the interface was attractive, so I looked up their information on their web site," he says. When I saw the templates, and how easy it was to use, I subscribed right away."

Online surveys become easier
Prior to using Zoomerang, surveys at PeopleSoft required the use of an internal party and PeopleSofts regular HTML. "It was a comprehensive process," says Danish, because every project depended on the availability of other people in Marketing to help build the survey.

Their existing system meant that online surveys could take several days to build, and you had to set up a separate process to access the results, he says. So when he saw what Zoomerang offered, he was immediately interested.

First-time use is simple and intuitive
Danishs initial Zoomerang experience sold him on the tool. "They had a really robust FAQ section, which answered my questions," he says. The first time he used the tool, it took him about 20 to 30 minutes to click around and understand how to create the kind of survey he wanted. While he thought it was intuitive and easy-to-use at first, "it was even faster the second time," he says.

For first-time users, Zoomerang is able to "bring you up the learning curve really fast," Danish says.

Its range of question options allowed him the versatility he was looking for. "I was able right away to set up the rating system for the questions," he says, creating for example, a 1 to 10 ranking, where the surveyor determines the value of the scale.

Ease of use and good response reinforce frequency
To date, Danish has created two surveys with Zoomerang. One survey was for an external audience. "It went to about 500 high-level procurement professionals," he says and about 80 recipients responded, or about 16 percent. "I was really impressed with its rapid deployment," he says. "The data gathered from this survey will provide us with a general understanding of what they find valuable in a two-day conference."

The other survey was internal, to PeopleSofts own sales force on account profiling. The information gathered from this survey will provide the Marketing team with an understanding of the in-depth account information on key prospects and customers that the sales force finds most useful.

"Going into a sales call with a deep level of account information can make or break a deal," Danish says. "Digging beyond just contacts and competitive solution information can uncover facts that guarantee them an edge. We're interested in utilizing a specialized team of telemarketers to conduct profiling at a much deeper level. So we posed several issues (business pains, company roles, customer sales cycle, software buying history, competition and more) and asked the reps to rank them as must have in detail, nice to have some detail and not necessary. From there, we can take the top must have responses and run a specialized telemarketing effort."

Going forward, Danish plans to use Zoomerang, to survey prospects, PeopleSofts existing customer base, its business partners, and its sales force.

Companies appreciate professional-looking interface
One of the benefits of Zoomerang that Danish discovered immediately was the tools appearance. "It was a really attractive interface," he says. "I liked the look and feel of it. It created the professional image I wanted to project."

From first-timer to regular user
Within half-an-hour, Danish moved from novice to skilled Zoomerang zPro user. By exploring the tools intuitive interface, he was able to understand the range of options available to him and quickly create the survey he needed, when he needed it. Now online surveys are an ongoing part of his research plans.