The Import Feedback feature allows you to import feedback data collected via other software to Retently, automatically aggregate it to include existing data and avoid any blind spots in your NPS trend.
To access the feedback import option, click the settings menu icon and choose the Import Feedback page.
On the Import Feedback page you will be asked to perform 4 steps:
Create or select an existing campaign
Upload the CSV file
Map your data
Import
Below we will cover each of the steps and guide you through the entire process of feedback import.
1. Create/Select campaign
You need a survey campaign to be able to import the feedback stored in the CSV file.
At the first step you will be asked to either select or create a campaign to import the feedback in. Make sure the campaign has a survey template assigned. The campaign can be active or paused, as well as of any type: email, in-app, survey by link or Intercom.
The campaign you pick here shapes the rest of the import. Retently reads its survey template to know which rating scale to expect, for example 0 to 10 for NPS or 1 to 5 for CSAT, and to offer that campaign’s survey questions as destinations when you map your columns. Picking the right campaign before you upload gives you a more accurate pre-filled mapping.
2. Upload CSV file
Moving next, you will have to upload a CSV file with your feedback. You can either drag a file from your computer and drop it in the upload designated area, or simply hit the Click to upload button to choose the file from your computer.
The file must include at least your respondents’ email addresses and the survey scores (on a scale from 0 to 10) to be valid. Files exported from Excel as “Unicode Text” are also read correctly, though “CSV UTF-8” is the safer choice.
3. Map your data
Once uploaded, you will be asked to map the data from the CSV file to Retently properties. Apart from the required fields (email address and rating), you will be able to map additional columns such as text feedback, sent/opened/responded date, feedback tags, customer properties, and more. You can select default customer properties or create custom ones to match your CSV data. Learn more about custom properties and how they work here.
How Retently fills the mapping for you
You do not have to map every column by hand. Retently pre-fills what it can and shows where each answer came from:
No label: the column header matched a Retently field by name, or its values matched the exact text of one of your survey questions, or the column carries the “Topic (positive)” syntax Retently uses for topics and sentiment.
Matched by answer options: the values in the column are the answer options of one of your survey questions, so Retently assigned the column to that question.
From your last import: you have already imported a feedback file with exactly the same set of column headers, so Retently reuses the mapping you saved that time.
Suggested: Retently read the column header and a sample of its values and proposed the closest match. These rows are highlighted so they are easy to review.
Retently only fills columns that would otherwise be skipped. It never fills the main rating column or the topics and sentiment column: those are always decided from the file itself and are never suggested.
To change or dismiss any row, pick a different option from its dropdown.
Make sure to map as much data as you consider useful for future convenience. If you have at least one of the date properties (sent, opened, responded date) available in your CSV file, map it. This will turn helpful when a customer has multiple feedback records in the CSV file. Hence, you make sure the responses are imported in the correct order, and maintain consistency of your data.
If your file has date columns and none of them is mapped, every response is imported with the same date, and the trend you imported the file to build collapses onto a single day. Retently now looks for an unmapped date column and proposes it as the survey responded date, so check that proposal rather than clicking past it.
If your file contains more than one score column, for example both an NPS and a CSAT score, Retently uses the column headers to decide which one is the main rating for the campaign you selected, instead of taking whichever score-like column happens to come first in the file.
4. Import
If none of the feedback date property is mapped, you will be able to choose a response date in the last, Import section, under Settings. By default, the imported feedback will display the current date, as the date when the survey was responded to. You can choose a different date from the calendar picker, if needed.
If at least one of the date options are mapped, you will be displayed only a short piece of information on the import section as per the image below.
Moving next, hit the Import button to complete the upload of the CSV file. It may take a while depending on how much feedback data you have.
Viewing the imported feedback
The imported feedback will be available on your Feedback page, along with existing customer feedback. The imported feedback will be counted in your NPS score and other data displayed on the Dashboard.
The survey respondents will be imported in Retently along with their feedback. For existing customers, only the feedback and the attached tags will be updated.
On the Outbox page, each feedback record will be labeled “IMPORTED” to indicate that the data was imported from an external source and not collected in Retently. The record will also store the name of the campaign, the survey channel, and the subject line of the assigned survey template. The statuses sent/opened/responded will have the date of the CSV import or the specific date attached.