Newly Public Customer Feedback Firm Medallia Must Overcome Survey Fatigue
Skift Take
Medallia has pleased investors so far with the sales of its enterprise software for tracking customer feedback. But burnout on surveys is an industrywide problem, especially in travel. It remains an open question whether Medallia and its rival tech vendors can overcome the issue.
Medallia, a company that tracks customer feedback and employee sentiment, raised $326 million in its debut as a public company on Friday. New shares in Medallia soared, giving the San Francisco-based company a $6.3 billion valuation after its first day of trading.
The enterprise software company has roughly 550 clients, including Marriott, Hilton, and five other of the largest hotel groups in the U.S., plus brands such as Airbnb and Delta.
But the path to success for Medallia, which has no profits, will be overcoming the fatigue by customers from the deluge of surveys that they are asked to answer at seemingly every turn.
Medallia is one of several customer surveying and employee feedback companies to catch attention recently. Software giant SAP last November acquired its rival Qualtrics, based in Provo, Utah, for $8 billion. Qualtrics customers include four of the five largest global airlines and companies such as American Express.
Survey Monkey, another vendor, raised $180 million last September in its stock market debut.
These and other vendors typically got their start by collecting surveys after trips. But they now try to help hotels, airlines, and other companies check in on cus
