HubSpot Survey Reporting: Unlocking Deep Insights from Customer Feedback & Custom Objects

Hey there, ESHOPMAN community! As experts living and breathing HubSpot and e-commerce, we know that getting customer feedback is crucial. But what’s even more critical? Making sense of that feedback and turning it into actionable insights. We recently stumbled upon a really insightful discussion in the HubSpot Community that perfectly highlights some common challenges we see with reporting on survey responses.

The original poster brought up some fantastic questions around attributing feedback, especially when dealing with custom objects. It’s a scenario many RevOps pros and marketers face: you’re collecting NPS, CSAT, or CES data, but how do you connect it back to the right people, the right deals, or even your unique business processes?

The Challenge: Connecting Feedback to the Right Data

Our community member was looking to establish an internal process to capture reviews at various stages – Sales (NPS), Production (CSAT), and Service (CES) – tied to Deals, custom objects (like 'Jobs'), and Tickets, respectively. Their goal was brilliant: catch problems early, before they escalate into poor public reviews. But they hit a snag with reporting and attribution, specifically:

1. Attributing to Employees: How to report on responses without a direct 'Employees' dropdown in the survey form.
2. Custom Object Reporting: What are the options for custom objects since synced properties aren't available for survey properties?
3. Understanding Associations: How does HubSpot actually create associations between objects and survey responses, and is workflow automation enough?

These are stellar questions that cut right to the heart of leveraging HubSpot's feedback tools effectively. While the initial community response pointed to a helpful general article, let's dive deeper into the specifics.

Attributing Feedback to Employees & Teams (Question A)

The concern about not having an 'Employees' dropdown in the survey form is valid. Asking customers to pick an employee from a list can feel clunky and might even skew results. Here’s a better approach:

• Leverage Existing Object Owners: Instead of asking the customer, use the HubSpot properties already associated with the object from which the survey was sent. For a Sales (NPS) survey tied to a Deal, you’d report on the Deal Owner. For a Service (CES) survey tied to a Ticket, use the Ticket Owner.
• Workflow Automation for Attribution: If the survey is triggered by a workflow, you can set a custom property on the feedback submission record itself. For example, a workflow can identify the 'Deal Owner' at the time the survey is sent and copy that value to a custom 'Attributed Employee' property on the survey response. This gives you a direct link for reporting.
• Reporting Structure: Once you have these properties (Deal Owner, Ticket Owner, or your custom 'Attributed Employee' property on the feedback submission), you can build custom reports in HubSpot. Simply create a single object report for 'Feedback Submissions' and group or filter by these employee-related properties. You can then add metrics like 'Average NPS', 'Average CSAT', or 'Total Responses'.

Reporting on Custom Objects (Question B)

This is where things get a little more nuanced, but definitely solvable! The original poster rightly noted that direct synced properties for survey responses don't automatically appear on custom objects. The trick here is, again, workflow automation:

• Copy Properties with Workflows: When your CSAT survey (for example) is triggered from a 'Job' (your custom object), create a workflow that runs when a feedback submission is created and associated with that 'Job'. In this workflow, you can copy relevant properties from the 'Job' custom object (e.g., 'Job Type', 'Job Manager', 'Job ID') to a custom property on the feedback submission record.
• Why the Feedback Submission? Because the feedback submission is the central record for the survey response. By enriching it with data from your custom object, you create the necessary links for reporting.
• Cross-Object Reporting: Once these properties are copied, you can build custom reports that pull data from 'Feedback Submissions' and filter/group by the custom object properties you've copied over. This allows you to see, for instance, the CSAT score broken down by 'Job Type' or 'Job Manager'. This level of detail is invaluable for optimizing your internal processes, whether you're a complex B2B service or an amazon online store builder looking to refine your fulfillment process.

Understanding HubSpot's Association Magic (Question C)

The original poster's question about how associations are created is a good one, as it can feel a bit like magic sometimes! Here's the lowdown:

• Feedback Submissions are Their Own Object: In HubSpot, a survey response isn't just a property on a contact or deal; it's its own dedicated object type called 'Feedback Submissions'. Each survey response creates one of these records.
• Automation is Key for Association: Yes, firing a feedback survey from a Deal-based, Ticket-based, or Custom Object-based automation is generally sufficient to create the association. When the survey is sent via a workflow tied to one of these objects, HubSpot automatically associates the resulting 'Feedback Submission' record with the contact who responded, and crucially, with the specific Deal, Ticket, or Custom Object that triggered it.
• How to Confirm Associations: You can see these associations directly on the 'Feedback Submission' record itself within HubSpot. Navigate to 'Reporting' > 'Feedback Surveys', click on a specific survey, and then view individual responses. You'll see which Contact, Deal, Ticket, or Custom Object it's associated with. In custom reports, you can select 'Feedback Submissions' as your primary data source and then pull in associated properties from other objects (like 'Deal Name' or 'Ticket ID') to confirm these links.

ESHOPMAN Team Comment

This discussion perfectly illustrates why robust feedback mechanisms are non-negotiable for any e-commerce business, especially when integrated with HubSpot. While the original thread lacked direct answers, the questions highlight critical areas where ESHOPMAN users can gain a competitive edge. We strongly advocate for leveraging HubSpot workflows to create those crucial property links between feedback submissions and your custom objects, ensuring you're not just collecting data but truly understanding the customer journey through your ESHOPMAN storefront.

By implementing these strategies, you move beyond just collecting scores to truly understanding the 'why' behind your customer's experience. This insight allows you to pinpoint areas for improvement, whether it's streamlining your sales process, refining your product delivery, or enhancing post-purchase support. Ultimately, a well-reported feedback loop empowers you to build stronger customer relationships and drive sustained growth for your ESHOPMAN store.