sales-qualtrics

What this skill does

# Qualtrics XM Platform Help

Help the user with Qualtrics Experience Management platform questions — from survey design and dashboard configuration through API integration, employee listening, and program administration.

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **Which Qualtrics product do you need help with?**
   - A) Customer Experience (CX) — NPS, CSAT, CES surveys, dashboards, closed-loop feedback
   - B) Employee Experience (EX) — pulse surveys, lifecycle surveys, employee listening, 360-degree
   - C) Strategy & Research — market research, conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, concept testing
   - D) XM Directory — contact management, distribution lists, segments, automations
   - E) Experience Agents — AI-powered response automation and routing
   - F) API / integrations — REST v3, Salesforce, SAP, webhooks, MCP
   - G) Dashboards & reporting — widgets, filters, data visualization, exports
   - H) Admin — user management, roles, permissions, brand setup
   - I) Pricing / licensing — plan comparison, seat costs, response limits
   - J) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your situation?**
   - A) Setting up Qualtrics for the first time
   - B) Something isn't working / data looks wrong
   - C) Optimizing an existing survey program
   - D) Integrating Qualtrics with other systems
   - E) Evaluating Qualtrics vs alternatives

3. **What's your role?** (CX leader, researcher, HR/people ops, developer, analyst, admin, or other)

**If the user's request already provides enough context, skip to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer, then ask 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:
- NPS/CSAT/VoC strategy across tools → `/sales-customer-feedback {your question}`
- Medallia platform questions → `/sales-medallia {your question}`
- Product review collection (Trustpilot, G2, etc.) → `/sales-customer-reviews {your question}`
- Tool integration architecture → `/sales-integration {your question}`
- Qualtrics vs Medallia comparison → answer directly using platform knowledge

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge using the reference below.

## Step 3 — Qualtrics platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full platform reference — modules, pricing, integrations, data model, API overview, Experience Agents.

Answer the user's question using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.

**For API questions**, also read `references/qualtrics-api-reference.md` for endpoint details, authentication, and SDK documentation.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

You no longer need the full platform guide — focus on the user's specific situation.

1. **Step-by-step instructions** — numbered steps to accomplish their goal in Qualtrics
2. **Configuration recommendations** — specific settings, navigation paths in the platform
3. **Program design guidance** — survey timing, question design, response rate optimization
4. **Verification** — how to confirm the setup works (test surveys, preview links, API testing)

If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in `references/learnings.md`, append it there.

## Gotchas

> *Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

- **Steep learning curve.** Qualtrics is powerful but complex. New users report difficulty navigating the platform. Invest time in Qualtrics XM Basecamp training and community resources before diving in.
- **Pricing is opaque and enterprise-heavy.** Only Free and Strategic Research ($420/mo) are self-serve. Everything else requires a sales call. Enterprise contracts range from low five figures to seven figures annually. Negotiate hard — 8-30% annual increases are common.
- **API token is single-use.** Generating a new API token invalidates the previous one. This breaks all existing integrations. Plan token rotation carefully.
- **Response export is a 3-step async process.** You can't just GET responses — you must: 1) Create export, 2) Poll for completion, 3) Download the file. Budget for this in integration code.
- **Dashboard customization is limited for end users.** Only admins can modify dashboard layouts, add filters, or set up automated reports. Plan for a dedicated admin if you have multiple dashboard consumers.
- **Survey fatigue rules require manual coordination.** Qualtrics doesn't automatically throttle surveys across projects. If multiple teams send surveys, you need a governance process to prevent over-surveying the same contacts.
- **Salesforce integration supports up to 5 instances per account.** If you have more Salesforce orgs, you'll need a workaround or additional Qualtrics accounts.

- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Related skills

- `/sales-customer-feedback` — Customer feedback, NPS, CSAT, VoC strategy across all tools — survey design, response rates, closed-loop feedback, tool comparison. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-customer-feedback`
- `/sales-medallia` — Medallia platform help (Experience Cloud, DXA, contact center, APIs) — the main enterprise alternative to Qualtrics. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-medallia`
- `/sales-customer-reviews` — Product review collection and syndication (Trustpilot, G2, Judge.me, etc.) — different from customer feedback surveys. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-customer-reviews`
- `/sales-integration` — Connecting Qualtrics to CRM, data warehouse, and analytics tools
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Low survey response rate

**User**: "Our post-purchase NPS survey in Qualtrics is only getting 4% response rates. What should I change?"

**Approach**: Audit the survey — shorten to NPS + one open-end (3 questions max). Check XM Directory for delivery timing — send within 1 hour of purchase, not days later. Verify email deliverability (check spam folder with a test). Embed the NPS rating directly in the email body so respondents can rate with one click. Set up contact frequency rules in XM Directory to prevent over-surveying. Consider adding an SMS channel for higher response rates.

### Example 2: API data export for analytics

**User**: "I need to pull all survey responses from the last quarter into our data warehouse. How do I use the Qualtrics API?"

**Approach**: Walk through the 3-step response export process: POST to `/API/v3/surveys/{surveyId}/export-responses` to start the export, GET the progress endpoint to poll for completion, then GET the file download endpoint. Authenticate with `X-API-TOKEN` header. Note the datacenter ID in your base URL. Handle pagination for large datasets. Consider scheduling recurring exports using a cron job rather than ad-hoc queries.

### Example 3: Qualtrics vs Medallia decision

**User**: "We're evaluating Qualtrics and Medallia for our enterprise CX program. What are the key differences?"

**Approach**: Compare head-to-head: Qualtrics is stronger on survey methodology depth, research capabilities (conjoint, MaxDiff), and the XM suite breadth. Medallia leads on real-time action management, built-in digital experience analytics (session replay, heatmaps), and contact center intelligence. Qualtrics is more self-serve; Medallia is more consulting-dependent. Both cost $200K+/year at enterprise scale. The deciding factors: research-heavy orgs lean Qualtrics, action-management-heavy orgs lean Medallia. Request POCs from both.

## Troubleshooting

### "API calls returning server errors"

- **Check your datacenter ID.** The base URL includes your datacenter (e.g., `iad1