Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation with a diverse portfolio of software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), manufacturing, media and entertainment, and education industries.
Their software has been used in many fields, and on projects from the One World Trade Center to Tesla electric cars.
Autodesk’s core value as a customer company had invested in creating a listening and communicative infrastructure over the decades, for feedback and development.
Autodesk’s working relationship with Alida initially started when creating a research community that could play an important role in the sharing back of research results, and overall customer relationship management.
Autodesk hears from thousands of its users every year. It is challenging to close the feedback loop every time with them whilst progressing with innovation and development. As a result, some of those customers might never see the outcome of their feedback.
While Autodesk always valued engaging with customers and learning from them, they refocused their efforts, when a group of Autodesk Revit customers—one of the first products served by the research community—contacted the company to express their frustrations over the business model, value, and perceived investment in the product line.
Autodesk leadership swiftly launched a response campaign. This included listening sessions with groups of customers around the world to hear perspectives and feedback, as well as social listening across social media, blogs, and other forums.
Autodesk also drew upon the existing Alida community by collecting feedback and posting sharebacks to their member hub. This helped customers become aware that they were heard and that Autodesk was acting on their input—truly closing the loop with Revit users.
However, Autodesk was not satisfied with a short-term solution.
“In line with Autodesk’s core value as a customer company, we worked with Alida to improve our infrastructure and provide the best in-class user experience and values across many product divisions,” said Renae Geraci, Director of User Experience AEC. “Our customers are our most important partners and we look forward to engaging and empowering their work and driving innovation within their industries.”
Autodesk built a two-tiered program focused on community health and engagement with the following goals:
- Increase representation and diverse perspectives in AEC research activities to ensure a wide variety of customers are being heard.
- Deliver best-in-class research experiences that lead to positive brand perception and loyalty.
Autodesk increased their research activities with Revit customers by 30% in 2021. By partnering with the product teams, they also increased their efforts to close the loop with customers by 40%.
Members digesting these shareback efforts increased 60%, whilst the customer engagement increased by 45%.
To help manage this growth and build trust and transparency with the brand, two Community Managers were hired to facilitate the relationship between the product teams and the members, creating open and fluid communication and feedback loop opportunities.
This new customer-centric program is positively impacting satisfaction metrics according to Autodesk Research Community’s annual Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) & Member Experience Evaluation (MEE).
Results indicate that Revit customers have an 84% satisfaction rating, an increase of 12% from the previous year. Product users identified that their highest driver of satisfaction was the improved communication feedback loop.
The program is a success and will be scaled to include further product teams at Autodesk, implementing similar strategies to improve product innovation and overall customer experience.
