Ask anywhere touchpoint - Upload answers via FTPs server

Hello Customer makes it easy to automate adding answers to a certain touchpoint by dropping a file on the FTPs server. Some use cases are when you want to systematically analyze public reviews or when you want to upload answers collected via another tool. In case you want to upload answers only once, you can use the manual upload via the platform.

IN THIS ARTICLE

1. General introduction
1. What is FTPs?
2. What are the benefits of FTPs?
2. Start uploading files via FTPs
1. STEP 1: Create touchpoint
2. STEP 2: Download template
3. STEP 3: Connect to the FTPs server
4. STEP 4: Drop the file on the FTPs server
3. Overview of your uploaded files
1. How to get there
2. Overview answer uploads

1. General introduction

1a. What is FTPs?

FTPs is an extension of the commonly used File Transfer Protocol (FTP) that adds support for the Transport Layer Security (TLS) and the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) cryptographic protocols. FTPs is based on a client-server model. The client software connects to the FTPs server, which allows you to transfer files from your computer to the server.

FTPs can be used as a safe method to transfer participants in spreadsheets to the Hello Customer platform in order to send an invitation e-mail for feedback. This is a more automated and less error-prone method than uploading participants manually. Most customer data systems (CRM) can gather and upload customer data (mostly in .csv format) without much custom development or configuration.

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1b. What are the benefits of FTPs?

• In several cases, it can be handy to add answers from other sources to the Hello Customer platform to also have an analysis for this data via an automated process
  • Customer feedback collected via another platform
  • Public reviews, for example, Google or TrustPilot reviews
  • ...
• We can track if something went wrong and what went wrong because files that failed to upload are moved to an "error" folder.

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2. Start uploading files via FTPs

STEP 1: Create touchpoint

Set up an Ask anywhere touchpoint with all the questions you want to upload. In case you do not know how to set up a touchpoint, this handy manual can help.

Note: You can also add answers in an already existing Ask anywhere touchpoint. Make sure the questions in your touchpoint match the answers you want to upload.

STEP 2: Download template

The file uploaded to the FTP server must follow a specific format. Each touchpoint has its own template, which can be downloaded from the platform. Keep in mind that the template is tailored to each touchpoint, as it includes all the questions relevant to that particular touchpoint.

The template consists of several columns where the data needs to be filled out

Example of a template file for a touchpoint with one CSAT question

Explanation of the different columns:

• Language (mandatory)
  • The language in which the original survey, review, etc. was given.
  • Fill out the language in the 2-character ISO 639-1 Code (for example: EN, FR, NL, ...).
  • Make sure all languages from your file are added to your touchpoint.
• Answer date (optional)
  • The date should be in the format dd/mm/yyyy. In case you do not specify a date, the answer date will be the date you upload the file.
  • Make sure your day and month are in this order. If you format your dates as mm/dd/yyyy, our system will translate 12/01/2023 as the 12th of January 2023 and not as the 1st of december 2023.
• Questions (mandatory for first question and mandatory questions, optional for others)

  • Every column contains a question. On the first row, you can find the question text in the primary language of the touchpoint. On the second row, the unique ID of this question is displayed. We need this to link the answers to the correct questions, so do not change this!

    A metric question (NPS, CSAT, and CES) will have two columns: one where you can fill out the score and one where you can fill out the open text feedback.

    For Yes/No questions, fill out the values TRUE (yes) and FALSE (no).

    For multiple and single-choice questions, it is important to include the answer options exactly as you specified them in your question settings. In case you want to add several options, separate them by a comma.

    Example

    • Multiple-choice question: What kind of pasta do you like?
      • Spaghetti
      • Macaroni
      • Linguini
      • Tagliatelle

    • Answers in the file: Spaghetti, Linguini

      Keep in mind to NOT add spaces between the different options!

• Columns to fill out personal data about the participant (optional)
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Customer ID
• All extra columns you add will be treated as metadata (optional)
  • The name of your metadata key is specified in row 2
  • All values in this column will be saved as values on this metadata key.

Example of a filled-out line for John Doe who answered 5 on the CSAT question and gave open feedback on 14/03/2024. The metadata keys "Amount spent" and "Pieces bought" will be added to the touchpoint, and the values on these keys will be respectively €31,29 and 2 for John Doe.

Some points of attention:

• Include answers on all mandatory questions for every line you want to upload.
• Make sure you add all mandatory metadata in your file.
• Do not change the order of the columns and do not change the first two rows (except for extra metadata keys), as this will cause the upload to fail.
• Respect the score ranges of the following question types:
  • NPS and 0-10 score question: 0-10
  • CSAT and 1-5 score question: 1-5
  • CES: 1-7

STEP 3: Connect to the FTPs server

Contact us to begin setting up the FTP connection. Send an email to your customer success manager or to support@hellocustomer.com. We will provide a username and password for accessing your environment's folder on our FTP server. Use the following information to establish the connection:

• URL: ftp://import.hellocustomer.com/ (always use the UR; do not use the IP behind it as it may change).
• Your username & password
• Port:
  • 21
  • 990
  • 50000-50003

STEP 4: Drop the file on the FTPs server

Place the file with answers in the appropriate folder on the server. Inside the touchpoint folder, you'll find a subfolder named 'Answers' where you can upload this file.

Processing Timeline:

• Files are processed every hour on the hour (e.g., 9:00, 10:00, 11:00)
• Example: If you upload a file at 9:20, it will be processed at 10:00
• After processing, the submitted answers will appear in the platform within 2 hours
• Maximum total time: 3 hours (1 hour wait for next processing + up to 2 hours for display)

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3 Overview of your uploaded files

An overview of all the uploaded files via the FTPs server or directly in the platform - and answers added via API - will appear in the manage answers screen of the touchpoint settings.

3a. How to get there

Option 1

• Click on the touchpoint settings on the homepage from the touchpoint you want to upload answers in.

  

• After arriving on the touchpoint settings page, you need the answers block. Where you have the button Upload answers

  

Option 2

• Go to touchpoint settings via the left navigation menu

  

• Choose the touchpoint you want to upload answers in

  

• On this page, you have the answers block, with a button Upload answers

  

After clicking the upload answers button, a screen opens where you can see an overview of all the answers that were added to your touchpoint via API or via the upload answers feature in the platform itself.

3b. Overview answer uploads

The list of all answer uploads shows you

• A status per upload: done (all surveys uploaded), in progress (still uploading surveys) and invalid (one or more surveys in the file contain errors)
• The batch ID (in case of API) or filename (in case of upload via the platform)
• The import type: API or manual (via the platform)
• Upload date
• Total entries: total amount of surveys added. A survey is one participant who answered all questions; this is equal to one line in the upload file.
• Processing: amount of surveys still uploading
• Processed: total added surveys
• Invalid: amount of surveys that could not be uploaded for several reasons

If the invalid amount of surveys is larger than 0, the number is clickable, and details will be provided why certain surveys could not be uploaded.

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