Spotlight on Excellence
Every successful program is guided by a leader who embraces collaboration and drives innovation. Meet Duke, the visionary behind the Michigan Education Special Services Association (MESSA), who explains how Early Access has been vital in developing and strengthening his program.
Brief Intro of yourself and the programs you run, and why you love to do this!
My name is Duke Kelly and I am the brand administrator for our instance of Qualtrics. I brought Qualtrics into our business to try to bring together disparate, rarely used data. I am deep into several other areas of the business as well so this was a leap of faith. It is now one of my favorite and most successful roles. In less than a year after implementation, departments were starting to use “Qualtrics language” and speak in XM terms. They were asking questions and wanted data to help tell a story. It is extremely rewarding to see insights lead to measurable improvements in customer sentiment. Not only increased sentiment and decreased effort, the best part is having confirmation customers feel heard and respected.
Can you briefly describe your role and the program you manage/use the Early Access Program?
One of the things we love about Early Access the most is that we can choose early access items that align with our styles and goals. In other programs, you are given items that the vendor partner wants to implement and have little, if any, say in which items you try. We have chosen specific items that have been identified as challenges to our actual work. This isn’t test data, or some sandbox to play in, we are actually using new features and giving feedback. This has given renewed energy to the team because they have been eager to see some changes and they are some of the first to try them out!
What are some key achievements or milestones from your program using Early Access that you’re especially proud of?
This sounds corny, but I am most excited about how the team rallies around the new Early Access items. When options become available, we talk about them as a team and they have the ownership of what items to select. That means, they are eager to see the item in action. We have been selective because we want to engage with items that matter to us. Since we do that, each Early Access item has become immediately useful. We not only save time with the new features, we rally around the opportunity and enjoy being among the first to see enhancements. It gives renewed confidence in the platform because we see things changing and improving. This leads to increased engagement and positive energy.
How has Early Access integrated into your daily workflows or processes?
When a new Early Access item gets announced, it becomes part of our daily touchpoint. Together, we decide whether we should participate. Before we cross the starting line, we talk about what we think the feature should do and based on the the introductory information. That helps us when we start to evaluate the feature. Identifying these expectation gaps helps us provide feedback and form new questions. This has helped the team overall in their analytical thought processes and it brings people together.
Could you share a specific example where Early Access made a significant difference in achieving your goals?
We have always struggled with sharing non dashboard data with our internal customers. There are one-off instances where building a dashboard is not a good use of time. Exporting what is important to us has always been a challenge, however, When “export preview” became an item offered as part of the Early Access program, we jumped on the opportunity. We happened to have several projects happening where this could save literal hours of time. We were able to use the feature to get data to where it needed to go earlier, resulting in earlier action. This also allowed us to document our interactions with the new feature so we could passionately participate in a feedback session. The fact that the Qualtrics project team holds the feedback sessions is amazing. It isn’t just a survey to fill out, you are talking to people, asking questions, sharing experiences and learning. It is rare to have a vendor partner really listen like this and we are grateful for being involved in this important work.
What advice or tips would you give to other partners or customers starting to use Early Access Program?
Participating in Early Access will have many advantages for you and your teams. This program gives specific fresh items for your team to do together. This results in increased buy-in, a closer team dynamic, and a quick turnaround on realized value. You can choose items that your team really needs or has interest in implementing. Our teams have loved the program and there is nothing to lose. When you participate with the Qualtrics project teams, you will feel heard and your input is looked at like the expertise it truly is. Another tip is to build this cycle into your team tasks. When you get notice that a early access item you want to try is coming, plan for it. Let the team know a new feature is ready to try and dedicate time to playing, testing, and using.
Duke is a highly valuable member of our Early Access Program, and on behalf of the Qualtrics Team, we are truly grateful for your participation! 💫
