Case Study: Polaris

Here’s how Polaris uses FormAssembly to maintain directory listings for service providers, collect product feedback, and conduct training surveys to improve resource quality and efficacy.

Polaris runs the U.S.-based National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) and the Global Modern Slavery Directory, a collective map for service providers working against human trafficking and related issues around the world.

The Polaris team uses Salesforce across a number of different departments for key processes. Almost all of the NHTRC hotline operations, top to bottom, are managed through Salesforce — including cases, calls, and contact records.

Since Salesforce powers many Polaris operations, the team required a tool that could capture and pass the right data into the right place.

“We realized we needed to gather information from a variety of stakeholders, for different uses, purposes, and goals across the organization. We were really looking for one centralized system for collecting lots of different types of information,” said Ethan Bennett, Systems Administrator at Polaris.

They discovered FormAssembly as the form solution to help them create gateways between the staff, the clients, and the service providers.

Use Case: Service Provider Submissions and Updates

With service provider accounts maintained in the Salesforce database, the Polaris team needed a way for service providers to apply for a listing in the NHTRC National Referral Directory or the Global Modern Slavery Directory, and update their contact information whenever necessary. In addition, Polaris required the information to be equally accessible across the different organizations.

Now, the primary mode of communication between providers and Polaris is through FormAssembly. Through a FormAssembly form, providers submit their applications, which are instantly available for review in Salesforce. The global team assesses each application to ensure that a provider is eligible and qualified to be listed in the referral database. Once an application is vetted and approved by the team, the provider is integrated into the public directory as an available resource through the hotline and the website.

Ethan said, “At a minimum, intake is a lot easier. FormAssembly has facilitated our ability to do that more efficiently. People are excited about it and happy to have a central place to turn to.”

Use Case: Product Feedback

The Global Modern Slavery Directory is an essential database across the world, acting as the gatekeeper for service provisioning. It’s also a relatively new tool, less than two years old — which is why it’s important for the Polaris team to gather product feedback and determine how they can improve the product and service for the future.

Visitors can leave comments and ideas through the FormAssembly form, including feedback about directory content, user experience, and future uses. Upon submission, the data is immediately sent to Salesforce, where it can be flagged and analyzed to refine the organization’s product roadmap.

Use Case: Training Surveys

The Advisory Services division of Polaris focuses on training, learning, and education. The department uses forms and surveys as tools to evaluate the effectiveness of their services, as well as gain information about client needs and requests.

Previously, the team used pen and paper evaluations, which were hand-distributed, collected, and submitted manually. “We had to spend a lot of time in administration,” said Ethan. “It’s down to no time at all, because everything is automatically pushed into Salesforce.”

Polaris was looking to create highly customizable, mobile-ready web forms, which clients could load up on their phones and complete during a PowerPoint presentation, access through a post-event email, or fill out directly within a training product. Ethan said, “FormAssembly is really useful in this regard.”

Now the team consistently uses FormAssembly forms for pre- and post-training evaluations. Ethan said, “We can see what learning growth has happened, right away.” Additionally, with the survey data piped into Salesforce, the team can instantly pull analytics and run reports.

Moving Forward: Hotline Feedback and Onboarding & Offboarding Forms

Polaris plans to leverage FormAssembly across more segments of the organization.

A few different departments have seen the current use cases and identified their own extensions, said Ethan.

One goal is to improve the quality of service provided through the national hotline. Polaris looks to FormAssembly for creating hotline feedback forms, so it’s easy for people to get in touch and offer information about their experiences using the hotline.

Another process currently in development is a multi-form workflow that covers onboarding, offboarding, and position changes. The workflow will rely on FormAssembly’s conditional logic and variable engine to segregate and connect the information. Polaris looks forward to the new system that will be much more complex and powerful than what’s in place. “FormAssembly makes life much easier,” said Ethan.