Provo’s got the goods. The battle for dominance in the survey software market seems to have a winner, and it may not be who you think. 

Utah-based Qualtrics appears to have beaten out previous market darling and Silicon Valley native SurveyMonkey, which had a 3-year head start, millions of active users, and a great technical talent base.

The majority of Fortune 500 companies use Qualtrics and this survey company’s valuation is approximately $13 billion. The Napkin Math blog recently interviewed dozens of current and former employees at both companies to find out how this scrappy Utah software company ignored every Silicon Valley heuristic and won anyway:

1. Qualtrics shifted from selling tools to selling outcomes. Instead of just hawking survey software, the company positioned their survey software as a way to get real, valuable insight. C-Suite decision makers don’t want to just send out another survey – they want to do things like find out how their employees feel about remote work, or to figure out how prospects perceive their brand. Qualtrics recognized that need and stepped up to fill it.
2. Qualtrics shifted talent needs. This product marketing model meant the company had to spend more on hiring sales professionals than SurveyMonkey does. That’s where their Utah location came in handy. While SurveyMonkey might spend $300k on one high-quality Bay Area engineer, Qualtrics could use the same budget to bring on a squad of sales and customer service reps in Provo. Those reps can cold call high-level management prospects to get buy-in, then work with customers to help them make the most out of their Qualtrics survey software. 

To explore more rising Unvalley tech companies like Qualtrics, check out the Powderkeg Company Culture Directory.