Overview
Pulse Surveys are short questionnaires sent to stakeholders ahead of a contract renewal.
Each survey includes a public link, allowing you to notify specific recipients or share the survey more broadly.
With Pulse Surveys, you can:
- Identify whether a tool is critical or underused
- Gather stakeholder sentiment to prepare for negotiations
- Justify renewals or cost-cutting decisions with data
- Replace ad-hoc feedback collection in Slack, email, or spreadsheets
- Automatically trigger surveys ahead of renewal dates
- Collect responses from both internal users and external participants
Step-by-Step Demo
How Pulse Surveys Work
Pulse Surveys can be sent in two ways:
- Automated surveys follow renewal dates and run automatically.
- Manual surveys are sent when you choose and are not tied to automation.
Configure Survey Delivery
In Settings → Pulse Surveys → Delivery & Defaults, click Edit and select a delivery model:
Send Surveys manually
If you choose to send surveys manually, they are only sent when triggered from a contract or supplier page.
Use this option if:
- You do not want automated scheduling.
- You only want surveys for select contracts.
- You run ad hoc reviews outside renewal cycles.
This gives you full control over when surveys are sent.
Send Surveys automatically
Surveys are automatically sent a set number of days before each contract's Renewal Reminder Date.
Use this option if:
- You want feedback collected consistently before every renewal.
- You do not want to track renewal timing manually.
- Your renewal process is standardized.
While surveys trigger based on the Renewal Reminder date by default, this can be changed. If preferred, surveys can instead trigger based on Contract End Date, Opt Out Date, Start Date, Termination Date, or Last Budget Review Date. If the selected date is not set on a contract, then the survey will not trigger.
Create task to review and send
A review task is created a set number of days before the selected renewal date. The user assigned to the review task then confirms recipients and sends the survey.
Use this option if:
- You want surveys tied to renewals
- You want someone to confirm recipients before sending
- You want someone to customize the survey description and dates
This keeps renewal-based timing but adds manual review control.
Regardless of the selected option, surveys can always be triggered manually from the contract or supplier page.
Configuring SSO Auto-Population
Go to Settings → Pulse Surveys → Integration Configuration.
SSO auto-population adds your synced Okta or Google users as survey recipients.
When you connect Okta or Google, the setting to add SSO users to Pulse Surveys is enabled by default. This means all synced SSO users will be automatically pre-selected when you create a survey. Note that you can deselect SSO users before sending. When adding recipients, selecting Manage Google or Manage Okta will take you to the Integration page, where you can enable or disable auto-population.
You can also enable or disable this setting at any time. If the setting is turned off, SSO users will not appear as recipient options when creating a survey.
Configuring Survey Questions
Go to Settings → Pulse Surveys → Survey Questions.
As an Owner, you can:
- Turn default questions on or off.
- Add up to three custom questions.
- Remove custom questions.
If you update questions while a survey is active, changes apply only to future responses. Previously submitted responses remain unchanged.
You can also enable or disable Comments (Notes). Comments are included in AI-generated summaries and insights.
Sending a Survey Manually
Surveys can be created directly from:
- A Contract record
- A Supplier page
Use the manual survey option when you’re focused on one specific renewal. The survey results will live with that contract record, so you have context right where you’ll make the renewal decision. You can send a Survey from the Contract Details or Contract Insights tabs.
Note: Send Survey is hidden when a survey for that contract is Scheduled or In Progress. It shows again after the survey is Closed or Archived.
CALLOUT: Surveys are always tied to a contract.
- Open the contract that is up for renewal. Click Send Survey.
- Provide a description, set your Start and End Dates for your survey,
- Select your Survey recipients to notify specific users directly. You can create a Survey without selecting any recipients if you plan to distribute it exclusively via the public link. You can always add recipients later.
When SSO auto-population is enabled, all synced SSO users are pre-selected as recipients when creating a Survey.
The recipient list can include emails that are not Tropic users when added through SSO integrations or when responses are submitted through the public survey link.
Select Tropic Users:
Import from CSV: Note: recipients must already be Tropic users. If someone isn’t, add them first, then include them in your CSV.
Manage Google/Okta if connected or Connect Google/Okta if it isn’t: When Okta or Google is connected and the setting is enabled, all synced emails are pre selected as recipients when you create a survey.
If the same person shows up in multiple sources, Tropic de duplicates them and shows where they came from.
You can adjust recipients before sending, including removing users who are pre-selected.
Click Preview if you want to see what your survey would look like before clicking Send Survey.
Viewing Survey Results
Once responses are submitted, you can view results under Supplier Intelligence → Pulse Surveys.
Alternatively, you can see the results under the Supplier’s page or the contracts page.
Key Findings
A summary of response patterns and overall recommendation based on submitted answers.
Results/Scorecards
Aggregated ratings across evaluation categories such as Business Criticality, Supplier Sentiment, Quality, Value, and Overall.
When available, Tropic Network averages are shown for comparison.
Business Goal
Displays the selected survey objective, if one was set.
Feedback Analysis
Shows submitted comments. If no comments were provided, this section remains empty.
Managing the Survey
From the Survey page, you can:
- View Individual Responses to see each stakeholder’s answers to understand their perspective
- Close the Survey early if you’ve already collected enough responses.
- Add Participants if you think you missed someone or more input is needed.
- Send Reminders to your stakeholders who haven’t filled out their survey yet.
- Adjust the End Date if you need to keep the Survey open longer.
- Reopen survey if you need to collect additional responses
- Delete individual responses or archive accidental surveys
Note: Available actions depend on the survey status (Scheduled, In Progress, or Closed).
Next Steps
The Survey page includes Tropic AI-supported actions:
- View Alternate Suppliers opens Supplier Intelligence for comparison.
- Share Survey allows you to share results internally.
- Email Supplier generates a draft message based on aggregated survey feedback.
When drafting an email:
- Select a goal from the dropdown.
- Goals marked with a purple star are suggested based on survey results.
- The draft is editable before sending.
- Toggle Include request for follow-up meeting to add a meeting proposal.
Note: The Email Supplier option is only available for active contracts with renewal dates more than 90 days away.
Manage Surveys in Supplier Intelligence
The Pulse Surveys tab in Supplier Intelligence is where all surveys across your suppliers are collected in one place. It gives you a high-level view of which suppliers have Surveys in progress, which are complete, and how each supplier is scoring.
From here you can compare performance across suppliers, spot patterns, and identify where problems may be consistent.
- Use the filter to focus on survey statuses or specific suppliers.
- Check survey status at a glance
- Open any Survey to review the full results and insights
- Check all of your archived surveys
This makes it easier to see the big picture and use feedback to guide renewals and negotiations.
What to Keep in Mind
- Each contract can only have one survey active at a time. If a survey is already scheduled or in progress, you’ll need to wait until it’s closed before sending another.
- Surveys use a standard set of procurement questions. You can toggle questions on or off, but you can’t create your own custom questions (yet).
- CSV uploads must match existing Tropic users. SSO and public link distribution can include external emails.
- Once a survey closes, it cannot be reopened. You can extend the end date while it’s still open, but once closed, it’s final.
- From the Suppliers page, multiple surveys can run at the same time, but each survey must still tie to a contract.
FAQs
Q: Do I need to set up anything before sending my first Pulse Survey?
A: No, survey templates are pre-configured for your organization.
Q: What’s the difference between Close, Cancel, and Archive?
A: Close ends data collection immediately. Results remain visible on the contract. Cancel stops a scheduled survey before it starts. Archive removes the survey from active lists and trend analysis but keeps historical results.
Q: What if my contract doesn’t have a renewal reminder date set?
A: Automatic surveys won’t run. You’ll need to add a renewal reminder date or send the survey manually.
Q: Will external users see contract details when they access the Survey via public link?
A: No. Contract details are explicitly hidden from external survey respondents. They will only see the survey questions and description provided by the survey creator.
Q: What happens if I edit the questionnaire while a Survey is active?
A: Pulse Surveys use snapshot behavior. Editing the questionnaire will only affect new surveys created after the edit. Active Surveys will continue to use the questionnaire version that existed when they were created.
Q: Can someone submit the same survey multiple times?
A: No. Duplicate submissions are prevented. If an external user attempts to submit via public link using the same email twice, they will receive an error message.
Q: Can I send a Survey with no recipients?
A: Yes. You can create a survey without selecting any recipients if you plan to distribute it exclusively via the public link. You can always add recipients later.
Q: Will deactivated Tropic users appear as recipient options?
A: No, deactivated users will not appear as recipients options.
Q: What happens if an external user tries to access an expired survey?
A: They will see an expiration view indicating the survey is no longer accepting responses, with appropriate messaging based on whether it's before the start date or after the end date.