If you’ve ever opened a 360 report and thought, “I need someone to explain this,” you’re not alone—and it’s not accidental.

Most vendors intentionally make reports overly complex. Dense language, layered charts, and unclear summaries create confusion. Why? Because when leaders can’t interpret the data, vendors offer paid experts to do it for them. It’s a second sale—one that’s more profitable than the survey itself.

The result:

You pay once for the survey—and again to make sense of it. Leaders become dependent on external experts, and vendors profit more from the complexity than from delivering clear insight in the first place.

You do the work. They keep the profit.

Self-service platforms sound efficient—until you realize it means you’re doing it all. You build the survey, manage the participant list, send reminders, and generate reports. Meanwhile, your vendor charges as if they’re running the show.

The catch:

By shifting the workload to your team, vendors cut their own costs—yet continue charging full-service rates. You take on the effort. They walk away with higher margins.

Think your 360 survey is tailored to your organization’s needs? Think again.

Many vendors won’t let you adjust the questions because your feedback fuels their benchmark database. Customization isn’t difficult, but they need your data to stay consistent—so they can resell it.

What it means for you:

You’re not just a client—you’re also a data source. It’s less about helping your leaders grow and more about growing their business.

Many 360 vendors include an action planning worksheet at the end of a very long report—or skip it entirely—and consider the job done.

That’s a problem. You invested in 360 feedback to help your leaders grow—but some vendors frame success around the survey experience rather than real improvement. A smooth process and polished reports create the impression of value, persuading customers that the experience itself is the outcome—even when there’s little evidence of actual change.

The bottom line:

Vendors walk away with glowing reviews for an impressive process—while you’re left justifying the investment, without measurable results to show for it.