5 Tips for a Successful Voice of the Customer Program
You can gauge how well you’re serving customers based on praise, complaints, or retention numbers. But by then, it might be too late. So how do you know if you are delivering the experience your customers need and appreciate?
We all want to deliver an exceptional customer experience. But how do you know if the customer journey is aligned with their needs and expectations? How do you learn about opportunities to improve your delivery? You can gauge based on praise or complaints you might hear or on retention numbers. But by then, it might be too late. So how do you know if you are truly delivering the experience your customers appreciate?
Voice of the Customer Program
Enter Voice of the Customer (VoC). We define VoC as a mechanism for driving short and long-term decisions through customer feedback and understanding. Like many, our journey started with customer surveys and the infamous Net Promoter Score (NPS). But we quickly discovered it wasn't enough. While NPS has its place in Customer Experience (CX), it is only one element of a greater VoC program. Through trial and error, perspective, and adjustments, here’s what we’ve learned.
5 Tips for a Successful Voice of the Customer Program
Don't focus on one measurement. It’s okay to use a consistent metric and formula, like NPS, to gain a piece of the puzzle. But there is not a single metric that, alone, can encapsulate the entire customer experience. Making decisions based on one number impedes your ability to gain a deeper understanding of what matters to customers. Identify and monitor other performance and quality measures that help you understand your delivery at different touchpoints of the customer journey. Examples include proposal wait times, ticket resolution times, warranty repairs, etc. Then, NPS can validate that your customers care about these measures.
Assign a champion. It can’t be one person's responsibility to improve customer experience. But assigning a dedicated team member to receive, engage, organize, share, and track feedback and follow up ensures consistency. Your champion should engage customers directly and immediately. They should listen with empathy and without justification so that customers feel heard.
Expand beyond surveys. Surveys are a great way to hear from customers, but when we’re constantly hit with them after every purchase we make, hotel we book, or restaurant we visit, be wary of survey fatigue. We’re not implying you should stop but find different ways to engage customers for feedback. Examples might include recurring account reviews, mid-project check-ins, onboardings and offboardings, impromptu site visits, etc.
Make it easy for your team to contribute. If you're laser focused on feedback, everyone should bring it to the table. Create a centralized and transparent system with a simple and consistent process for sharing. And don’t stop there. Ensure that your Champion monitors and organizes this system and socializes it with the team. We have a weekly cross functional VoC meeting to review what we’ve heard, gather internal perspective, brainstorm solutions, and assign action items with due dates.
Take action! Your customers won’t be generous with their feedback if it falls on deaf ears. Whether it’s a quick simple fix, or a complex problem that requires more energy and planning, tell your customers what you’re doing and why. Thank them for helping you see the opportunity. We can’t fix everything at once. VoC helps us analyze the data and understand what changes will achieve the greatest impact so we can better prioritize our focus.
A consistent Voice of the Customer Program sets the foundation for exceptional customer experience. It keeps your finger on the pulse as needs evolve. It identifies where you should invest time and energy, allowing more informed organizational decisions. We have the best intentions of serving our customers well. A strong VoC program brings those intentions to fruition in the ways that matter most.