Voice of Customer
For companies and projects, a critical success factor is to know the customer expectations. First reason is 95% of companies are reaching out to customers. Second reason is best in class VOC perform better. They have a 55% higher retention rate. Their customer support cost decreases 23% year to year. And, they have a greater employee engagement. And, it cost 25 times more to attract new customers then to retain them. In most cases, the objective is to implement changes or improvements that will increase customer satisfaction. Because it is crucial to project success, it is one of Goal Nabber features.
Where and When
VOC is used to understands the customer’s want, needs and requirements. Otherwise, the probability of meeting expectation is greatly diminished. It should be part of the first steps of any project or initiative. It avoids dissatisfaction and wasted effort. During the project, it is a reference for decision making and validating outcomes. Even in “sure” cases, it allows to confirm the alignment with the sponsors, customers and the team.
Customers
There are usually many customers. One distinction is external (e.g. end customers, users, leads, prospects), and internal (e.g. sponsors, business stakeholders, management). When looking at a process, a SIPOC is a good way to ensure that customers have been identified. Before beginning to collect information, check the list of customers. It should have the stakeholders that have influence or are impacted.
Collecting needs and expectations
With the customers identified, the next step is to obtain useful information with the least effort. There are several methods available to gather customer inputs. Interviews, Focus groups, Surveys, Observation, Online reviews are possible methods. Each have their strength and weaknesses. They all need preparation starting with having an idea of the information to gather. One place to start is confirming that the customer has something to gain from the project objective. A combination of open and close questions to understand the why’s and the what’s. While gathering information, keep an open mind. Save statistics and trends for the analysis. Avoid too many, changing or wrong questions. Take negative feedback as an opportunity to improve. Most of all show the customers that you are listening constructively to their feedback.
Analyze
The analysis will depend on the amount and type of information available. It will likely involve different information sources, sorting Needs & Wants, figuring out the reasons. This is about translating verbatim comments and other data into customer requirements. To demonstrate active listening, the outcome should be shared to get acknowledgement or adjustment. This also gains buy in from the stakeholders.
Action
One pitfall that happens too often is to not action the VOC. There is no need to wait for later. It can define criteria the decision making. Objectives can be aligned with customer expectations. Trigger new improvements initiatives and projects. Making these actions visible to the customer will increase their interest and fidelity.