Customers shape the success of your business. Their feedback, preferences and expectations guide your strategies, refine your services and bolster your bottom line.
Enter the world of the Voice of Customer (VoC). This indispensable tool – often part of a specialized commercial due diligence project – empowers you to tap into what your customers desire and harness their insights for growth.
VoC is a research method that captures customers’ expectations, preferences and aversions. By leveraging this approach, you can cultivate a customer-centric culture that not only boosts satisfaction but also propels your business to new heights.
READ MORE: Voice of Customer: Definition, Importance
VoC (Voice of Customer) Methodologies
VoC methodologies are a collection of techniques to gather valuable customer insights. They pinpoint customer needs, expose pain points and reveal opportunities to improve.
BluWave co-head of research and operations Keenan Kolinsky says using an industry-specific third-party can make this process more efficient.
“The study can be much more targeted if there’s a specific customer segment they’re interested in. Additionally, when a VoC is part of a due diligence activity, the acquisition target could introduce the fund to a targeted and select group of customers to get their insight specifically,” he says. “They’re much more targeted insights from the key accounts that can make or break the business.”
READ MORE: 5 Steps to an Effective Voice of Customer (VoC) Strategy
Customer Interviews and Surveys
Nothing beats a conversation when it comes to understanding customers. Interviews unveil the “why” behind behaviors, offering rich qualitative data. On the other hand, surveys, whether online, email or SMS, yield quantitative data, transforming feedback into measurable insights.
By pairing these methodologies, you gain a holistic understanding of preferences and experiences. But managing and interpreting both qualitative and quantitative data can be complex. Collaborating with expert third-party services can alleviate this burden, allowing you to focus on leveraging the insights.
READ MORE: Buy-Side Commercial Due Diligence: What is it?
Social Media
Customers often voice their opinions on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok and more. Monitoring these platforms uncovers real-time feedback and sentiments. Social listening tools identify trends, track brand mentions and facilitate customer engagement. This goldmine of unfiltered opinions can equip you to refine your products and services.
Doing this on a regular basis, though, can become unwieldy. Experienced third parties who do this on a regular basis can save you time and help you get capture core customer sentiments.
Focus Groups
A small group of customers, a structured discussion and a skilled moderator – that’s a focus group in a nutshell. It’s enables customers to freely express their thoughts.
This format often reveals hidden perceptions and enables you to understand how group dynamics influence feedback. Nevertheless, coordinating and moderating focus groups can be time-consuming and requires expertise for accurate interpretation. Here, experienced third-party firms can step in, streamlining the process and ensuring valuable takeaways.
Customer Support Data
When customers reach out for support, they reveal their needs and frustrations. Scrutinizing inquiries, complaints and feedback from support channels can reveal recurring issues and areas for improvement.
Website Behavior Analysis
How do customers interact with your website? Analytics tools – like Google Analytics 4 – offer the answer. By tracking page views, clicks and navigation paths, you gain behavioral insights.
Heatmaps, user recordings and conversion funnels also unveil usability issues and help streamline the customer journey. But analyzing such granular data and deriving meaningful insights isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It demands deep technical expertise and significant time investment. A third-party solution with a knack for analytics can be the key to unlocking these valuable insights, sparing you from getting lost in the complexity of data.
READ MORE: Understanding Voice of Customer: Metrics, KPIs, Analytics
Online Reviews
Customer feedback thrives on online review platforms. By monitoring them, you can understand customer sentiments and address concerns. Engaging with customers on review platforms also shows your commitment to their satisfaction.
Feedback Forms
Feedback forms on your website or app offer a structured way to gather feedback. Well-designed, user-friendly forms capture specific information, enabling customers to express their thoughts in detail.
Net Promoter Score® (NPS®)
How likely are your customers to recommend your business? The Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) offers a clear answer. NPS® surveys categorize customers into promoters, passives and detractors. Analyzing this data uncovers the reasons behind customer ratings and helps craft strategies to boost loyalty.
VoC (Voice of Customer) Processes
Data Collection and Analysis
Gathering data is only the first step. VoC methodologies call for structuring and organizing data to facilitate effective analysis. Tools and techniques for data analysis spotlight key insights and patterns, making sense of what you collect.
Insight Generation
Converting data into actionable insights is the heart of VoC. Analysis uncovers customer preferences, pain points and emerging trends. Triangulating from different methodologies offers a comprehensive understanding of your customers.
READ MORE: AI Data Analytics: Business Intelligence Tools
Action Planning and Implementation
Insights are the foundation for action. Prioritize improvements based on both customer input and business goals. For instance, if feedback consistently points to slow website load times, prioritize website optimization. Effective implementation requires cross-functional collaboration to effect change.
Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
The Voice of Customer process is not static, but rather a dynamic, ongoing endeavor. It evolves in sync with market trends and customer needs. Establishing continuous feedback loops, gauging progress and refining strategies based on the evolving customer landscape is essential.
“You could also incorporate price sensitivity into a VoC to help a company determine if there’s room to increase prices,” Kolinsky says. “Basically what the customer thinks about how the product or service is priced.”
READ MORE: How To Analyze Sales Data: Tools, Examples, KPIs
This is where BluWave steps in, bridging the gap between understanding your customers and implementing that understanding into actionable strategies. Our research and operations team works diligently to connect you with industry-specific, vetted service providers who specialize in Voice of Customer methodologies. They assist you in maintaining the momentum of your VoC efforts, from the initial data collection to the final stages of strategy adaptation.
Through our extensive network, we’ve got you covered whether you are a private equity firm, a portfolio company, or a private or public company. Our exact-fit resources are at your disposal to ensure you remain customer-centric, adaptable and progressive in the ever-changing market landscape. We understand that your goal isn’t just to listen to your customers but to hear them, comprehend them and ultimately grow with them.
