What is Voice of the Customer?
Voice of the customer is a system of checks and balances for a company to make sure the customers are satisfied with the company. The system is put into place to get customer input in a variety of ways to get the customer’s opinion about many aspects of the business or company. Companies can learn a lot about what their customers need in order to satisfy them. The company gets the opinions of the customers by asking a series of questions to get their wants and needs.
Voice of the Customer is important to both the customer and the business. Look here for more information about Voice of the Customer and employee experience management and how it affects businesses. It is important to the customer because by answering these questions, the customer gets a better experience at the business. It is important to the business because they can improve and make their customers happy, thereby keeping loyal customers longer.
There are many ways to get the information from the customers to help improve your business. You can do surveys, focus groups, customer interviews, observational research, customer reviews, comments and complaints, recorded data, social media, online communities, online panels, and so many more ways. Some of these methods are outlined below.
Surveys
This is the most common way to get information from a customer. Surveys can be done in a variety of ways these days, from low tech to high tech ways. The lowest tech is still doing surveys on paper and allowing customers to write down then answers in pen or pencil. See here about how surveys are used. Most surveys today are done with some variety of technology, including text messages, cell phones, and telephones. There are also kiosks in malls and shopping centers that customers can walk up to. Surveys have been around a long time and some customers are tired of taking them, but they are still affective.
Focus Groups
A focus group is basically a group discussion between the business and its customers. The business will round up a group of people and then discuss something such as advertising or their image. Sometimes, the focus group will discuss new products the company may be researching. Focus groups can be small or large, or any size in between. They have also been around awhile, but they still provide pertinent information.
Customer Interviews
Unlike focus groups, a customer interview is done one-on-one with specific customers. This is in an effort to get specific information about the customer or their accounts, or their point of view on something in the business. These can be valuable for the company to see what the customers see as valuable.
Observational Research
This method is where the business will watch a customer and how they interact with a service or a product. There may be a series of questions afterwards, but it is mostly observing the customer. This helps the business to see how easy it is for the customer to interact with their products.
Customer Reviews
There are many sites on the internet dedicated to get customer reviews of businesses, products, and services. They are intended to help other customers to know more about these things, but they also give the business valuable information. They know when the customer likes something and when things may need to be changed.
Comments and Complaints
Businesses have gotten better at having ways for the customer to make comments and complaints. In this way the business can see what they need to improve and what they are doing well. Customers can tell the company what they are feeling about the company, its products, and its services.
Recorded Data
This is just what is says, data that is recorded from telephone conversations. This information is disseminated to evaluate customer tones and sentiments about their products and services. This helps the company to decide how to best serve their customers.
Social Media
Everyone now has some sort of social media count, if not two or three, Businesses can have their own social media accounts, monitor customer accounts, or both. How does social media help in research, see here. If they have their own account, customers can leave messages about how they feel about a product, a service, or the business as a whole. By monitoring the accounts of customers, businesses can see what is trending and build products or services to go along with that.
Online Communities
Somewhat similar to social media accounts, online communities have groups of people that discuss the business and what is good about them and what needs to improve. In this group, customers interact with one another to talk about the business, its products, and services and how it affects them.
Online Panels
Panels are similar to communities, but this is a group of people who have agreed to answer questions and provide feedback to companies. By keeping the group going, the company also breeds loyalty among the panel members.
Just a Few Ways to Get the Voice of Customers
These are just a few ways to get information from customers. There are more, but all have one thing in mind – getting to know the customers and what they want from the business.