I was speaking with a Chief Digital Officer a few months ago, and I asked if they had a Voice of Customer Program in place for the digital platforms. His response, surprised me. He said, "Oh no we don't do that, Marketing owns Voice of Customer." I wondered if it was true that all interactions with customers were owned by Marcomm, or if they had simply co-opted the term. I would be really surprised if the Support organization wasn't doing call center post call and post chat customer surveys. So let's talk about the term "Voice of Customer", what it is and how it can actually mean something different depending on what department you're in, what data you're collecting directly from customers, and how that data is being used based on your role in the company. While it can be an essential tool for understanding customer needs and preferences, its application can vary greatly depending on the context.
For Marketing teams, the Voice of Customer (VoC) often means collecting feedback on products and services through surveys collected online or in person, focus groups, and social media monitoring. The data collected is then used to inform marketing strategies and product offerings. For example, a company may use VoC data to improve the customer satisfaction and market standing of the physical product they sell by addressing specific pain points, adding new features to a product, or pricing adjustments based on customer feedback.
In contrast, for Customer Service teams, VoC likely means something entirely different. They may use it to gauge customer satisfaction in regards to the service experience by identifying areas for improvement in their service delivery. For instance, a customer service team might use VoC data to assess the effectiveness of their communication channels and make necessary changes to improve their response time and customer issue resolution.
In the realm of User Experience Research and Digital Product Design, the Voice of Customer takes on a different focus. The goal is understanding user needs and preferences to create digital experiences that are intuitive, engaging, and useful. UX researchers and product designers gather VoC data through a variety of methods, such as online surveys, user interviews, usability testing, and behavioral analytics.
By analyzing VoC data, UX Research and Product Design teams can gain valuable insights into user behaviors, pain points, and motivations. This information is crucial in creating digital experiences that meet user needs and expectations. For example, a UX Research team might identify common user frustrations with a mobile app through customer feedback, then product designers use this data to iterate on the app's design and functionality to address those pain points.
So, the term "Voice of Customer" can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used, as a versatile tool that can be applied in various ways to understand and meet customer needs. With this reasoning, I caution against siloing the activity of collecting this information to one organization or another. Multiple, individual programs can be redundant, hitting the same customers repeatedly for reviews, surveys, etc. So while there may be different information being sought, ideally it's being done in a coordinated effort between teams, as part of a VoC Center of Excellence. Not only does this ensure that teams are getting the specific information they require, there is a better chance of cross channel feedback share. (Call Center receives support call because of an online glitch, or online add to cart drops overnight in connection to product price increases, etc.)
How do you get there? While many companies have built home grown systems or put together a patchwork of applications the gather their VoC data, the simplest and most comprehensive way to implement an Omni channel solution is to partner with a VoC platform company such as Medallia, Verint, or Qualtrics. While there is an investment involved, the ROI argument is not a difficult one to make.
For independent platform reviews: Gartner VoC Reviews