Do you need a ‘Voice of Customer’ program?

VOC programs have become all the rage in the past couple of years. In his book, ‘Listen or Die’, Sean McDade explains how a ‘Voice of Customer’ program is the pathway to sustained growth. It is also the only true method of finding out what your customers think about you or want from you. But, first

What is a VOC Program?

The phrase, ‘Voice of customer’ refers to your customers’ expectations and feedback about your products/ services.

Therefore, a VOC program is a systematic program that makes this possible. Basically, it’s a system of-

1. Collection of customer feedback
2. Analysis of the feedback
3. Formulation of action plans based on the feedback

There are various tools that you can use to collect customer data. The most popular ones being,

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
• Net Easy Score (NES)

Do you need a VOC program?

Short answer? Yes. Today, a VOC program is the only real way to listen to what your customers are saying. Everyone knows that customer experience can make or break a company. In fact,

• 81% companies now mostly compete on the basis on Customer Experience. (SOURCE- Gartner)

And,

• 80% CEOs believe that they deliver great Customer Experience. Only 8% of their customers agreed. (SOURCE- Bain)
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Because the feedback comes directly from them, a VOC program provides

“Unparalleled insight into what your customers really want from your business and product”

A good VOC program allows you to measure customer experience in real-time at all critical touchpoints. Which in turn, allows you to build stronger relationships with your customer.

Therefore, you need a ‘voice of customer’ program to improve your-

• Overall customer experience
• Services and products
• Decision making process
• Bottom-line

In conclusion, VOC programs have been proven to reduce costs and increase revenue. Listening to your customers’ voice empowers you to identify angry, at-risk customers and therefore reduce churn.

What’s more, a good ‘Voice of customer’ program promotes a customer-centric culture within your organisation. And, being customer-centric is the only way to flourish in the current market scenario.