Customers expect to get what they want when they want it. If you don’t listen to the voice of your customers, you will miss opportunities to meet their needs. Luckily, customers aren’t shy about sharing their opinions on different channels. Knowing which channels to focus on is key. Customers are more loyal to companies that listen and respond to their feedback. Interestingly, 89.7% of customers are willing to give you a second chance if you respond positively to their bad reviews. Understanding your customer’s needs can help you build credibility and trust for your brand. What is the Voice of the Customer? Listening to the voice of the customer (VoC) means directly asking your customers about their needs, wants, expectations, and experiences with your product or service. It’s important to keep a pulse on your customers since their needs constantly change. A VoC program gives you valuable insights into what customers want, the problems they’re facing, and any complaints they have. This insight can help you tweak your strategy to better solve their problems and meet their needs. Take Johannesburg Bank, for example. To stay competitive and improve customer retention, they launched a hashtag-based campaign on social media and collected two million pieces of feedback. They categorized the feedback and scored the comments, helping them identify which services needed the most attention. VoC programs help you identify areas that need the most work, allowing you to focus your efforts more intentionally. Businesses that listen to their customers often see higher satisfaction, loyalty, and sales. In fact, 94 percent of consumers claim they are more likely to buy from a company with positive customer feedback. So, where do you start? Although creating an effective VoC program is the first step, running it well is even more important. 4 Best Practices for Implementing a VoC program VoC programs gather customer data from various channels, such as service calls, surveys, emails, websites, and social media. The more data, the better! But, each channel gathers data differently since they offer distinct data types. 1. Customize your approach based on the communication channel. For instance, social media requires social listening, which monitors online discussions for mentions of your brand. This strategy helps identify common words and tones (positive or negative) customers use, offering real-time feedback to improve areas like customer service or product quality. 2. Focus on social media to capture real-time feedback. Social media listening is an easy way to monitor how customers feel about your brand in real time. If you spot negative feedback, taking prompt action to address it is crucial. This approach provides instant insights, helping you continuously enhance your standing. 3. Indirect feedback is also valuable. This gives you a broader understanding of the consensus and potential areas for improvement. For example, Reddit is a large forum where people discuss their hobbies, interests, and opinions. Sifting through relevant forums can provide valuable insights about your brand. 4. Front-line employees can also offer valuable insights. That’s because they interact with the customers every single day and start to pick up on some themes about their likes and dislikes. Implementing these strategies can help you gather valuable insights from your customers and continuously improve your offerings. Conclusion Customers constantly leave clues about what they want, but you have to listen. That’s what the voice of the customer (VoC) is all about—collecting and acting on these clues. The best companies find out what their customers want and give it to them. Focusing entirely on your customers’ voices will help you build stronger relationships and brand loyalty. For more leadership development tips, follow my LinkedIn or check out my podcast, Next-Gen Leaders. Until next time, keep striving, growing, and leading with purpose.
