Thursday 21 April 2016

Voice of the customer survey- How to avoid the most common mistakes

Voice of customer is a type of feedback used to assess your customer’s perception of your business, products, and services. The most common way to gather this type of information is through a voice of customer survey. The process is about keeping on top of the market, being innovative and proactive in keeping up with your customer’s needs. Voice of customer is a term used to define a type of feedback that comes directly from the customer. It can be gathered in numerous ways.
  • Focus Groups
  • Surveys
  • Customer Specifications
  • Observation
  • Warranty data
  • Field reports
  • Complaint logs
  • Direct discussions
  • Interviews and many more.

All of these can be used to gather quality data about the way your customers see your business.

Avoiding Common Voice of customer mistakes
Voice of customer feedback can help improve processes within the company. The process of collecting customer input and analyzing it to produce plans to better meet their needs is critical. However, there are a number of mistakes that many companies make when performing this type of research.

1. Mistake one - Identify potential customers

It is absolutely important to identify target groups to spread your surveys to. Voice of customer surveys need to be directed toward customers. Potential customer surveys can also be useful in evaluating your marketing campaigns.

Other common mistakes deal with the analysis of the data collected.

2. Mistake 2 – Too much focus on results

Focusing too much on the results can skew your questions. If you have an outcome that you expect or want, this may influence the way you ask your questions to better suit what you think you already know. Bias is challenging to keep out of anything as personal as your business. Focusing on results can cause your voice of customer survey to inaccurately reflect what the customer really thinks about your business, products, and services.

3. Mistake 3 – Over dependence on surveys

While surveys are very useful tools in gather data, it is not all inclusive. Voice of customer surveys should be used in conjunction with focus groups, interviews, phone calls, social media, and various other types of customer interactions that allow you to gather data on your business. This is an easily avoidable mistake.

By using a voice of customer survey, you can gain invaluable data about your business directly from your customers. Getting answers to specific questions that you may have can be the one thing that gives you the edge over your competition. The right kinds of analysis can keep you on top of the market.