Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog, “Understanding the Voice of the Customer”

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Understanding the Voice of the Customer" highlights customer experience variables, and the value of data-driven customer analytics, which plays a significant role in "understanding the voice of the customer." SixSigma Institute states that the voice of the customer aka VoC, is "the customer's voice, expectations, preferences, comments, of a product or service in the discussion. It is the statement made by the customer on a particular product or service."

Why does VoC matter in the first place? Across the social media spectrum, a single review that attains viral status can destroy a brand, or conversely build it. Any brand looking to achieve "top gun" status must now take into account that in this digital age, customers are in charge.

Crafting

The solutions for achieving superior VoC status is reliant upon many technologies, which even today operate in a siloed fashion. Moreover, there is a myriad of technology platforms ranging from data capture, storage and analysis of direct, implied and inferred customer responses.

Besides, we must also take into account even more technologies in play behind VoC such as speech analysis, social media monitoring, copy mining, web analytics, and enterprise feedback management. All of these combined technologies help discern better customer insights when applied correctly. As a result, brands have the opportunity to reach the right people at the right time on the right channel.

VoC Analytics Reduces Churn

VoC analytics is data-driven. Proper implementation of VoC analytics raises the instances in which the reduction of churn happens and simultaneously customer lifecycle value increases. As a result, more precise customer insight becomes clear which provides brands with the capability to advance better product and brand experiences.

The process for creating an effective VoC analytics platform can vary among data analytic experts, brands and marketers, and to that end, the evolution of such is forthcoming and is expected to evolve. That said, the following steps are a good starting point to consider:

• Pinpoint specific question(s)
• Data gathering is ongoing and essential
• Select the Tools
• Analyze, Troubleshoot and Confirm
• Reach Definitive Conclusions
• Implement the Decision

The Customer Experience Value Proposition

Developing a robust VoC program will, in turn, define how and why a brand can achieve better customer experiences. Gartner Research has stated that 89% of businesses will compete mainly on the customer experience front. Brands can ill afford to ignore creating and putting in place a Customer Experience Management (CEM) platform. A CEM, with proper execution, allows brands to both design and react to customer communications in a manner that can meet or transcend customer expectations.

Why is the customer experience proposition so critical? According to Bain & Co. research indicates the following takeaways:

• Companies that excel at customer experiences grow revenues 4-8% above their competitors
• Superior experiences deliver 6-14x higher customer lifecycle value
• VoC programs result in up to 55% greater client retention

It should be of notable interest that VoC is the reason for improving the customer experience (CX) and while these VoC and CX platforms may appear to be interchangeable, the CX is dependent upon a robust VoC that delivers specific data points for developing a successful CX.

Big Data is Even Bigger

The term Big Data is now a cornerstone for building marketing campaigns, brand responses, depicting human behavior trends, social media interactions and the list goes on, ad infinitum. That said, capturing big data in terms of collecting, sorting and archiving is a monumental task. It is no small feat to undertake when placing all the data ducks in a row to understand an evolving VoC and instituting a stellar CX based on that VoC data.

Consider this: social media users post approximately 5 billion Facebook comments per month, while the Twitter universe is experiencing 350,000 tweets per minute, and TripAdvisor and Yelp in combination, host more than 750 million user reviews.

That is a ton of volume floating in the vast world of internet spaces. Imagine trying to connect the dots of targeted users by, for example, reading 5,000 reviews. In the Twitter universe, try coming to grips with analyzing some 10,000 tweets. Now add the Facebook comments, LinkedIn responses and the burgeoning world of Instagram. If you reached a stage of mental exhaustion from just the prospect of understanding and connecting that invasive trove of data capture and analysis, well, you are not alone.

Customer Analytics

The customer analytics piece fits into this VoC/CX pie as the third slice. Customer Analytics (CA) is the part that determines how the data will be used to comprehend the customer's satisfaction, the needs or pain points, and how to construct the composition of the data. The CA model is also a key component behind the art of segmenting buyers into various niches. The CA is also where behavior patterns, trends and other demographic traits initiate sales and marketing strategies.

All three of the customer-centric disciplines, VoC, CX and CA would appear to be interchangeable, and for many C-Suite executives, this process can be confusing. If we were to delineate each of these disciplines in the order of how they interact and influence outcomes the process is simple enough.

To begin with, CA is an integral part of the VoC process. The CA discipline enhances VoC platforms. In turn, the VoC data is what serves as the backbone for CX strategies and tactics. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that each of these three disciplines is separated so that each platform can execute on the highest levels.

Troubleshooting

In the data world, a seemingly simple mistake can be the culprit for adverse outcomes. Typically, simple data mishaps are a result of a system failure, or even data that is corrupt. Many data mining experts have alluded to a basic set of troubleshooting points to consider such as:

• Beginning with the wrong question
• Failure to configure the analysis correctly
• Utilizing disorganized, unprocessed data
• Gather data that does not fit the question
• Arriving at the wrong conclusions

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you recognize that the data analytics provider knows the tool that you may be using better than anyone. Constant communications with your data analytics provider greatly aids in troubleshooting errors, and in the long term saves resources, time and alleviates frustration.

The Net-Net

The excellent customer experience is the way forward for brands looking to increase their ROI. Gaining a thorough understanding of the VOC requires a stellar CA data program. Developing that process creates a better CX. In 2019, the data suggests that the brands that have stellar CXs are the ones that rise to the top of the competitive edge. Thanks for reading "Understanding the Voice of the Customer."

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