Win with Advanced Business Analytics: Creating Business Value from Your Data

THE MAKINGS OF AN EFFECTIVE VOICE-OF-THE-CUSTOMER PROGRAM

Many customer-centric companies have overcome the roadblocks and established effective voice-of-the-customer programs. They have installed centers of research and insight to manage these programs and encouraged a culture of information-based, customer-centric business decision making across the enterprise. A systematic VOC program, in its simplest form, is about being proactive in constantly capturing the customer input and incorporating this input into the key functions of the organization at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels (see Exhibit 8.1).

Exhibit 8.1 Voice-of-the-Customer Program Paradigm

Listen, Monitor

Obtaining relevant, timely, and objective customer feedback is the first step to a successful VOC program. Irrelevant information distracts the business manager, and insights that come too late cannot effectively have a positive impact on the business. In addition, biased opinions obtained from a handful of selected customers can be more harmful than no information at all, because such quick-and-dirty research can give the false impression of an information-based decision-making process, when in fact it is not. You need to avoid at all costs decisions based on insights obtained by unreliable research methods and poor-quality data, because these insights will be misleading and will push the wrong business ...