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Customer Voice

Understanding the Voice of the Customer

Customer Voice Graphics courtesy of Callcentre HelperOpens in new window

For any process management and improvement, it is essential to know what customers really want, and how their needs, requirements and attitudes change over time. This systematic approach of understanding the customer and their needs is nothing but the voice of customer or voice of client (VOC).

The VOC is a process used to capture the needs/requirements/feedback from the customer (internal or external) to provide the customer with the best-in-class service/product quality. It is all about the strategy and system for continually tracking and upgrading customer requirements, competitor activities, market changes, etc.

Pande et al. (2000) describe the importance of customer voice in terms of gathering data as the most important aspect of VOC. As a part of improvement activity, VOC should include:

  • A description of specific, performance standards for each key output, as defined by the customers.
  • Observable and (if possible) measurable service standards for key interfaces with customers.
  • An analysis of performance and service standards based on their relative importance to customers and customer segments and their impact on business strategy.
  • Analysing and prioritizing requirements as per the business strategy.

Why Customer Voice?

The first step towards an effective VOC system is that it must become a constant priority and focus. In light of today’s speed of change, it is most likely that the organizationsOpens in new window that do not give importance to their customers are going to suffer a lot in terms of productivity.

Over and above, an organization should keep a tag on creating and maintaining a comprehensive system to gather and use customer input and market trends in tandem with time. Further,

  • Customer identity brings a real awakening to a business and it’s leaders as well.
  • Making improvement should be treated as a continuous effort.
  • It imposes strategic impact on the accuracy of data.
  • It helps to identify the trends happenings in the market.
  • It helps to address your weaknesses and motivate you for new efforts.

Failing to disseminate customer-focused knowledge throughout the organization can also be a serious weakness for some and handy for some. Still the efforts to gather various inputs and understand customer requirements are always a smart approach.

See Also:
  1. Reichheld, F.F. (1996). The loyalty effect: the hidden force behind growth, profits, and lasting value: Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
  2. Based on Reichheld, F. F. and Sasser, Jr, W.E. (1990). Zero defections: quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, Sept – Oct., 105 – 11; Reichheld, F.F. (1996). The loyalty effect.Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
  3. Bolton, R.N. (1998). A dynamic model of the duration of the customer’s relationship with a continuous service provider: the role of satisfaction. Marketing Science, 17(1), 45 – 65.
  4. Vivek, S.D., Beatty, S.E. and Morgan, R.M. (2012). Customer engagement: exploring customer relationships beyond purchase. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 20(2), 127 – 45.
  5. Keaveney, S.M. (1995). Customer switching behavior in service industries: an exploratory study. Journal of Marketing, 59, 71 – 82.
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