How much should you listen to your customers?

When it comes to creating a customer centric culture, it is important to create a Voice of the Customer (VoC) strategy. One of the questions that always seems to pop up is, “How much should we listen to our customers?” It’s a fair question, but it’s more complex than just deciding on a sample size for your surveys. At its core, listening to customers should always lead to better decision-making. Let me share some of my experiences to give you a clearer picture.

Staying in Touch

First and foremost, listening to customers helps you stay in touch with their needs and feelings about your services. Think of it like having a constant pulse on what’s trending and what your customers care about. It’s like keeping your finger on the heartbeat of your business. The challenge is that many times listening to customers becomes more about metrics or the research initiatives that live in pockets and address specific objectives that do not get tranferred to the business. In turn, this limits the opportunity for the business to learn about the customer.

When I first created a VoC program for a tech company - let's call it Techco, I had to consider the customer journey and identify the moments that matter, as well as the best channels to ask for customer feedback. Some times the touchpoints would start through a website intercept, while others might involve conducting focus groups before a product launch. The key aspect is to understand, when does it make sense to ask or to proactively listen to customers. Consider all channels and not just surveys such as social media comments, online reviews, tradeshows and the like, as opportunities to keep a pulse on the customer’s feedback.

Making Better Decisions

But beyond just staying in touch, listening to customers should inform your decision-making. It’s about finding that sweet spot where the sample size is big enough to truly represent your customer base. Imagine you’re launching a new software tool for businesses. You want to ensure that the feedback you’re collecting isn’t just from a handful of loyal customers but from a diverse group that represents your entire audience. This way, you’re not just getting an echo chamber of the same voices but a real cross-section of opinions.

For example, if you’re developing a new project management tool, gathering feedback from a broad range of users – from small startups to large enterprises – will give you a well-rounded view of what people need and expect. This diversity in feedback can highlight different priorities and features that might not have been obvious if you only listened to a single group.

It is also important to consider all the different parts of your business – who are the internal stakeholders? What information do they need from the customers so they can best inform decisions? This then becomes part of your VoC strategy.

Avoiding Analysis Paralysis

However, there’s a fine line. Too much data can lead to analysis paralysis. You know well that situation where you are so overwhelmed with information that you end up making no decision at all. Making decisions based on an abundance of data is like navigating an ocean without a clear destination.

I have seen this case happen in many companies, my clients usually say “I don’t have a data issue, I have an insights issue.” To avoid this common problem, it is important to understand the company’s vision and to have clear goals about what decisions need to be made. In other words, making good decisions with data starts by asking the right questions – instead of asking – how do we fix this problem, perhaps ask why does this problem even exist? or instead of asking how big is my market, start by asking what market(s) do I compete in?

The Role of Intuition

In business, relying too heavily on customer data can stifle your intuition and creativity.

One classic example is Nokia. At one point, they were the kings of the mobile phone world. But they became so focused on market research and customer feedback that they missed the smartphone revolution. They kept improving what they already had instead of innovating for the future. This cautionary tale highlights the risk of becoming too dependent on customer feedback without leaving room for visionary thinking.

Many groundbreaking products weren’t born from customer surveys but from keen observation and a bit of gut instinct. Take Henry Ford, for example. If he had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. Instead, he gave them the automobile. Or consider the case of Salesforce. When it started, traditional software was all about on-premises installations and lengthy implementations. Salesforce’s founders observed the frustration of businesses with this model and envisioned a cloud-based solution, something customers weren’t explicitly asking for but desperately needed. They created a product that revolutionized the B2B software industry by making powerful tools accessible online, without the need for extensive infrastructure.

Case Studies: Learning from Experience

Let me share a personal experience. When I worked at a global technology company, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey showed high positive scores. Everyone was thrilled, thinking we were doing great. But when I dug deeper, I realized the feedback was mostly from North American clients, early adopters who loved tech solutions. This wasn’t our typical audience. We needed a broader representation to get a true picture.

We expanded our survey pool and included more diverse regions and customer types. This gave us better insights and helped us make more informed decisions. It also taught us the importance of segmenting data – looking at feedback by region or customer type can reveal different needs and preferences, helping us tailor our strategies more effectively.

Business-to-Business Scenarios

In B2B scenarios, the challenge often lies in how to gather feedback without overwhelming your clients. These clients are usually few in number but high in value. It’s crucial to have a structured approach, like setting up advisory boards or conducting quarterly business reviews. This way, you’re not just collecting data but building ongoing relationships and gaining deeper insights into their needs.

Imagine you’re a software company serving a handful of large enterprise clients. These clients are invaluable, but you can’t bombard them with surveys every week. Instead, you could form an advisory board with representatives from each key client. This board meets quarterly to discuss their needs, feedback on your products, and any future developments. This structured interaction ensures you’re listening without becoming a nuisance.

The Big Picture

So, how well are you capturing customer feedback today? Are you listening to enough voices, frequently enough, to represent your audience accurately? And are you analyzing this feedback thoroughly and sharing it across your company? The goal is to inform decisions on product development, customer experience enhancements, support improvements, and innovation.

As you mature in your approach to capturing the voice of the customer, you’ll find that it not only guides your strategies but also aligns your entire organization towards better serving your customers. In the end, it’s about balance – listening enough to stay informed but also trusting your instincts to drive innovation.

To wrap it up, here are some key takeaways:

1. Stay Connected: Regularly check in with your customers to understand their needs and stay ahead of trends.
2. Balance Your Data: Ensure your sample size is big and diverse enough to get an accurate representation, but not so large that it overwhelms you.
3. Trust Your Gut: Don’t rely solely on customer feedback. Sometimes, the best ideas come from intuition and observing behaviors.
4. Segment Wisely: Look at your data in segments to get deeper insights and tailor your strategies effectively.
5. Structured Feedback in B2B: For B2B businesses, use advisory boards and regular reviews to maintain a steady flow of feedback without overwhelming your clients.

By finding the right balance, you can create a feedback loop that’s both informative and inspiring, helping you make better decisions and innovate successfully.

Want to mature your VoC?

Are you struggling to listen to your customers and evolve your approach? It might be time for an assessment to identify where you stand and what needs to be done. Visit 4Xperience.com and contact me to send you the link to this valuable assessment. Let’s take the first step towards transforming how you listen to and engage with your customers!