Voice of customer – Here is why to use it and when not

Identifying and/or knowing your customer’s needs is one of the backbone areas of Product management. It is our experience that this is done in many different ways, where some ways are better than others. Despite knowing that it can and mostly should be done in a more thorough way, there are some fast tracks to uncover customer needs that is tempting to use.

·?????? A few calls to the Sales organization, or at best involving them in meetings to get their thoughts, knowing that they interact with customers daily

·?????? Occasional customer visits, where the questions of customer needs are vaguely discussed

·?????? Urgent feedback from major customers

·?????? Gut feeling. After all, as a Product manager you have a pretty good understanding already of what customers want

Hand on heart, do you recognize yourself in identifying the customer needs in one of the above ways? If these statements do mirror your way of collecting customer needs, it might not be wrong. It is not really the true Voice of customer, but In our time pressured world, it can still be good enough. I can still be a way that solves the lion share of the questions you have about needs and you are probably not completely of the chart in your strive to get it right. If it works for you, please continue.

There are however a few clear downsides to this way of approaching customers.

·?????? You cannot neglect the risk of being wrong in your assumptions

·?????? You really don’t uncover the real customer needs. You know the ones that really solves the customer pains and will make you come out as a hero in the eyes of the customer. The ones that makes you competitive and stand out with your enhanced offering

·?????? You miss the change of engaging with customers and building trust and stronger relationships

·?????? It will also be challenging to stand in front of management and demonstrate why you need that large investment in development without proper facts or clear customer testimonials

In today's competitive market, truly understanding the Voice of Customer is more crucial than ever. It is the base from where you can differentiate. VoC is not just about collecting feedback; it's about deeply listening to our customers, understanding their needs, and acting on their insights to drive innovation and improve customer satisfaction.

By leveraging VoC, businesses can:

• Identify the real pain points and areas for improvement and use that knowledge to enhancing product and service offerings
• Avoid spending time and money on the wrong development projects
• Foster stronger customer relationships and driving customer loyalty and retention.

Is it worth the effort? A Voice of Customer approach that involves clear segmentation, a team effort, several deep interviews, surveys, sorting and structuring customer needs and finally prioritizing them will be a cumbersome and time consuming effort that requires planning, a clear path and involvement from a team. As Product manager you will have to engage yourself and lead this process. It will however pay off in a treasure chest filled with structured and prioritized customer needs on which you can decide on the next development project and which features to promote. It is also a long term investment in knowledge and a silo breaking way of working.

Take a moment to reflect on how you identify customer needs today and what steps you would like to take. Are you ready to make the investment in mapping the customers’ journey, their needs and challenges? What is your best advise and experience from using VoC, ?fast tracks or other methodologies?