Even though there are many ways to get information today on almost any topic, when it comes to extracting real and usable data from customers about some product or/and service that your company provides, doing so can be pretty challenging. Namely, the tricky part here is obtaining the right info, the one from which your company will really benefit. User reviews are a preferred way to get detailed data and even instructions about what actions are needed in order to improve quality of some service, but among all other types of research and analytics, one stands out as the most efficient, and that’s VoC.
It provides better collaboration with customers
In the essence of this type of research are users and their feedback. Namely, as we all know, it all starts and ends with users, as today, even one complaint or bad review can have devastating effects. Of course, the more reviews there are, the more likely some of them will not be positive, as you simply cannot create anything and satisfy every person on the planet, but every type of critic is a good one if you actually do something about it and try to avoid making the same mistakes again.
Namely, when we decide to implement VoC in our business, it makes our customers feel important and realize that their opinion matters to us, which leaves a much stronger effect on the customers. The stronger bond we create with them, the better collaboration will be, and our company will operate more successfully. If our customers feel important, they will be much more willing to continue buying our products, which will surely increase our company’s profits and efficiency.
It can show us what we need to change
Above leaving a good impression is the overall effect this type of customer research and user review provides, and we all know how crucial this really is. Namely, perfect collaboration with our customers can help us a lot to improve our business by changing what is not good enough and keeping all the good things. Changing something is not that difficult, and it is much more difficult to find out what should be changed. That is when our customers can be very helpful, and draw our attention to changes we should make. All we need is to listen to them and learn more about their needs and expectations from our company.
Now here, there will always be complaints and objections that are simply unrealistic, but even listening to them will create a better bond, and actually implementing some of them will make that bond even stronger. Furthermore, it will also allow you to get a better understanding of the market and what type of changes are needed, so think of it as another type of market research, but the one conducted among those who already have experience with that product or service.
How to get the necessary data?
One of the most important things about VoC is knowing how to get relevant information that our teams can use to learn how to improve business because having the right information is a must. It is the only way to figure out what should be changed and, on the other side, what is good enough and should be kept that way. It depends on our customers since no company can be successful and operate without them, and the whole point of the VoC is to hear their needs and wishes from their feedback, and we can gather them in two ways:
- Survey asking
Probably the most popular way of gathering necessary information from customers is by asking them to complete surveys. It is crucial to create targeted surveys so the answers to the question in them can be useful, and your teams can analyze them and find the best possible solution. It is not easy, but it is one of the ways that can tell us a lot about our customers, and how to improve our business to suit their needs and wishes. The only way to gather data that you can later use is by creating questions regarding real possible problems and issues customers might have, as otherwise, the whole survey would lose meaning and become counterproductive.
- Following social media activity
Now, this is where people get confused as not everyone considers data gathered via social media platforms relevant, but experts in marketing and research disagree with this and point out that in this digital age, not using or considering social media as a relevant source of intel can have devastating effects. What you want from users is to be chatty and open about the product or service, but also to give you constructive advice or complaint, and the best way to get all that is when customers feel free, which is when they are posting, sharing, or reacting on social platforms.
People already use social media to express their dissatisfaction and satisfaction about many things and, what’s even more important, they love doing so. They use online platforms to make the reviews of some companies they are satisfied or unsatisfied with, and many other platforms to post their opinions in the form of comments or likes. Because of that, social media is feedback treasury, and we need to use the advantage we have and learn from it. Of course, it can be pretty time-consuming to get through all those comments manually, but luckily, there are many programs and software we can use for that. These programs can give us a much better insight into what customers think about the product, and we can use those final results to improve our business.
Final Thoughts
From everything mentioned above, it’s pretty clear that VoC is simply a must for modern businesses, as this type of research and analytics gives us the best possible advice on what our future actions should be. It can have a tremendous effect on how customers perceive our company, and if you want to get detailed info about VoC, read more.
