PowerPoint Presentation

Voice of Customer (VoC)The What, How, and Why?Drive Research

George Kuhn

Thank you for listening to my presentation on Voice of Customer or VoC market research.0

What Will You Learn Today?What is VoC?

How VoC Works?

Why VoC?

So what we will talk about today? We are going to cover the basics of VoC work.1

2What is Voice of Customer (VoC)?

The process of asking customers for feedback, creating tools to listen and tabulate their data, and then creating data-driven strategies to make improvements to the customer experience (CX.)

First lets start with a definition. VoC is exactly how it sounds. Voice of customer is often used interchangeable with customer experience (CX) and just plain market research. Essentially its the process of asking customers for feedback, creating tools to listen and tabulate their data, and then creating data-driven strategies to make improvements to their experience. Pretty simple right? I would imagine all companies do VoC of some sort even if its anecdotal or informally. The key with a VoC program is to structure objectives, collect a larger pool of feedback, and create outcomes and recommendations based on the feedback. Without those in place, a company is really just lending an ear with no action.2

3How Does VoC Work?QuantitativeQualitative

How does VoC work? In market research you have 2 options which youre most likely familiar with: quantitative and qualitative. They both have pros and cons and typically related to the left and right side of the brain in psychology. The left side of the brain is scientific, applies logic, analysis, and facts to thinking. Whereas the right side applies creativity, imagination, intuition, and feelings. This makes for two very different types of VoC and market research.3

4Pros and Cons of EachDo You Want to Measure or Explore?QualitativeQuantitativeExploratoryMeasuringDeep-diveBreadthQualityQuantitySubjectiveConclusiveSummaryComprehensive

What are the pros and cons of each type of VoC you can implement with your clients? The starting point for me when determining a methodology is to ask yourself if you want to measure or explore. If you want to explore youre most likely going qualitative. It is often why with market research programs companies start with qualitative work to explore topics before creating a more-defined measurement tool like a survey. Reading through the pros and cons here qualitative is good at diving deep, obtaining quality and thorough responses, because sample sizes are smaller findings are subjective and summarized. You wouldnt use a Coke vs. Pepsi taste test among 4 people to say this is how the U.S. prefers Pepsi. Quantitative focuses on wide-ranging breadth in research, focusing on obtaining relevant and projectable sample sizes, because statistics are often applied with probability sampling you can be conclusive (e.g., margin of error of +/- 2%), and findings are comprehensive. Although I would argue both qual and quant can be comprehensive in their own way.4

5Examples of Qualitative VoCIn-Depth InterviewsFocus GroupsEthnography

Here are some basic examples of qualitative VoC. These can also be conducted in-person. This project often involves about 8 to 12 in-depth research interviews with key decision-makers or stakeholders with particular knowledge on a topic. Focus groups may be the most popular form of qualitative research and usually involve 4 to 12 people in each group with a moderator and a moderators guide to structure the group. As a side note here, never conduct just one focus group. Lots of group dynamics are at play which will bias results, a good moderator can eliminate a lot of this but its always important to conduct at least 2. Ethnography or observational research helps provide anecdotal feedback to actions rather than listening just to words. An example of ethnography would be watching someone use a website (UX) or watching someone shop at grocery store noting the actions they take. If there are any fans of Simon Sinek on the call, hes challenged market research essentially saying people are not good at explaining why they make decisions because they cannot understand emotional influencers. I argue against that a bit because you can really dig into decisions with qualitative work.5

6Examples of Quantitative VoCOnline SurveysPhone Surveys

Intercept SurveysMystery Shopping

Some common examples of quantitative research include your basic and most popular survey, the online survey. Question writing is a scientific process but if youre questions are written well, they address your objectives, online surveys offer you the best bang for your buck in VoC. They are often inexpensive, offer a quick turnaround, and can produce quality data. Unlike online surveys, phone surveys allow for two-way communication and follow-up on questions. With mobile and online surveys you are at the mercy of the respondent offering as much or as little as he or she wants. Good telesurveyors can probe, dig, and ensure they clarify responses for the analyst come report time. Intercept surveys are great at capturing in-the-moment feedback (as people leave an event, concert, or store.) The feedback you receive immediately after the experience is much more reliable and accurate than the feedback they will provide a week later when they get a survey invite in their email. Lastly mystery shopping, probably the most fun of all quant methodologies. This is where you recruit and train shoppers to visit stores or banks or colleges and act like real customer acting out real scenarios. They have an evaluation form after they visit to grade their experience and identify levels of customer service. This allows us to collect metrics like net promoter score (NPS) which is a benchmark figure many clients do. Another popular metric is customer effort score (CES) which is a big metric in the digital world. Loyalty has been tied to the ability of a company to regularly deliver and not frustrate customers with daily and weekly touchpoints (many online.) This supports user experience (UX) research to eliminate these frustrations to avoid churn.6

7

Example of Qualitative VoCIn-Depth Interviews (IDIs)Kickoff meetingProject workplanWeekly updatesRecruitment screenerRecruitmentGuide designPre-scheduled interviews (recorded)Case summaries for appendixHand-written thank you cardsReport summary

12345678910

How did the phone IDIs work from a project management standpoint for Syracuse Media Group? Here is the process I like to employ and follow. It all starts with a kickoff meeting, spending 30 to 60 minutes with a client to understand objectives, expectations, and questions they want addressed in the research. The project workplan is sent within 24 hours after the kickoff. It details key tasks, responsible parties, and due dates. This is a living document, updated once a week and sent to the client to show status. The recruitment screener document shows the questions that will be asked to respondents to have them qualify for the research. Essentially its the recruitment script. The interview guide design is the core piece of the setup. It shows how the questions will be asked during the research interview, the flow, and all of the meat. I mentioned interviews are pre-scheduled, but also recorded. This is stated at the end of the introduction and most interviewees have no issue with this as its used for reporting purposes only. This allows you to be an active listener instead of scribbling notes the entire conversation further delaying time. All interviews are summarized for the appendix of the report, almost like a mini-transcript. Clients love these because they can read through all of the detail and its almost like they sat in on the interview. Each participant receives a hand-written thank you card for the Syracuse interviewer. I figure if they can take time to spend 30 minutes with me by phone, I can spend 5 writing a card. Keep in mind, these participants you speak to can also be future clients who may be looking to conduct VoC. Lastly is the report summary and final deliverable. This is the key piece of the project and probably what youll be judged by. VoC is very service-oriented but this is your product youre selling.7

8

Why VoC?

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service sells itself." - Peter DruckerThe customer perspective

Add depth and perception to your UX data and web analytics data for your clients

The best marketing strategy of all is a satisfied customer." Michael Leboeuf

So you have the what and the how of VoC with Syracuse Media Group, but what about the why? In relation to web analytics and digital strategy, traditional market research provides the why behind the what data. It provides context, reasons, and motivations for behavior. It gives you the customer perspective on what they want which can be integrated into website content and digital messaging. VoC creates a genuine, well-aligned digital strategy where you actively took time to listen to feedback, analyzed it, and made improvements customers asked for. It creates more loyal fans of a company. The key is acting and sharing feedback, not sitting on it. And worst of all doing nothing, no customer feedback options. If you dont have a program in place youll hear the best and the worst feedback, the extremes, a project like Pensar helps you obtain feedback from a wider range of individuals to drive strategy. I almost see campaign analytics and web analytics as driving with one eye shut. Sometimes youll get it right. You might assume why your bounce rate is 95% on the contact page but until you reach out to your customers and conduct the research and simply ask, youll never be driving with both eyes. 8

www.DriveResearch.cominfo@driveresearch.com315-303-2040