The Importance of Voice of the Customer

Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs prompt for and listen to customer feedback at critical moments of truth throughout the customer journey. VOC also includes listening and communicating to assess customer sentiment and disseminate helpful content such as educational material, relevant offers, and invitations to speak directly with an institution’s staff.

Timing is a key component. Moments of truth include website visits, cart abandonment, new account openings, service interactions, and engagement with self-service tools such as personal financial planning. VOC accumulates knowledge regarding customer experiences and expectations of an organization’s products, services, and brand. 

VOC equips the institution to understand customer pain points and analyze them sufficiently to isolate root causes and needs. Acting on customer feedback allows an organization to address and correct issues contributing to customer frustration and dissatisfaction and improve the quality and positioning of the institution’s brand. VOC includes listening and communicating to assess customer sentiment and disseminate helpful content such as educational material, relevant offers, invitations to speak directly with a staff member regarding concerns, and simple apologies for failing to meet customer expectations.

VOC models are only effective when the customer is “heard” and proper action is taken. Steps include:

1. Targeting the audience selection may be based on segmentation, demographics, risk factors, events, or personal or business customer types.
2. Asking this audience the right questions allows the institution to gather feedback through relational, transactional, and clarifying intent surveys.
3. Interpreting the feedback through response analysis to identify trends and root causes.
4. Employing necessary corrective actions through direct outreach, process improvement, staff coaching, and relevant product offers.

Validating that the chosen action was successful requires additional customer feedback. This makes the VOC model a cyclical process of reaching out to target audience members, asking questions, interpreting feedback, and taking appropriate action.

For more information, download the Defining Digital as a Strategic Competitive Differentiator interview document.