Ways of Collecting the VOC

by Karen Roberts

Posted on 25 May 2020

Companies stay in business and prosper because people buy their products or services. The greater the level of satisfaction enjoyed by the customer, the greater the likelihood that the customer will come back and buy more products, or tell others about their experiences. Everything (almost everything) you do should revolve around capturing the Voice of the Customer (VOC) and addressing the customer’s needs.

There are many ways to capture the VOC. Some customer input is solicited and other customer data is not. Both types of customer input are important. Although the ways to receive customer input are numerous, when Dr. Akao first began writing about Quality Function Deployment (QFD), he told people to just look at the customer complaint log. So if nothing else, study the types of complaints your customers are expressing.

Solicited

  • Hot lines

  • Customer surveys

  • Customer tests of products

  • Customer audits

  • Focus group Interviews

  • Partnerships with customers

Unsolicited

  • Customer visits

  • Trade shows

  • Vendors and suppliers

  • Employees

  • Conventions

  • Sales force input

  • Complaint logs

Having a system in place to document and analyze both solicited and unsolicited customer input is critical. However, the more candid and “real time” the feedback is, the better.

Another piece of research gives us valuable information on the number of customers to interview based on the complexity and customer groups. For a simple product, 10 to 15 customers can give you their base needs. For a more moderately complex product 15 to 20 customers are needed. And for very complex products 20 plus customers may need to give their input. For complex products that have numerous component parts, each component of the product will require separate customer input. Think about building an airplane. You have numerous "different" customer groups that interact with the product.

Research tells us that by gathering needs from 12 customers, you can determine from 70% - 75% of the customer needs. By interviewing 20 customers, you can get 80% - 85% of the needs. And by contacting 30 customers, you can get about 90% of the needs. These numbers may change depending on the complexity of the product and the cohesiveness of the customer group.

Understanding each customer group can determine the product’s success in the field. There is no single way to segment a market. A marketer has to try different segmentation variables, singly and in combination, to find an insightful way to view the market structure. Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different units like nations, states, etc. Demographic segmentation divides the market into groups like age, sex and income. They are by far the easiest variables to measure.

Psychographic segmentation divides buyers into groups based on their social class, life style, etc. Products that have been designed for social classes can be related to cars, clothing, leisure activities, reading habits, etc. Behavioral segmentation is divided into groups depending on their use of the product, their knowledge and attitudes.

Finally, getting the right information from your customers is a sure way to increase market share.

Author

Karen Roberts

MBA, MA University of New Mexico