CUSTOMER RELATIONS

SELF - LEARNING MATERIAL 10

WEEK 10

The Voice of Customers

The Voice of Customers

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Self-Learning Material (SLM) for Customer Relations!
Developing a relationship with your customers is one of most effective strategies a
business can adopt. Studying customer relations strategy can help you deliver
tremendous ROI, boost customer acquisition, loyalty, and satisfaction.

This self-learning material was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will
be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner. Further, this also aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills
especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical
Thinking, and Character while taking into consideration their needs and
circumstances.

Read the simple instructions below to successfully enjoy the objectives of this
self-learning material. Have fun!

1. Read the lessons with understanding and comprehension for you to easily grasp
the topics.
2. If you have any questions or topics that you cannot understand, do not hesitate to
ask your subject teacher.
3. Activity Notebook is required for answering the exercises.
4. Do not forget to answer the pre-assessment before moving on to the lesson proper
and other activities included in the module.
4. Read the directions carefully before doing each activity.
5. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the activities.
6. Review your answers before passing.
7. Always submit the activities on time.
8. Have fun in learning and answering your self-learning modules. It will be easier for
you to absorb all the learnings that you will acquire if you are enjoying what you are
doing.

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If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to
consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not alone. We hope
that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain deep
understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the self-learning material, you should be able to:

➢ Discuss the concept of the voice of customers

LESSON 10.1 The Voice of Customers

The voice of customer is exactly what you think it is– listening to your customers.
Voice of customer (VoC) encompasses the process of gathering and understanding
customer feedback so customer responses directly improve the product and customer
experience.

Collecting customer feedback has historically been a fundamental part of growing a

business. But the Voice of the Customer shifts the focus from collecting aggregate
data to individual data. It stresses the importance of “closing the loop” or responding
to customers with proof that their feedback has been incorporated into the products
and services.

Voice of Customer helps businesses hone their product or service into something that
customers truly want and will continue to invest time and money into. Instead of just
collecting data, it focuses on understanding it. Why? Because if you know customers
are having problems, it should be your goal to get to the root of it. On the flip side, if

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you know where customers are finding enjoyment in your product, you should want to
find out why so you can expand on it.

There’s more to Voice of the Customer than sending out a survey and hoping for a
good response. If you have dreams of becoming a champion gymnast and pay a coach
top dollar to train you, you’d expect them to tell you when your form is off, right? That’s
because constructive criticism is necessary for improvement. VoC best practices
stress that you ask probing questions and not just set yourself up to receive positive
remarks (which can still be useful, but we’ll touch on that in a sec). Are customers
unhappy with the price point? Do they have trouble using your product? Does your
service actually make life easier or does it just stress them out? While the responses
may not be all smiles, they reveal insights that drive change.

HOW VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER BENEFITS BUSINESS

Understanding the Voice of the Customer isn’t just good for the customer experience.
It also has big payoffs for your business. This is because understanding the Voice of
the Customer helps you:

• Understand your customers’ requirements.

• Make informed business decisions that align with customer needs and
expectations.
• Discover market fit and nail the timing of new product launches.
• Improve brand management and brand reputation.
• Increase customer retention.
• Minimize negative feedback and experiences.

VoC research can also act as a springboard for product and service development and
innovation. When you know what your customer wants and expects, you can tailor
your products and services to those requirements.

Teams then work together to optimize the customer journey at every stage, improving
both the customer experience and internal collaboration throughout the organization.

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BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL VOICE OF CUSTOMER PROGRAM

Before you jump in and begin building a step-by-step plan for achieving customer
experience maturity, you’ll want to set the stage. Too often people rush into building a
program without aligning all the necessary factors to move forward with creating a
customer-centric organization.

By focusing on the following six factors, you can successfully establish organization-
wide customer centricity.

1. Strong leadership
Establishing a customer-centric culture starts at the very top. Without executive-level
buy-in there is a low probability of creating maximum impact for any customer-centric
initiative. You’ll also want to garner the support of lower-level leaders to truly move the
needle on improving the customer experience. Leaders set the tone for their teams,
so if a leader decides that the customer is important, their direct reports will follow suit.

2. Vision and clarity

Your vision for VoC needs to be specific so that everyone within the organization can
easily understand the common goal. Start by focusing on the language and messaging
you’ll use to convey your vision. We recommend a short and simple vision statement
to help you increase understanding and buy-in from leadership.

3. Engagement and collaboration

An engaged workforce is vital for the long-term success of a customer-centric
company. And as employees become more engaged, cross-functional collaboration
and synergy will create more impactful and successful customer initiatives. To truly
engage your workforce, you have to understand them. The most tried and true method
for doing so is by implementing a formal employee experience program.

4. Listening and learning

A systematic method for monitoring and collecting customer feedback is key to
improving the overall experience. Because customer feedback can be gathered via
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multiple channels it’s important to build any listening program on a robust platform that
can to pivot with customers as their feedback preferences change.

5. Alignment and action

Alignment means that all members of a company are marching towards the same
vision, and each workgroup defines what action they must to take to help realize that
vision. Generally speaking, action refers to the measurable steps taken to improve the
customer experience. A properly designed root cause or driver analysis will help you
identify what areas to take action on.

6. Patience and commitment

As much as it pains companies to hear this, building a world-class customer culture is
not an overnight exercise – nor is it one that can be completely outsourced. Like it or
not, the most successful customer-centric organizations in the world are built in an
iterative fashion over a number of years. Customer culture is slowly altered, collection
practices are refined, analyses are increased in complexity, and action becomes
widespread and aspirational. All along this journey, leadership must demonstrate
patience and commitment to the process and vision.

Understanding and properly responding to the voice of the customer is the primary
determinant of the long-term success and survivability of an organization. There are a
number of methods by which an organization can collect and understand what the
customer is telling them.

There will be conflicts, and there will be some tough decisions to make. But there is
no choice, because if the organization fails to fully understand the VOC, they will
become a target for their competition — and the company that responds and listens
the best will come out on top.

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ASSESSMENT
PRODUCT REVIEW. With the product of your choice (the one that you usually use
or your most favorite purchase), create a product review using the template below.

I. Introduction - Overview of the product including its history, description, and what its
purpose.

II. Body – Answers the question: Why do you purchase this product? What made you
buy it the first time you purchase it? What are its cons and pros?

III. Conclusion – Summary of the product review.

Note: Attach a picture of yourself with or using the product.

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REFERENCE

Book:
The everything guide to customer engagement. Linda Pophal. Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Website:
https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/what-is-voice-of-
customer/
https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/understanding-the-voice-of-the-customer
https://www.gainsight.com/guides/essential-guide-voice-customer/