What is VoC in product development?
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VoC – What is Voice of the Customer?VoC is the process of gathering and understanding customer feedback to directly improve product, service and customer experience. Show
Idea in shortVoC is the process of gathering and understanding customer feedback to directly improve product, service and customer experience. VoC programs include a wide range of tasks, from collecting data, to extracting insights, to putting them to work in your customer life cycles. The term Voice of the Customer (VoC) denotes giving prominence to the customer. Through VoC, you elicit their views of, experiences with and feedback about your brand. Case AppleApple is, undoubtedly, one of the most recognizable and influential brands in the business. It is known for its sleek designs, innovative products, and exceptional customer experience. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs learned the value of customer early on. During a presentation at the 1997 Worldwide Developer Conference, Jobs said that:
Jobss message is one that organizations across every industry should take to heart. Customer experience is the new competitive battlefield. To maintain market share and get ahead, companies must focus on customer experience. Customer experience should influence everything from product development to sales and marketing strategy. To do so, organizations must start by listening to the Voice of the Customer (VoC). Case AmazonSimilarly, Amazon is incredibly customer-obsessed. At all meetings, Jeff Bezos always set up an empty chair to represent the customer. As a result, Amazon.com, founded to be the Earths Most Customer-Centric Company, is now an international leader in customer centricity. Jeff Bezos is known for saying:
Thats the reason that every project or product at Amazon starts with a press release that features sample customer anecdotes. According to Jeff Bezos:
First, Amazons teams think through all of the reasons it should build hypothetical product in an FAQs document. Then, it drafts a Press Release (PR) that would compel a target customer to buy the product. The product team should have been sufficiently customer-obsessed in writing the press release. Else, theres no case for them to actually build the product. What is VoC?The voice of the customer, or VOC, is a structured process of directly gathering customer feedback. Customer perceived value refers to the value that customers assign to a product or service based on whether they believe it will meet their needs or expectations. Typically, when determining the perceived value of an item, customers weigh its perceived benefit against its perceived cost. If the perceived benefit outweighs the perceived cost, the item will have a positive perceived value; if the inverse is true, the item will have a negative perceived value. Specifically, the VoC process gathers the needs, wants, expectations, performance and experiences of your products or services. By focusing on the voice of the customer, the VoC process identifies their most important needs and expectations. Once identified, companies would then gear their business model to be more in line with customer wants. In general, you can classify customer needs as related to quality, cost, safety, service, delivery, and increasingly, social responsibility. Therefore, organizations should pursue these aspects to satisfy their customers. Who is a customer?A customer is a person, organization or entity that is the direct recipient of your product or services. Sometimes the term stakeholder is used as a type of customer. However, in reality, they are rarely the direct receiver. Stakeholders may have stake or interest in the well being of your organization. But, they may not be the direct recipients of our outputs i.e. products or services. A customer may be:
An external customer directly receives your output and is the primary source for your revenue and income. An internal customer is a different person or department within your organization that receives your or your departments outputs. They generally do not pay you for your work product or services. Why is VoC important?Organizations that understand their customer journey are likely to improve their offerings to fit their customers needs. To that end, VoC programs help organizations retain customers, build better products, deliver better services, and systematically drive change. This, in turn, fosters their loyalty. Leveraging customer insights helps:
How to implement a VoC program?Follow the 5 stages to ensure that your VoC program delivers the insight to build a strong customer strategy.
SummaryUnderstanding and properly responding to the VoC is the primary determinant of the long-term success and survival of an organization. There are a number of methods by which an organization can collect and understand what customers tell them. Mastering VoC is an existential necessity of any organization that wants to sustainably focus on customer experience. Fact-based VoCs enable you to constantly adapt your business strategy to better meet customer needs and achieve your financial goals. APAMLAHarvardVancouverChicagoIEEE Think Insights (October 29, 2022) VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?. Retrieved from https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/voc-voice-of-the-customer/. "VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?." Think Insights - October 29, 2022, https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/voc-voice-of-the-customer/ Think Insights September 1, 2020 VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?., viewed October 29, 2022, Think Insights - VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?. [Internet]. [Accessed October 29, 2022]. Available from: https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/voc-voice-of-the-customer/ "VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?." Think Insights - Accessed October 29, 2022. https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/voc-voice-of-the-customer/ "VoC - What is Voice of the Customer?." Think Insights [Online]. Available: https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/voc-voice-of-the-customer/. [Accessed: October 29, 2022] Was this article helpful? × We appreciate your feedback! We will use your feedback to improve the quality and diversity of our content. The more feedback you provide, the better our content will be. Meanwhile, please feel free to:
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 I am Mithun Sridharan, Founder & Author of Think Insights and INTRVU. I am a Global Industry Advisor at a leading cloud technology company, where I advise CxOs & Executives at global corporations on their strategic initiatives. Previously, I served on leadership and executive roles at global Management Consulting & technology firms, such as KPMG, Sapient Consulting, Oracle, and EADS. My insights on this website are based on my 1st-hand client engagement experiences across Capital Markets, Automotive and Hi-tech verticals. Please feel free connect with me on LinkedIn. Related PostsWhat does VOC mean in product development?Voice of the customer (VoC) is a process for collecting customer feedback and then organizing and sharing it internally across the organization. VoC helps companies: Understand the why behind their customers' feedback. Identify what customers need and want, and what their pain points are.
How can VOC be used in product development?VOC should be initiated early in product development (as early as phase 1) and carried through all stages of the product design process. This will help ensure that the end-product will conform to market needs which can shift significantly during the course of the design cycle.
What is the VOC concept?Voice of the Customer (VoC) is a term that describes your customer's feedback about their experiences with and expectations for your products or services. It focuses on customer needs, expectations, understandings, and product improvement.
What is a VOC in Six Sigma?Voice of Customer is the customer's voice, expectations, preferences, comments, of a product or service in discussion. It is the statement made by the customer on a particular product or service.
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