Why You Need to Be Collecting VOC And CSAT

There is often some confusion when it comes to Voice of Customer (VOC) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). While they are two very different aspects of the customer opinion, the information collected from each are very important. When it comes to data collection and metrics, it is ideal to gather both VOC and CSAT information.

Many businesses believe they understand what their customers need; very few take the time to investigate and confirm. Your customers’ needs, desires, and expectations are constantly changing. VOC and CSAT are two ways to make sure that you are staying ahead of your customers’ wants and needs (and the competition), while ensuring satisfaction for the interaction or service. The best indicator of your customer experience is when a customer returns for more business and refers their friends and family.

What is Voice of the Customer?

VOC focuses on the customer needs, expectations, understandings, and product improvement. It is a term that describes your customer’s feedback about their experiences with and expectations for your products or services.

VOC captures their personal opinions about your products or services. Asking engaging, open ended questions and listening to your customers is the best way to capture VOC data.

What is Customer Satisfaction?

CSAT measures how satisfied a customer is with your product or service after they have had the experience of using the product or after they have contacted your company for service. CSAT measures whether or not the customer’s expectations were met or exceeded.

Generally, sending a brief survey asking the customer to rate their satisfaction on a scale of one to ten and an open character text box for feedback is sufficient. CSAT is calculated by dividing all the positive responses by the total number of responses and multiplying by 100 to achieve the CSAT percentage.

How do VOC and CSAT Complement Each Other?

Although these are actually two very different aspects of customer opinion, they complement each other, and both should be considered when evaluating and improving your customer experience. VOC is a more progressive approach to gathering data, assessing the customer expectations which will in turn impact customer satisfaction down the line. Once implemented, a combination of these two programs can help you to create more loyal customers.

Smart companies (and those that strive to lead the market in customer experience) will use that information to make improvements in their product or in the service they provide customers. VOC is critical because it is a proactive approach to identify and avoid risk.

How to Gather Customer Feedback?

There are number of ways to gather this information—focus groups, social media engagement, cold calls, and surveys, but all methods of VOC data rely on some form of interview to gather the information. Once your customer feedback is gathered, this information can then be shared within a business to help make informed decisions. It allows you to better understand your customers and therefore make more informed decisions that align with the needs of your customers.

VOC Questions to Consider:

1. How did you discover our products/services?
2. What characteristics do you seek in products/services?
3. What could make this product/service even better?
4. Would you recommend this product/service? Why or why not?

To truly comprehend and clarify what it is they want, you need to spend the time to ask those questions and dig for the information. Reaching out to clients, associates, and customers to confirm you are hearing what is important to them is the best way to collect this information. As a result, happy, satisfied customers are more likely to give you repeat business and may even help market your services and products to family and friends because they realize you value their opinion and input. This will allow your customers to do some of the marketing for you by telling their positive stories.

How to Implement VOC and CSAT Programs

First, use the VOC concept to gather input when developing and adjusting the products and services. Next, send a CSAT survey to customers after they’ve used the product or after they’ve interacted with your company’s service or support department and determine whether or not you have met their expectations.

If so, great! If not, then it’s back to the VOC drawing board model. It is critical to collect more information from customers to help guide you as you redesign the process, service or product to increase the likelihood that you’ll exceed customers’ expectations. Resulting in more repeat customers that will not only stay loyal and buy more but also tell their friends!

What are the benefits?

Gathering relevant VOC data can significantly increase your customer satisfaction rates and evaluating customer satisfaction can help ensure that you hit your goals.

As customers are demanding more direct engagement and feedback opportunities, VOC allows you to capture and act on that customer feedback. VOC is critical to understanding a prospective customer’s buying habits.

Soliciting VOC is significant because without your customers, you’ve got no business. The best way to achieve higher customer satisfaction is to ensure you’re giving the clients what they need from the beginning.

Having a pulse on how satisfied your customers are (or aren’t) allows your customer to feel heard so that you will be able to adapt and improve the quality of service that you are providing.

*Related – Make The One Thing The ONE Thing

Tim Ferriss’ interview of Hugh Jackman is one of my favorite podcasts I have listened to. Jackman has immediately become one of my favorite actors and human beings. Everything he said was gold. Here are some of my takeaways:

• Front-load your day, so that it doesn’t get lost. It’s really important for me to wake up feeling in a good frame of mind rather than that feeling of catch-up.
• I don’t go out after my shows, because the party I’ve just had onstage is better than anything I can imagine anywhere else.
• It reminds me of how privileged I am and how much I owe every single audience member at every single show. They’re not coming in to see my fourth show of the week. They’re coming to see the show for the first and probably only time in their lives. Who knows what they’ve sacrificed to get there? So I really take that minute.
• You should be so inquisitive and curious and find inspiration from surprising places.
• You cannot over-invest in education. If you are ever in doubt of what to do, go and learn more.
• How you act is far stronger than what you say.
• I don’t like the word career, particularly when I began, and I’d say to actors, “I’d be wary of the word career. It’s not a right that you’re going to act. 98 percent of actors are unemployed. It’s a privilege when you get a job. And don’t expect there will always be one around the corner. Work your ass off, as though this is the last one, and you have to be at your best to get there because that’s kind of what it takes.”

Episode 14 – John DiJulius interviews serial entrepreneur and the king of culture, Arnie Malham. Arnie has built and sold multiple businesses, and is the best-selling author of the book, Worth Doing Wrong: The Quest to Build a Culture that Rocks. In this interview you will learn:

• The surprising story of why Arnie named his first company cj advertising
• How he painfully learned that his own company needed a culture transformation from hearing the quote, “Culture reflects leadership.”
• How Arnie learned from failing, getting it wrong first and how he started to embrace being wrong to get it right
• How Arnie made a culture that rocks and made companies all around the world want to copy what he was doing
• How he was brave enough to have total transparency with all his employees and clients; he shared all their feedback, negative and positive every quarter
• What 3 simple things any business can do to change their culture immediately
• How to use employee & client feedback to take action
• How to motivate your employees to dramatically read more

Register now for the 2020 Virtual Customer Service Revolution

The 2020 Virtual Customer Service Revolution is every Thursday afternoon in October (1^st, 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, & 29^th) from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EST. We realize, given the current climate, that this might be the most critical conference we have ever put on. That is why we have selected the most amazing diversified group of experts in all areas of business, motivation, mental health, and physical wellness to ensure you and your team can Reimagine…Revolutionize your current and future state both personally and professionally.

Early bird pricing of $349 per ticket, or $999 for a team of 5, is available until August 15th! Register today to secure your spot at the lowest rate!