Ask any organization how to achieve customer centricity, and cost figures immediately come to mind.  Dedicated teams, comprehensive surveys, high-end analytics systems—it’s an expensive proposition.

A company recently asked what it means to be more customer centric, and the thought exercise resulted the company vowing to take a “back to basics” approach.  In fact, organizations with large and small purse strings alike should take the basics to heart before extensive investment.

So what exactly do we mean by “back to basics”?  There are many considerations, but among the most powerful: Simply ask the customer.

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Service organizations are at the center of VOC, and unlike our counterparts in marketing and market research, we don’t have to ask for it! Yes – that was a bit of sugar-coating the type of VOC we’re most exposed to in service interactions, but the truth is that we have access to tremendous VOC.

As enterprise receptivity to customer voice increases, it’s noteworthy how often I’m asked about improving the customer experience beyond the basics. It’s almost as if VOC initiatives that don’t include the words “innovation,” “customer insight,” and “unstated needs” are insufficient. My advice? Careful putting the cart before the horse.

There is a greater degree to which service organizations can augment R&D or marketing efforts on innovation and unstated needs analysis, but let’s make sure we’re getting the basics right first. Based on several of our best practitioner’s insights, here are three questions you should consider: Read More »

About a month ago, I weighed the pros and cons of different automated channels for surveying customer – including e-mail, Web, and IVR.   To continue to help members select the right channel for their post-contact customer surveys, I wanted to use part two of this post to address manual channels – like outbound phone and mail surveys.       

By and large, compared to automated options, manual survey administration channels such as phone and mail are not as popular with members. This often due to time lag and resources required with manual survey channels.  Still, they offer a few advantages and pose some disadvantages worth considering. Read More »

They say that strong communication is the key to any healthy relationship.  The principle holds true, of course, for both home and work.

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And while the role of the service and support organization is primarily to be a communicator—and in fact many organizations we work with have upskilled staff on all sorts of tactics for improved interpersonal communication with customers—we’re apparently doing a poor job when it comes to communicating with cross-functional colleagues, particularly as it relates to cascading voice of the customer data.

Here are the facts from this CCC  research on sharing Voice of the Customer (VOC) with internal business partners: Read More »

A common question I hear members ask is, “Given all of the channel options available, how do I select the right channel for my post-contact customer survey?” In this two-part post, I weigh the pros and cons of using different channels for surveying customers.

Here, I cover automated survey channels, including e-mail, Web, and IVR.  Part two will address manual channels, like outbound phone and mail surveys. Taken together, this information can guide you toward the survey administration channel that is best suited for you and your customers.  Read More »

I recently came across some data indicating Twitter’s user base has decreased by as much as 19% over the second half of 2009.

While many contradicting findings have been reported—and Twitter says usage is at its highest levels yet and expected to grow—if it isn’t already happening, user base consolidation likely will occur soon as growth cannot continue indefinitely.   Read More »

Lately I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about how to write an effective post-contact customer survey. Although survey writing may seem simple (just write a few interesting questions and push go), a good amount of thought work must be invested up front in order to get useful data back from your customer survey. Below I’ve captured my top 4 tips for rewriting or creating a new survey:  Read More »