Introduction
“Voice of the Customer” is an adage referring to the process of collecting user feedback on a given product or feature. There are many ways to approach this concept, but the core is the same across them all:
- Becoming better able to anticipate and proactively solve customer painpoints
- Becoming better to discuss customer painpoints and objections towards potential solutions
- Research and validation for items to be pulled into a product’s roadmap
How do I obtain the Voice of the Customer?
There are many ways to collect user feedback. Some of the most popular are:
- Interviewing customers — make sure to ask objective, non-skewing questions (e.g. don’t guide them into saying a specific thing).
- Focus groups — conducting focus group are the same as interview customers, except it’s now a 3 or more people as opposed to a 1-on-1 discussion.
- Surveying customers — keep them short and concise; try to center in on their goals, obstacles, and painpoints.
- Observe the market — what are your customers saying on social media?
- Monitor reviews — what are your customers saying or feeling about your product?
- Engage with customer-facing stakeholders — what does your sales or account management team have to say about your customers?
- Map the user journey — understand how your user engages with your app and understand why they use it the way they do.
Conclusion
Most products’ success comes as a result of customer-driven, strategic decisions. By focusing on how your product is perceived by users, both existing and potential, you can better streamline the customer journey and improve your product’s overall UX.