Stop Guessing What Customers Want With This Analysis Technique

How do you know which marketing campaigns are successful? Which product improvements drive more sales? You track the numbers, of course. But customer feedback is far more than just a collection of sales figures or profit data; it’s a window into the customer experience and their perception of your brand.

To gain the most meaningful insights and achieve the deepest measurement of success, a Voice of Consumer analysis is essential. By integrating this approach into your strategy, you can understand the "why" behind the numbers, identify areas for improvement, and tailor your business decisions to better meet customer needs and expectations.

What is a Voice of Consumer Analysis?

A Voice of Customer analysis is a research methodology that follows the full customer journey to gather insights into customer preferences and perceptions. VoC data tells your company why and how your customers make decisions. A successful VoC allows you to gather, analyze and leverage customer feedback to drive your business.

A voice of customer analysis incorporates data gathered through several sources.

Surveys at various stages of the customer journey

Surveys offered while customers are shopping, when they click away from pages, during the checkout process, or after checkout can all reveal important information about the customer experience.

Social media tracking and analysis

Analyze your brand and the perception of customers about it by tracking social media mentions on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or X. Knowing what customers are saying and what they want leads directly to effective VoC marketing.

Interactions with online reviews from customers

Customers leave their own feedback through online reviews and questions on platforms like Reddit, PissedConsumer or Google Reviews. Read and engage customers through the various review platforms to gather data and resolve issues. After all, customers are 2.4 times more likely to stick with a company when their problems are solved quickly.

Customer service communications

Voice of Customer analytics are already being tracked through every interaction with customer service. Call logs, emails, phone call information, and direct complaints or questions are ready resources to identify areas of opportunity.

How Does a Voice of Customer Analysis Improve Customer Experience?

Companies that focus on customer experience see an 80 percent increase in revenue. A Voice of Customer analysis provides the critical data you need to understand areas of weakness and then improve them to boost customer experiences.

Most VoC analytical programs incorporate advanced machine learning to process the large amounts of data collected efficiently and in real-time (or close to it.) The VoC analytics also goes beyond the numbers to gather data on customer feelings, impressions, and tone. Imagine understanding how customers feel as they talk about your business. VoC analyzes word choice and phrasing to develop nuance.

With this nuance, you have a deeper understanding of how your customers are feeling. This understanding can lead to improve customer experience through:

Continuous improvement. There is always something that warrants your attention and that can be tweaked or improved. VoC helps you identify the most important opportunities for improvement and allows you to monitor the impacts of your changes immediately.

Proactive problem solving. Continuous monitoring and deep analysis let you see the small things before they become larger. You can watch the energy of your customers shift in real time, allowing you to pivot quickly when necessary.

Personalization. With the help of machine learning, you can tailor customer responses in real time to meet individual customers where they are and find ideal solutions.

How to Get Started with a Voice of Customer Analysis

VoC analytics are powerful, and many of the tools you need are likely already in place. To implement a full voice of customer analysis, consider the following steps.

1. Identify opportunities for gathering customer feedback. Where do customers already interact with your brand? What can you add? You can consider surveys, customer service logs, online reviews, social media, and more.

2. Select the right platforms to assist in customer data analysis. VoC data is vast and comes through a variety of channels. The right platform and technology tools will allow you to gather and analyze the data quickly and efficiently. These tools might include survey tools, machine-learning tools like AI, and integrated VoC tools or platforms.

3. Analyze and use the data. Once you’re collecting data, you can analyze and put it to use. VoC analysis includes the following categories of analysis:

   
   

• Sentiment analysis to understand customer emotions and the tone of feedback.
• Text analysis to identify key words within the natural language.
• AI analysis to create summaries, predict future trends, and anticipate customer needs and responses.

Integrate your data across your departments to guide development, improvements, and strengthen customer relationships in all areas of your business.

Best Practices for an Effective VoC Analysis

Customers want to feel heard and valued. A Voice of Customer analysis leads to a deeper understanding of your own business and provides customers with a powerful way to share their experiences to help you improve your offerings.  To create the biggest impact with your VoC analysis, consider these best practices.

Move quickly. With the help of analytical tools, you can get data in real time and you should be moving just as quickly to utilize that data. Monitor in real-time and stay nimble and receptive so that you can innovate in real time as well.

Collect data from multiple sources. To find the most holistic view of customer experiences, you must look in multiple places.

Make VoC a full-company initiative. Customer feedback is critical for all areas of your company, not just one department. The VoC analytics and data should be shared across teams to maximize feedback and change.

Develop Continuous Monitoring with Successful VoC Analysis

Voice of Customer analysis is powerful and can create important and long-lasting change in your business, but it is not a one-time solution to a problem. Effective VoC analysis is ongoing support to help your business respond to issues, anticipate the future needs and wants of your customers, and remain sensitive and responsive to what matters most – the customer experience.