Voice of Customer (VOC)

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us we are dependent on him”

-Mahatma Gandhi

I bet nobody can deny the above stated fact, that indeed customer is the most important aspect of any business. Anyhow I am 100% sure that at least once in your life you’ll fell quite opposite to this. You’ll feel like business is doing a great favour on you by even listening to you.

I wish I am wrong but if I am right, you have encountered a person/ business, which do not value the voice of customer.

Today let’s gain some insights into this wonderful concept which at last is taking some long due traction nowadays and understand why is it so important and how this can benefit you. Here’s all what this article contains.

• What is VOC?
• Why VOC is important and how brands are recognizing it?
• Categories of customer
• Methods of capturing VOC
• How to translate VOC to customer requirements?
• Few Examples and template.
• You will also get a excel template related to VOC

What is VOC?

VOC means Voice of the Customer so before we understand what’s VOC it’s important to know who is a “Customer”.

So just like everyone else I did a quick search on google and this is what comes up first “Customer is someone who pays for your product or services” and all of us knows this, but is this true. Is it still relevant?

I used google to get this definition but they didn’t charged me anything, do they charge you? Or am I not a customer? As per my belief, the definition needs some upgradation. Therefore, we can define customer as “Someone who receives the processed output”.

Voice Of Customer – VOC can be defined as a feedback from the customer about their experience of using our products/services. It can also represent the demand, preferences, expectations or needs of the customer from our business or process. VOC can be both negative and positive

Why VOC is important?

VOC if used properly can help business understand the true requirement of the customer and in turn help them grow rapidly. Because customers will only pay for products or services, which fulfill their demand or requirement and solve their problems. And in true sense every business has only one goal – “To solve customer problems”. Luckily, VOC is getting its deserved place as a core business strategy in every organization.

And you can literally see this around you, the brands which take VOC seriously thrives even during periods like ongoing pandemic on the other hand those who ignore VOC will literally fall even during booming times.

Brands, which use VOC as their core strategy and thrived

1. Google’s Android – Nobody is unaware of this brand, started in 2008 this brand is at the epitome of success and VOC is at the heart of it. Every user provides crucial feedback to it and based on that data android has developed so niche to every user. Imagine using the same OS from 2010 till date, would you still be using it? I don’t think so. On top of this, it being open sourced adds another layer of feedback to it
2. Flipkart/ Amazon – These brands use VOC as a core strategy. Customer reviews and ratings are a great way to capture VOC. And these reviews and ratings build trust in customers mind. Can you imagine shopping online without reviews? It will be a nightmare for me at least.

So, I guess it’s quite clear to you that how VOC is so important and how every brand is using it nowadays to understand their customers and grow. However, you might ask that I am not an entrepreneur what’s in it for me? Similarly professionals in following ways can use VOC