Voice of the Customer

Today’s customers are better informed, more risk averse, and are more cautious, often forming buying committees. There are now many more customer stakeholders, all with different perspectives. Many customers want to be part of collaborative solution development. System development is getting more complex, in our connected world, with more requirements, more consequences, and more challenges. The consequences of not having a good understanding of the customer matter more than ever.

The wealth of information available today on the Internet has enabled customers to be better informed than ever. Recent global economic challenges have made customers more cautious than ever. Customers are comparison-shopping much earlier in the buying process for both the solution and the credibility of the seller. The best organizations have adapted their Voice of the Customer practices to the new reality.

Voice of the Customer (VoC) is the process of capturing a customer’s expectations, preferences, and aversions. When done well, VoC can provide important insights to customer values, determine unstated customer needs, and enhance the relationship, credibility, and trust with the customer. There are many VoC techniques, such as workshops, market research, focus groups, interviews, and requirements elicitation. It is challenging to do VoC well, as some customer needs are unstated, are hard to draw out, and can change over time and situation.

We provide Voice of the Customer practice enhancement programs, consulting, and training.

• VoC strategy development, including integration with your product and marketing strategy
• VoC organizational capability assessment, including interviews, benchmarking, and gap analysis
• VoC practice enhancement programs, including best practices, workshops, facilitation, and training
• VoC consulting, including expert facilitation of workshops, interviews, and meetings with your Customers, and then subsequent VoC data analysis to develop insights, priorities, and actionable requirements
• VoC data analysis, such as Kano, Quality Function Deployment, and requirements analysis
• Requirements elicitation and market requirements specification development

Our expertise is especially suitable for complex product development in energy, transportation, resources, health care, aerospace & defense, or critical infrastructure.