1. The document discusses tips and tools for conducting effective Voice of the Customer (VOC) research to better listen to and understand customers. 2. It outlines trends in VOC, common research methodologies like Net Promoter Score, and tools for text analytics, crowdsourcing, mobile surveys, and real-time action alerts. 3. The presentation provides best practices for using VOC research to drive innovation, growth, and customer retention.

1. Voice of the Customer VOC Research: Tips and Tools to Listen to Your Customers Better

5. #1: Voice of the Customer Research Forrester Research defines VOC as: The wants and needs of customers expressed with the customer’s own language. Text or speech collected from customers through information systems including email, forums, surveys and call-center systems. The perspective of the customer “ Are you listening to your customers & effectively meeting their needs?” sdf ERL

6. #1: Voice of the Customer Research If you want to use your core customers to help drive innovation, grow market share, and retain customers then VOC Research is for you! It is a methodology designed to support customer driven change — Use what they are saying to help drive improvement strategies. -Easier said than done -Listening is hard work -You may already be doing a bit of it without knowing and missing out on key opportunities Find affordable tools and find simple methods to drive product/service improvement! ERL

7. #1: VOC Research: Reveal Solutions to Top Business Challenges Measure Customer Loyalty Benchmark Customer Loyalty: Identifying Critical Improvement Opportunities Measures customer satisfaction & loyalty Net Promoter Score (NPS) will uncover what makes your customer loyal and then measure your company’s performance along those parameters. Identifies issues most important to address from the customer’s perspective, and provides quantitative score. Your vs. Your Competitors Competitor Benchmarking How do you measure up to your competitions? Find the key factors that impact your customers’ buying decisions. Measuring your own satisfaction and loyalty is not enough. Satisfied customers does not mean they will be loyal to you. Take time to check out your competition and run a comparison analysis. Gauge Strength of Your Company Assess Existing talents by Gauging the Strength of Your Team Talent is directly linked to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The stronger your team is in the field, the more likely you are to have strong customer relations. . ERL

8. #1: VOC: The Solution To The Various Business Challenges Are You a Winner or a Loser? Perform a Win-Loss Analysis Find our why you are winning and losing opportunities. Does your company need to concentrate on growing market share or retaining customers? Brand Perception and Awareness/Positioning Strategies How healthy is your brand? How what is the perception and awareness of your brand . Assess the strength of your brand vs. others in the marketplace. *This can seem pretty overwhelming so concentrate on what you want to see in the “brand mirror” and compare it to what customers see for short-term needs and expand for larger projects if needed* Jumping into new territory Review Conflicts & Opportunities with New Channels/Areas to grow A frequent area of future growth is often expanding into new channels. Example: H&M apparel store wants to build an online store. VOC Helps reduce growing pains! ......(not talking about the TV show) ERL/APJ

10. # 3: Types of VOC Research Methodology Lean Six Sigma – Type of project management process to reduce errors and defects internally but can also involve current and potential customers. Corporate Ethnography - Uses observation and interviews to gain insight into when, where, why and how people use products and services. Can do internal or external. Continuous Improvement – Process of making things easier and more efficient internally and for your customers. Quality Function Deployment (QFD): Systematic & proven method for translating customer needs into measureable product specifications Learn more here: http:www.isixsigma.com Ohio State University: Six Sigma Training Program http://fisher.osu.edu/executive-education/index.php?page=web-sigma ERL/APJ

11. # 4 Net Promoter Score (NPS) Net Promoter Score NPS is a very simple and popular way of measuring Customer Satisfaction. It was invented in 2003 and has rapidly grow in use since then. Idea is that you want to create more “promoters” than “detractors.” It is much simpler than many other customer satisfaction measurements. This simplicity is key: criticism of other measurements was that they were hard to implement and maintain. APJ

12. Net Promoter Score (NPS) One question based on a 0 – 10 point scale. 10 is extremely likely and 0 is extremely unlikely. “ How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?” Core of this idea is that there are brand detractors and brand promoters…. Respondents are categorized based on their scores on this question. Promoters 9-10, Passives 7-8, Detractors 0-6 APJ

13. Net Promoter Score (NPS) The percentage of Detractors is subtracted from the percentage of of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter Score – NPS. Of course this can range from as low as -100 to as high as +100. A NPS of over 0 is good, a value of +50 is great ! The actual NPS question is often followed by a question asking *why* this score was given. This follow up question can be used to find out the underlying reasons for the score given – which when it is a detractor score is important. APJ

14. Net Promoter Score (NPS) A huge advantage of the NPS score is that is is SIMPLE. Too many market research methods depend on the idea that long complex questionnaires are best – evidence for this is to the contrary. Some researchers argue NPS does not give anything over other more traditional loyalty measurements. NPS is easy to use – there is a lot of research done on it and it is very popular. APJ

15. Simplicity…… NPS brings one issue to the forefront: SIMPLICITY Arguably better to do a simpler measurement more frequently than a more complex one less frequently. Data and reports have to be comprehensible by everyone – not just higher management – important that staff “on the ground” can understand the output of VOC research. Accessible reporting is key in VOC – if it cannot be communicated it can’t be acted upon. APJ

16. Example of NPS Set up the question in the NPS template w/ Detractor & Promoter APJ

17. Example of NPS Review the survey! APJ

18. Example of NPS Analyze the report APJ

19. # 6: Tools: Text Analytics, Crowdsourcing, Mobile, & Action Alerts Text Analytics Tools: Use Open Ended Text Analysis tools to bring words to life! Categorization: Segment/code responses Tag Clouds Compare various marketing campaigns to determine VOC/Brand is consistent and effective in delivery of desired results. Real time results available In SurveyAnalytics ERL/APJ

20. # 6: Tools: Text Analytics, Crowdsourcing, Mobile, & Action Alerts Crowd Source: Involve Customers! “ This is really the biggest paradigm shift in innovation since the Industrial Revolution ” - MIT professor Eric von Hippel, specialist in innovation management ERL/APJ

21. # 6: Tools: Text Analytics, Crowdsourcing, Mobile, & Action Alerts Mobile Research platform: Capture customer’s voice at the most accurate point in time. Anytime Anywhere! Ex: Point of Sale, Leaving a website, at a conference, etc! SAVE TREES! Administer Field Surveys via iPad or other smart phone devices! We offer 2 Mobile options! 1) SurveyPocket: Offline iPad Application Download here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/surveypocket/id412501619?mt=8 2) SurveySwipe: Build your own online mobile community and interact with them with a built-in incentive program: Download here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/surveyswipe/id405800575?mt=8 ERL/APJ

22. # 6: Tools: Text Analytics, Crowdsourcing, Mobile, & Action Alerts Set up REAL-TIME Action Alerts! SurveyAnalytics offer you the change to track customers at the point of feedback -Allows to you respond right away -Increase efficiency & response to customer experience -Get notified immediately when someone answers in a particular way to your questions in your survey. Able to share alerts with Specific distribution list Who’s task is to respond. APJ/ERL

23. Now that we know how to use this . . What can we do to start a VOC Research project or improve a current VOC project?

24. # 7 BEST PRACTICES: Tips for A Successful VOC Research Project

25. *Ask: Which Products/Services to focus on? Determine what business challenge(s) You want to create VOC project around What questions do you want to ask regarding these business challenges? Ask your company internally: All Levels Review customer comments & all data trends Validate all of the above (surveys/interviews/comments/etc.) Start gathering competitive intelligence VOC Methodology: Lean Six Sigma, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), etc … Best Practices: Where to Begin? ERL/APJ

27. Esther LaVielle SurveyAnalytics http://www.surveyanalytics.com [email_address] Andrew Jeavons [email_address] Questions? Conclusion