Voice of the Customer (VOC)

I like to call it inexpensive consultancy. Think about the amount of money and time that is put into research and marketing so that a given company is able to truly understand its customers' needs and perception about its product or service. To add to that, sadly enough, a lot of organizations nowadays fail to use the right tool or approach, or even the right resources to listen to what the customer (the one who ultimately pays our salaries and bills) has to say. Voice of the Customer, or VOC, is an important concept within the Lean Six Sigma philosophy for process excellence. By applying VOC, an organization is able to collect valuable feedback from customers on what satisfy, delight, and dissatisfy them. There are many different ways of obtaining such feedback. It can be done through focus groups, mystery shopping, surveys, and formal interviews to name a few. Below, we offer 5 steps to properly implement a successful VOC program.

1. Clearly define your targeted audience. Who are your customers? And who are they now and in the future? Will you introduce a product or service that will be tailored to a completely different kind of customer? What are the demographics related to your targeted audience? If you would like to hear meaningful and insightful answers, ask the right  questions to the right customers.

2. Select the appropriate tools and methods. What tools will you use to collect the data you need? These can be of qualitative nature (for example open-ended questions or binary questionnaires - yes or no, high or low, etc.) or quantitative nature (such as tally count on defects through reports submitted by customers).

3. Improve. Use the results collected for continuous improvement. There is no point in collecting data from customers that cannot be translated into valuable information. Use the reports, surveys, and any other piece of data you have gathered to better your products and services, and showcase to your customers that you care about what they have to say.

4. Continue to ask. The beauty behind the VOC approach is twofold: firstly, customers usually like to provide feedback. Secondly, you are using a rather inexpensive (and reliable) way of doing so - it is inexpensive consultancy! The best feedback a company can get is the one from people who actually use the product. It is the user who knows if the product or service actually works, not the designer, not the operations manager, not the decision maker who decided to procure the product or service.

5. Develop an action plan. As per anything related to the PDCA cycle, such as the implementation of a VOC program, write down names, dates, and expected outcomes for everyone involved with the effort. Check the results of ongoing and new actions and hold people accountable for the implementation of initiatives that will sustain the program in the long run.

eZsigma Group is Canada's leader in training, mentoring, and certification in Lean Six Sigma, strategic management, and process excellence. Contact us to learn more about how we can make your organization an Excellence-focused one.