Bus 641 - Voice of the Customer

Running head: VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER...

Voice of the Customer Essay Mod 3

Kelli Bakke

3/30/2011

BUS 641

Grand Canyon University

The very survival of an organization depends on the people; it's an 8th Habit kind of communication (The Sweet Spot), where the customer's voices are identified and aligned with the organization's voice so that the voices harmonize together (Covey, 2005). The voice of the customer is the sound of success; you have to see that your customers are a large part of the organization and believe that there is great potential in their business and make sure you actually hear the voice of the customer and not just voices in your head (Villarreal, 2009).

The voice of the customer is one of the most important ingredients of success; it will guide the goals of any organization and ultimately determine their existence. Thomas E. Richards, president and chief operating officer of CDW said, "The voice of our customers is at the heart of everything we do." What separates "superior" performing business from "mediocre" competitors are ongoing activities that define and drive business planning. And that is to simply know the tools and techniques to find out how your customers view your products and services and what is most important to them. Companies must markedly perfect how they seek out customer needs, translate these needs into action and design, and communicate these needs throughout the company (Mannix, 2011).

The VoC can guide your goals in a successful direction if you know how to leverage it correctly. There are two types of VoC valued information; reactive data and proactive data. Reactive data can be found as customer complaints, feedback, product returns or hotline data. This data is usually negative and difficult to hear but can be an important source of improvement opportunities. The other type is proactive data that can be collected from traditional sources such as focus groups, market research, and social media. The key is to balance customer behavior versus what they say. To stay ahead of the pack, your company should have feedback programs that promote learning, improve business operation, and drive customer satisfaction (Mannix, 2011).

In Mannix's (2011) article reviewing quality improvement, it states that best practices should not be considered cookie cutter but a starting point detailing activities that have been proven successful:

1. Listen to Customer Feedback: Your VoC programs are only as good as customer information that drives them. Your customers will provide feedback even