Sometimes I can get cheeky and say crazy little things like, “Maybe just stop doing VoC?”

Now, I realize that outbursts like that have their provenance in the paradox that is the combination of petulant child and grumpy old man that reside in my own mind.  But sometimes there’s more to it, and the more I think of it, there’s a philosophy that emerges (At least with regard to this outburst.)

As of late I’ve started referring to “Customer Insights” instead of “Voice of the Customer” to emphasize the importance of not only looking beyond simply surveys, but also into the analysis required to better understand what your Customers are experiencing and what they think about those experiences.  So, it’s two dimensions:  Unique and creative sources of insights, but also curious, active, and thorough examination of what data we find.

Surely long ago we’ve left behind the ancient practice of merely sending out and recording the responses to surveys.  Likewise, just adding follow-on interviews isn’t enough either.  Because in the end, we’re not simply collecting voices and reflections in order to look at those top-level KPIs; rather, we’re digging deeper to look for root-causes and trends…what are we doing to impact our Customers’ experiences?  That’s an awful lot of analysis, but it’s also looking in other places for insights; some of them obvious (like our contact center ticketing system) and some of them completely new to us (like, for some, walking in the Customers’ shoes).  It’s also about being deliberate and curious about how we can better understand what our Customers are telling us.

And this leads me to a conclusion:  Good Customer Insights outcomes aren’t even about how we do it (the tools, the methods, the analysis, etc.) as much as about our attitude about (which reflects our purpose for) doing it.  Think of it as an “insights culture.”

I’ve written before about struggles I and other Customers have had in simply sharing our experiences and thoughts with certain brands.  Some brands don’t seem interested in hearing what we have to say or what we’ve experienced.  What I’m beginning to see is that some brands simply aren’t that interested in gaining Customer Insights.  That’s likely because they don’t realize the value in doing so.  That’s not necessarily their fault…they’ve likely never derived any value from it because they’ve never seen beyond collecting and reporting it…they’ve been collecting VoC for VoC’s own sake.

As a long-time analyst, I can understand how that happens:  Most analysts simply crunch numbers for their organization.  “Just tell me what’s going on here,” may be the most guidance they get.  And since analysts love analyzing, many of us never really look up to ask the question, “okay, what are you trying to accomplish here?”  We’ll just grind and chug out pretty graphs and charts.  That’s partly our fault, but also, it’s a reflection of the environments in which we do our work:  If the decision-makers simply want numbers, they can certainly get them.  But they can get much more valuable insights if they make clear why they want those numbers.

Everything you do, when it comes to Customer Insights, should be driven by the main focus of identifying how you can improve your processes and systems in order to better deliver on your Brand Promise to your Customers.  When you dedicate yourself corporately to that mission, you’ll not only change how your Customer Insights team and analysts do their work, you’ll change your entire company’s culture.

Change your corporate attitude about your Customer Insights (based on the value of what those insights can help identify for you to do), and you’ll not only change how you “do” VoC, but increase its impact.