So yes, I’ve been hounding you lately about VoC and Customer insights.
And yes, I’m an analyst going way back, so I love me some good old-fashioned bean-counting!
But wait.
If you’re taking my advice and looking in clever places for your Customer insights, you’ve probably taken my admonition that, in addition to asking your Customers where their issues are, you can check your own systems to passively get an idea where you can improve simply by checking the internal ticketing system within your Customer Service, Care, and Support teams. After all, while it’s helpful to hear directly from your Customers what’s going wrong, not only don’t you have to even bother them (further?) by asking them, but you can get out ahead of problems by noting—in the real world—where people are running into issues even before they call.
But regardless of where and how you find these insights, that analysis shouldn’t be overlooked.
And I don’t mean simply to crunch your numbers (and crunch them harder!). I mean that how you analyze can make a big difference as well.
I’ve mentioned previously, and in many forums, the tendency of a lot of brands to latch on to whatever the C-Suite thinks is a problem without digging deeper to find out how much of a problem it is—or even if it’s truly an issue that should rise to the level of your attention. Just because a boss says something is an issue that really really needs to be addressed right away, doesn’t mean that the boss is right. (Of course, I had a friend who used to say that ‘the boss may not always be right, but he’s always the boss!’… more on that in a second) In fact, the most impactful leaders are those who validate their assumptions before acting on them. A good analyst (who has a good relationship with a decision-maker) will offer an unbiased green-eyeshade perspective that will help the boss make the right decisions…and a good leader will seek out that validation, and be grateful for being proven wrong when he is, lest he squander resources chasing the wrong issues.
But there’s also an analogy when it comes to your Customers in this regard too.
Just because a bunch of your Customers are complaining about something (and/or they’re complaining loudly) doesn’t necessarily mean it should be prioritized. While that may sound counter-intuitive, it’s important that we keep in mind why we’re “doing CX” in the first place (and, How To Get It Right!): Do drive Brand Promise Alignment.
If yours is a high-quality brand and Customers are complaining about your cost, you should take a look at it. Even those who want the best experience and always-up service don’t want to be fleeced. Quality-seeking Customers deliberately choose quality brands in part because not only is time money (so replacing or searching for another brand is costly), but also quality products tend to last longer and return more for a long-term investment. So yes, they’re likely cost-conscious. So, check on it. But keep in mind: Those who come to your brand (over others, some of which may have a discount or low-price Brand Promise) know it’ll likely cost more for that more reliable experience. If, on the other hand, they’re complaining about that experience not seeming so dependable, well, there you’ve likely got a problem. It’s when those complaints or recommendations align with your Brand Promise that you have to sit up and take notice. And it goes the same regardless of the volume in which they are telling you this. (By “volume” I mean both the literal decibels of screaming your Customers produce as well as how many of them are yelling!)
We could make similar examples with other Brand Promises, but I think you get the gist: It’s not simply how many nor how vigorously people are complaining. And it’s also not about dismissing anything that doesn’t support your priors. In fact, much the opposite.
But when you’re looking at prioritizing where to put your Process Engineering efforts to better build your processes and systems, make sure to prioritize the issues (and the voices raising them) that will drive you more toward realizing and delivering on your Brand Promise.
