Are your customers happy? How do you know for sure? How is their happiness (or lack of it) impacting your business? If they’re not happy, do you know how to fix it? This month, we explore why customer experience is crucial for any business, and what a successful Voice of the Customer program looks like.

How do you know if your customers are happy? What impact does customer experience have on your bottom line? How can you create a strong, viable Voice of the Customer program? 

This is Part 2 in our series of posts exploring why customer experience is important and how to build a more customer-centric culture with a strong Voice of the Customer program. [Read Part 1](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really). 

## It Starts with a Cohesive Strategy
You’ve decided you [need to build a stronger customer-centric culture](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really "need to build a stronger customer-centric culture"). Now you're looking to build a Voice of the Customer (VoC) program to instill that culture. 

While it may be tempting to latch on to a single metric or strategy, there are a lot of parts to a successful program. For long-term success, you need to strategically target the tactics and resources that will have the most impact. 

Here are five key elements that are essential to building a strong Voice of the Customer program that will last.

### 1. Targeted Customer Data and Insights
The goal of any Voice of the Customer program is to get a better understanding of your customers. To do this, it's tempting at first to gather as much data and information as you can. But it’s a myth that you need a complete 360-degree view of your customer experience.

The key is to take a targeted approach. Connect your existing internal data and insights with new external feedback mechanisms that build on that data. You want to understand the reasons behind the data that matters. By targeting the right data, you'll more efficiently identify the areas where you can make the most difference.

__How To Do This__
- Get internal alignment on the most effective feedback mechanisms for your target customers.
- Avoid the temptation to measure everything and report everywhere. Be strategic with your data. Choose the pieces that hold the greatest strategic value and share them with the people and teams that can best act on them.
- Build in time for analysis before you start collecting data. It does little good to just measure and distribute. You have to understand the implications of your data and how it applies to specific contexts.

### 2. Prioritized Action Items
The common saying is that the customer is always right. But sometimes customers complain about things a company can’t - or shouldn’t - provide. Sometimes they’re mistaken about who’s at fault for their discomfort. Yes, customers deserve to be heard and treated with respect. But not every pain point requires an action item.

A strong VoC program balances operational efficiency with customer needs. In other words, you need to determine your trade-offs. Use customer feedback to identify areas for improvement. Then, assign internal owners who can work cross-functionally to address those problems. The end goal is a prioritized list of customer-driven action items that are worth tackling.

__How To Do This__
- Determine what is driving or blocking your key business metrics. Focus on action items that impact metrics like Cost to Acquire Customers (CAC), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), churn, and market share.
- Collect and analyze data that connects to your desired outcomes. A strong analysis of what is driving your desired outcomes will help you achieve the greatest change in the least number of moves.
- Be willing to take risks and fail. Understanding your trade-offs and prioritizing improvement doesn’t mean playing it safe. To build a robust Voice of the Customer program you have to be willing to try some things that won’t pay off.

### 3. Empowered Employees

> “Working harder makes people happier. Or at least working better makes people happier.” - Robert F. McDermott, former Chairman and CEO of USAA

You need cross-functional teams to improve customer experience. There’s no way around it. Customers don’t care who handles their request, as long as they perceive you as one team taking care of their needs. The more you can act like a unified team, the more seamless that experience will be for them.

Empowered employees receive customer feedback and solve their problems on the spot. If they don't know the answer - or face a problem they can't fix - they know where to go to solve it. An empowered workplace minimizes silos of information and departments.

Tools and processes are often the biggest barriers to a successful VoC program. Remember, your employees are customers of your internal processes and tools. They require the same level of attention and care as your customers.

__How To Do This__
- Integrate your Voice of the Customer program with a strong Voice of the Employee program. Surface ideas and apply employee feedback directly into product and service improvements.
- Create dedicated customer experience teams and committees that span across multiple customer-facing functions. Give frontline employees the tools and processes they need to deliver great customer experience on the fly.
- Give customer experience experts the authority to push the agenda with other teams and stakeholders. They should be a respected voice reminding the whole organization why they have to make time and give effort for your customers.

### 4. True Customer Experience Leadership Buy-In
A Voice of the Customer program won’t survive without champions in the executive suite. Leaders need to constantly advocate for customer experience. They must create a risk-tolerant culture that allows for trial-and-error.

Great VoC programs have executive titles and headcount responsible for them. The best programs embed their customer experience strategy into everything leaders say and do for the business.

__How To Do This__
- Introduce and gain support for a clear VoC action plan, track its impact, and measure its effectiveness.
- Involve key executive leaders like the CMO or CFO in your VoC planning to make sure you have their input and buy-in to the metrics you’re tracking.
- Identify a clear program owner - one person who is ultimately responsible for the success and quality of your VoC program. Make sure they have the right business expertise as well as a passion for customer experience.

### 5. Transparent 2-Way Communication
This is often the most overlooked piece to a successful Voice of the Customer program. Executives need to engage with customer and employee feedback to show that it’s a two-way street. If you listen to employees and use their recommendations, they'll be more likely to buy into the program and its priorities.

Regular updates from the top down signals the importance of customer experience to the organization as a whole. Leadership needs to recognize the progress made by the team’s combined effort. There needs to be timely and consistent communication about successes and failures. A strong VoC program transparently acknowledges failure as an option in the name of learning and adapting to customer needs.

__How To Do This__
- Build strong resources and behaviors that encourage internal communication across the organization.
- Identify where your leadership communication is falling short and make needed improvements.
- Create employee feedback tools, like innovation labs and idea generators to collect ideas for improvement. Show that you're willing to act on the best ideas.

## Ready to Start Building Your Voice of the Customer Program?
These five keys are just the tip of the iceberg based on what we’ve seen works best. If you’re ready to start building your own program, [drop us a line and let’s talk](https://drawbackwards.com/contact "drop us a line and let’s talk") about how our experience can help you flatten your learning curve to building a strong Voice of the Customer program.


Voice of the Customer

The 5 Keys to Building a Strong Voice of the Customer (VoC) Program

How do you know if your customers are happy? What impact does customer experience have on your bottom line? How can you create a strong, viable Voice of the Customer program? 

This is Part 1 in our series of posts exploring why customer experience is important and how to build a more customer-centric culture within your organization.

## What is Customer Experience, Really?
We all think we know what customer experience means, but how does it look when it’s broken down into its core elements?

We like to start with [Temkin Group’s definition of customer experience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEBwOtBsdG4 "Temkin Group’s definition of customer experience") (with our own small addition in bold):

> “Customer Experience is the perception that customers have of their interactions with your organization __(whether or not you agree with them)__.” 
> 

We’ve never met a client who believes they’re intentionally delivering a poor customer experience. The most self-aware businesses feel they’re doing their best but know they could be doing more. The least self-aware think they're doing just fine.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, and it's in the eye of your customers. It doesn't matter what you think - it matters what they think. And they probably think their experience is much worse than you do. [According to a report from Bain](https://media.bain.com/bainweb/PDFs/cms/hotTopics/closingdeliverygap.pdf "According to a report from Bain"), 80% of companies believe they deliver a “superior experience." But customers say only 8% of companies are actually delivering that experience. 

So what is customer experience, really? Temkin breaks it down into three components: Success, Effort, and Emotion. Success is the degree to which customers can do what they want to do. Effort is how easy or hard they feel it is to do what they want to do. Emotion is how their interactions with your organization make them feel.

![What IS CX](//images.ctfassets.net/6ygji0ixcksy/f2LSA11gQ6chQ7trWjNRI/6c8e13947dc7a97608f1c32a77123245/Customer_Experience_2x.png)

These three components work together to paint a complete picture of who you are and what you stand for as a business. That complete picture is what drives loyalty, and loyalty ultimately drives purchases and business growth.

## Why Customer Experience Matters
According to a recent [Ipsos + Medallia study](https://www.medallia.com/resource/the-customer-experience-tipping-point-an-ipsos-and-medallia-study/ "Ipsos + Medallia study") of more than 8,000 consumers in the U.S., UK, France and Germany across six industry sectors, the top two factors that might influence consumers’ decision to choose or continue using a particular brand were personal experience (50%) and the opinions of friends, family or known peers (20%). 

What’s more, 64% of global consumers claim to have avoided a brand because of a bad experience they had within the last year, and almost half (47%) say they’ve avoided a brand because of its online reputation or negative social reviews.

![Why CX matters](//images.ctfassets.net/6ygji0ixcksy/6519EgWo57rqhjbifq6jqE/402f4d7c4edc719bb0d52bdfc28c80b8/Why_CX_matters.png)
*Source: [The Customer Experience Tipping Point — An Ipsos and Medallia Study](https://www.medallia.com/resource/the-customer-experience-tipping-point-an-ipsos-and-medallia-study/ "The Customer Experience Tipping Point — An Ipsos and Medallia Study")*

Customer experience has a bigger impact on loyalty and purchasing behavior than brand reputation. How customers perceive their experiences with you affects how they perceive your brand, and their experience is a direct reflection of the internal operations and culture that you build across your organization.

## The 7 Dimensions of Customer Experience

> ”Put your staff first, customers second, and shareholders third.” - Sir Richard Branson 

Companies that consistently deliver excellent customer experiences typically have what we call the [7 Dimensions of Customer Experience Success](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/7-cx-dimensions "7 Dimensions of Customer Experience Success"):

__Dimension 1: Common Purpose__
Employees and customers know why the company does what it does, why that matters beyond profits, and they’re motivated to be part of that purpose on a regular basis.

__Dimension 2: Organizational Authority__
Employees are empowered by leadership to make decisions and find solutions that directly assist customers without the “let me get my manager” routine.

__Dimension 3: Operationalized Empathy__
Employees regularly and intentionally empathize with customers, have access to research and data to help them understand customer needs, and find ways to create a personalized experience for each customer.

__Dimension 4: Consistent Voice__
Employees and leadership speak with the same authentic and consistent voice across all channels to build trust with customers that the company means what it says.

__Dimension 5: Continuous Improvements__
Employees are dedicated to improving their tools, products, processes, and personal behaviors to offer new value to customers through positive change.

__Dimension 6: Frictionless Experience__
Employees take the time to craft seamless experiences across all touchpoints so customers can use the channel of their choice without a drop-off in experience.

__Dimension 7: Innovation Engine__
Employees go beyond mimicking the competition or just observing customer behavior to trying new things, thinking outside the box, and regularly providing new value to customers.

![Dimensions@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/6ygji0ixcksy/7MUDc9aw1ierwrdRz1JOa/d8a4e3b42d7be35717270b7fe20862dc/Dimensions_2x.png)

What’s the first word in the description of each of those seven dimensions? Employees. That’s because great customer experience starts with great and empowered employees. Any cosmetic improvements built to fix customer experience on the outside will be short-lived if they don’t stand on the bedrock of a customer-first culture. There’s just no shortcut around it.
In our next post, we’ll take a deeper look at how successful Voice of the Customer programs take these fundamental dimensions and turn them into actionable insights and real change.

## Ready to Start Building Your Own Customer-Centric Culture?
We’ve helped organizations make radical changes simply by changing their orientation, rooting out bad habits, and focusing more on the needs of their customers and the employees who are ready and willing to give them a great experience.

[Let’s talk](https://drawbackwards.com/contact "Let's Talk") about how you can start building a more customer-centric culture in your organization. 

Or, [get a jump start with our free 5-minute self-assessment](https://drawbackwards.com/cxsa "get a jump start with our free 5-minute self-assessment") to help you target which CX dimensions you need to focus on first.

What is Customer Experience, Really?

How do you know if your customers are happy? What impact does customer experience have on your bottom line? How can you create a strong, viable Voice of the Customer program? 

This is Part 3 in our series of posts exploring why customer experience is important and how to build a more customer-centric culture with a strong Voice of the Customer program. Read [Part 1](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really "Part 1") and [Part 2](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/5-keys-to-a-strong-voc-program "Part 2"). 

## It’s Not the Metrics You Use, It’s How You Use the Metrics

You know you need to [build a stronger customer-centric culture](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really "build a stronger customer-centric culture") in your organization. You’ve started putting the building blocks in place for a strong Voice of the Customer (VoC) program to do just that.

But how will you know when your VoC program has started bearing fruit?

It’s always tempting to hang your hat on a single metric and use that to gauge progress. But when it comes to customer experience there is no single measurement that can show you the full picture.

That said, there are signs that can tell you both when your program might be in trouble and when it’s on the right track.

The key is not so much what metrics you use, but how you use the metrics available to you.

### Why Most Voice of the Customer Programs Fail
Let’s start with what you don’t want to see. There’s no single metric or test or number that will tell you if your Voice of the Customer program is going to survive or not. But there are several symptoms that can tell you things may be heading in the wrong direction.

If you see any of the following, you need to put a plan in place to address them ASAP or you’ll soon see your program start to unravel.

__Symptom 1: Lack of Real Change and Innovation__

It takes any Voice of the Customer program time to get off the ground. But you can tell if your program is working by the real improvements showing up in your product or service.

If you don't see tangible results it means one of two things. Either you don't understand your customers, or your best ideas are getting chewed up and spit out.

You need to get on the same page with your customers and your employees. Make sure you're working toward building a unified experience. Customers should be seeing meaningful changes that benefit and delight them.

__Symptom 2: Over-Emphasis on Metrics, Tools and Processes__
The goal of any Voice of the Program is to drive measurable business results. However, very few efforts can directly impact any single metric or outcome. You simply can’t control for all the things that may cause specific metrics to rise or fall.

Metrics are a gauge to uncover what you need to fix. They're not an end-all, be-all measurement of your program. Don't bog down your best intentions with requirements tied to specific tools and processes. This stifles creative problem-solving and forces employees to dig deeper into their silos. That ultimately leaves customers to fend for themselves.

__Symptom 3: Lack of Focus or Purpose__
Support for new ideas and programs tends to fade over time. If you find yourself part of a shrinking group of advocates for your VoC program, it’s time to act. Get in front of your leadership team and make sure they're committed to the program for the long haul.

Are your leaders modeling expected behaviors? Are your frontline employees empowered to offer suggestions and fix problems? Is there clear and consistent two-way communication? Answering “no” to any of these questions can be a sign that you need to reset your focus.

### The Myth of One Metric to Rule Them All 
For decades, Net Promoter Score (NPS) has been one of the most popular methods to measure customer experience and loyalty. Research from Temkin Group suggests that more than 70% of large companies use some form of NPS score. Two-thirds of them say it has had a positive impact on their organization. Companies like Intuit, Apple, AirBnb, and Amazon have lived by NPS as their main customer love metric.

Even with all its advantages and popularity, NPS is not a perfect metric. For example, it’s most effective in measuring customer experience in industries where there are a number of substantial players so customers have a real choice and can easily switch providers if they’re not happy.

Additionally, more mature industries with widespread adoption and awareness of the available products and services see more of a correlation between NPS and growth. Relatively newer industries can see growth because of technological advancements rather than customer experience.

There is no single question you can ask customers that will represent exactly how they feel about their entire customer journey. There is no magic metric that will tell you what you need to do to become more customer-centric. It’s more important how you apply NPS (and other metrics) to your overall customer experience efforts. Use them as internal benchmarks to gauge your progress. Check them against each other to understand what they reveal about your customers. But don't rely on one as your ultimate source of truth.

### Measure Your VoC Program With a Variety of Feedback Types 
Without a single catch-all metric, it's important to gather customer feedback in a variety of ways. This means strategically asking different types of questions (NPS, satisfaction, etc.), planning the frequency of surveys and feedback, and diversifying the methods you use to gather feedback (email, telephone, in-person, etc.).

At the same time that you want to gather a number of different types of feedback, you want to maintain the consistency of your methods and techniques. For example, people want to be agreeable when talking to another person, but feel that pressure less when taking online surveys.

This means you need to think through how you ask for feedback. Identify the channels and metrics that make the most sense for you and your customers. Then resist the urge to combine or compare metrics across different types or channels. If administered carefully and consistently, each metric can reveal a key insight about your customers and their needs.

### UX Rings - Another Tool for the Toolbox
We've developed a tool to help you measure customer or user experience in a way that complements NPS and other feedback mechanisms. [UX Rings](https://uxrings.com/ "UX Rings") can provide a granular at-a-glance look at where your user or customer experience stands today. We've used it with businesses of all sizes to measure everything from internal tools to customer service.

We ask 25 questions designed to measure your current customer experience in five key areas: Functionality, Usability, Comfort, Delight, and Meaningfulness. The resulting score not only shows where you stand with customers but offers tips on how to improve your scores. The high-level scores rank how your experience is impacting users and include a simulated NPS score and letter grade.

Customers also have the opportunity to share more detailed feedback. This gives you an easy way to search keywords, filter responses, and understand the prevailing sentiment. Best of all, you can distribute it through a custom survey link or by embedding it in your app or website.

It’s a flexible and easy way to measure your current user experience and identify the improvements that will most effectively move you up the [experience success ladder](https://drawbackwards.com/approach "experience success ladder"). 

### The Score is Not All That Matters
More important than what you measure is how you apply the insights from that measurement. Whether it's UX Rings, NPS, or any other customer experience metric, the ultimate goal is not to achieve a specific score. You really want measurements of how the quality of your customer experience improves over time. That's what will help you build connections that lead to long-term profitable organic growth.

You can’t control everything that could cause your customer experience score to rise or fall, and you can’t assume that a rise in scores is good for net revenue. The best you can do is track the metrics that matter most to you and keep an eye on how those affect the bottom line.

### Not Sure If Your Voice of the Customer Program is Working?
We’ve seen plenty of customer experience initiatives falter because of some combination of the reasons mentioned above. If you feel like you’re falling into these traps, we can help. 

Take our [free 5-minute Customer Experience Self-Assessment](https://drawbackwards.com/cxsa "free 5-minute Customer Experience Self-Assessment") to get a glimpse into how meaningful your current customer experience is, and then [let us know what you’re struggling with](https://drawbackwards.com/contact "let us know what you’re struggling with") and we’ll throw you a lifeline! 


How to Know if Your Voice of the Customer Program is Working

Are your customers happy? How do you know for sure? If they’re not happy, do you know exactly why and how to fix it?

These are questions that plague businesses of all types, but very few know how to answer them. Even fewer know how to extract meaningful insights from the answers they get.

Customer experience drives your competitive advantage. It's vital for building both employee and customer loyalty and solidifying your brand. That's why you need to be listening not once in a while, but every day. 

Customers demand personalized experiences and they’re quite vocal when they don’t get what they want. They can either praise or slam you for all the world to see with a few taps of their fingers.

You'd think all the data out there would make customers and businesses tighter than ever. But that data creates a lot of noise that can be hard to put into context. A strong Voice of the Customer (VOC) program cuts through the noise.

Over a series of three posts this month, we'll explore:
1. The 7 Dimensions of Customer Experience 
2. The 5 Keys to Building a Strong Voice of the Customer Program
3. How to Know if Your Voice of the Customer Program Is Working
Before you can even think about building a Voice of the Customer program, you need to know your CX maturity.

## What is Customer Experience (CX) Maturity and Why Does it Matter?
Similar to UX maturity, Customer Experience (or CX) maturity is a measure of your organization's commitment to a customer-centric mindset. The key difference is that UX maturity measures the user experience with your specific products or services. CX measures their experience with all of your services, products, employees and brand as a whole.

The more you integrate customer experience into your day-to-day operations, the higher you move up the maturity scale. Most organizations, due to a lack of time or resources, are stuck somewhere in the middle. They collect a bunch of customer experience data but don't really know what to do with it or how to integrate it into their organization.

To build an effective Voice of the Customer program, you must increase your CX maturity. At the same time, a strong Voice of the Customer program can improve your CX maturity. It's a symbiotic relationship that pays dividends in business growth. 

![Maturity@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/6ygji0ixcksy/5unFlxlIXlINHaZZ6glR2g/bd6da77dd8c2f8f836623bd922cb122f/Maturity_2x.png)

The more you move up the CX maturity scale, the more customer loyalty and greater financial results you're likely to see. Analysis from the sales and marketing experts at Maritz suggests that companies at the highest levels of their CX maturity model are three times more likely to have better financial performance and customer retention compared to companies in the lower half.

![pasted image 1](//images.ctfassets.net/6ygji0ixcksy/21GXFNGHhxMpbYHTud8RnE/681578fa4d23d733325d299c8a12cef0/pasted_image_1.png)

In short, it pays to increase your CX maturity. A best-in-class Voice of the Customer program can transform customer feedback into real business results. But it takes time, money, and especially dedication to get it right.
What’s Your Customer Experience (CX) Maturity Level?
Our next blog post breaks down the [7 dimensions of customer experience](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really). But to see where you stand in terms of CX maturity, [take our free 5-minute CX self-assessment](https://drawbackwards.com/cxsa "take our free 5-minute CX self-assessment") to get a glimpse into how meaningful your current customer experience is.


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Voice of the Customer

Why Listen to the Voice of the Customer?

What is Customer Experience, Really?

The 5 Keys to Building a Strong Voice of the Customer (VoC) Program

How to Know if Your Voice of the Customer Program is Working

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Why Listen to the Voice of the Customer?

What is Customer Experience, Really?

The 5 Keys to Building a Strong Voice of the Customer (VoC) Program

How to Know if Your Voice of the Customer Program is Working

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