1) Give the executives an opportunity to provide feedback, before the program goes live.

Keeping executives informed will help to ensure the success of any program and will allow you to make necessary corrections early in the VOC process. Often the executives will empower you to make decisions. However, keep them apprised of the program’s progress to avoid any delays later in the process.

2) Make sure the executives know and understand the goals and objectives of the VOC program.

Understanding the strategic direction of the organization and knowing what is expected with the VOC program is crucial to the success of the program. Having clear goals and objectives will ensure that you stay on course and make the right decisions for your organization.

3) Understand how the executives are being measured for a successful VOC program.

To ensure future career advancement, it is imperative that you know the metrics by which you will be measured. Therefore, a successful VOC program should include specific benchmarks for evaluating the performance of you and your team. To support the program success, keep the executive team connected with the customer by continually sharing customer comments and feedback gathered through the program.

These three key points will help you ensure executive buy-in for your VOC program. By focusing on the primary business needs and the value the VOC program will bring to the organization, you will ensure a successful outcome.

• 78% of the survey respondents strongly agree or agree that their top management listens and responds to employee feedback.
• However, while most companies say they listen to employees, few solicit real-time feedback. For instance, 38% of respondents only solicit employee feedback once a year, 10% solicit feedback every six months, 16% solicit feedback once a quarter, and 18% solicit feedback monthly. By comparison, 3% solicit employee feedback weekly, and 9% solicit feedback daily.
• In addition, 79% believe engaged employees are very important or important to their company in creating a sustainable competitive advantage.

What’s interesting about these survey findings is that there have been several media articles published recently on the fact that employees are stressed and suffering from poor morale due to the recession, and that once the economy rebounds, there will likely be a backlash against employers. So in order for companies to create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage once they economy rebounds, they not only need to be actively listening to their employees now in real-time to address and resolve any concerns that they have, but also start putting some strategic measures in place to retain their best and brightest employees.

For more information on these and other survey findings, download the report at: www.allegiance.com/voereport

Chris Cottle, VP of Marketing, Allegiance

While this is a natural human concern, it isn’t a concern that typically matches up with reality.

In fact, we’ve found that the businesses that we work with on their voice of the customer (VOC) and voice of the employee programs receive feedback of all types–compliments, suggestions, questions, complaints, concerns, etc. And regardless of how that feedback is shared (e.g. via an e-mail, a letter, a phone call, an in-person discussion, survey, etc.), this feedback–when centrally collected, stored and analyzed–can provide a business with tremendous insights about what its customers need, want, and value most. Moreover, it can help a business understand what’s working and what’s not working in their organization so that they can continue to do more of what’s working and discontinue or fix what’s not.

In contrast, if a company only collects or receives feeback from customers when something goes wrong or a customer has a bad experience, that business can end up having a pretty distorted view of what its customers think and feel about its business. Not only that, but the business also typically misses the opportunity to gain a better understanding of its customers, as well as develop more meaningful and lasting relationships with them.

My point is that collecting customer feedback isn’t just about finding out what your customers are unhappy about–instead, it’s about gaining a better understanding of what your customers want, need and care about most in order to create more and lasting value for them.

And, if you do happen to receive some negative comments along the way, don’t take them personally. Instead, view that feedback as an opportunity to improve. As Bill Gates, chairman and founder of Microsoft, once said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”. And he’s right. Talking to your customers and listening to their feedback is the only means through which you can gain clairity about what’s most important to them. Plus, if you listen closely, it may even show you where and how to gain a competitive advantage. And in my next blog post, I’ll tell you how.

Kimberly Carroll, MarCom Manager, Allegiance

One of the many interesting points that he made during his presentation was how Colonel John Boyd, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and military strategist, was able to begin from nearly any position of disadvantage and successfully defeat opposing pilots in air combat maneuvering. 

As a result, Colonel Boyd developed a “decision cycle” known as The OODA Loop, which he believed was critical to his success in quickly adapting to his surroundings and surviving. This OODA Loop included four continuous looping steps:
1) Observe
2) Orient
3) Decide
4) Act

Caruso said the OODA Loop also applies to listening to the Voice of your Customers and using that information to improve your business via:
* Observe – Collect Voice of the Customer (VOC) information 
* Orient – Understand your customers’ behaviors
* Decide – Determine key levers
* Act – Implement changes

This loop is critically necessary in the world today. It’s about how quickly businesses can adapt and respond to a changing marketplace. And to accomplish this, it’s important to get feedback from your customer base and do it often and consistently, so that you have the data necessary to observe and rapidly respond. 

Kimberly Carroll
MarCom Manager, Allegiance