How to Use Voice of Customer for Product Development

I'd like to discuss using Customer Feedback for more focused product iteration. One of the most direct ways to understand customers needs and desires is through feedback. Leveraging tools like surveys, user testing, and even social media can offer invaluable insights. But don't underestimate the power of simple direct communication – be it through emails, chats, or interviews. However, while gathering feedback is essential, ensuring its quality is even more crucial. Start by setting clear feedback objectives and favor open-ended questions that allow for comprehensive answers. It's also pivotal to ensure a diversity in your feedback sources to avoid any inherent biases. But here's a caveat – not all feedback will be relevant to every customer. That's why it's essential to segment the feedback, identify common themes, and use statistical methods to validate its wider applicability. Once you've sorted and prioritised the feedback, the next step is actioning it. This involves cross-functional collaboration, translating feedback into product requirements, and setting milestones for implementation. Lastly, once changes are implemented, the cycle doesn't end. Use methods like A/B testing to gauge the direct impact of the changes. And always, always return to your customers for follow-up feedback to ensure you're on the right track. In the bustling world of tech startups, startups that listen, iterate, and refine based on customer feedback truly thrive. #startups #entrepreneurship #customer #pmf #product

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁? Here’s how: Gather 5–6 of your best customers. Bring them together periodically as a 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 and use these conversations to go deeper than surface-level feedback. Here’s what this group can do for you: 𝟭/ 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 You might learn that only a third of your customer’s team is using your product. That’s a huge gap. Maybe you respond by creating a simple how-to guide for onboarding so every employee sees the value. 𝟮/ 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 One customer says, “You’re missing half the value of this tool. Here are three ways we’re using it to solve problems.” Suddenly, you’ve got a customer helping another customer see the full potential of your product. 𝟯/ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Ask the group: “If I made one investment to improve the product, where should it go? Speed? Functionality? Data insights?” Their answers will tell you what matters most—and who’s ready to pilot a new feature when it’s built. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁? A Customer Advisory Board builds trust. Your customers see you care—not just about selling them a product but about making it work for them. And that turns casual users into loyal advocates who stick around. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥&𝗗 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆. P.S. If you liked this post, you'll love my 2-minute newsletter. Link in my profile > @michaelburcham

Chief Quality Officers have significant challenges building a comprehensive picture of how the customer views them. Often, the picture is based on small, focused events such as: 🔹 Customer complaints 🔹 Product returns and warranty 🔹 Customer visits and audits A picture based on limited, primarily negative interactions too many times results in an overall picture of customer relations as a crisis. The result is urgent or "emergency" efforts to placate the customer, eroding margin and goodwill in the relationship. These limited pictures create an effort that is not focused on the right things at the right times and on reacting to emotional appeals that are not necessarily an accurate representation and working on the improvement of symptoms rather than root causes. Digital Voice of the Customer(DVoC) is a strategic initiative for Embedded Quality that builds a complete picture of how the customer views your company. DVoC pulls in sentiment and Semantic data, star ratings, reviews, warranty, complaints, and call center data (if the company uses a call center)and matches it with key internal data around scrap, rework, and defects to validate the messages. These insights are directed at: 👍 Complaint and Warranty Predictions 👍 Closing gaps in control plans 👍 Product & Process Improvement Projects However, one of the most valuable uses of the digital voice of the customer is in product development. Informing the design team of what features and capabilities customers care about, would like more of, or less of, as well as how the competition is performing, is very helpful in focusing design efforts and improving new product success. LNS Research #LNSResearch, #EmbeddedQuality, #DVoC