Voice of the Customer

This is an exhaustive subject in itself - to determine the elusive customer and then figure their voice. In many B2C cases where we have ourselves been customers of a similar product its easy to relate to and determine ways and means to identify their needs. In a lot of B2B cases, this gets tricky as access to customer base or knowledge of it is limited. Plus competitor analysis becomes hard as the data on other products is guarded.
So how do we determine the VoC ?
Holistically there are two approaches - Qualitative and Quantitative
Quantitative is relatively easier - metrics and numbers speak for themselves.
Qualitative analysis is challenging but interesting at the same time. It relies on our ability to elicit and interpret the data to then frame and cluster it.
Right from field study to focus groups to surveys there are various approaches which are non obtrusive and each suitable for a different desired outcome.
Having created surveys on numerous projects, here's some key information on the same. Surveys provide great metrics as well as key quantitative insights we are looking for however the genre plays a vital role. With constant mobile distractions and a fast paced life, surveys need persuasion from the word go. In one of the surveys sent, we experimented with an alluring subject line ( in the email invite ) and the response went up 80 %. Then there needs to be enough of a motivation ( in majority of cases a financial benefit ) to complete the survey. The survey itself needs to be short and sweet, after all who has the time to tell us their entire life story. So a survey has to have one or two distinct objectives and about 10 questions ( the less the better ) around the same. Then comes the format of the questions - do we keep it open ended or multiple choice, your guess is as good as mine. Open ended questions do gather lot of valuable information but need to be used sparsely so as not to scare the user away, they don't have anything to lose if the survey is abandoned.

Here's an apt but hilarious way to illustrate how important it is to frame the question right. At times the question is so long and complicated or ambiguous that even the options don't make sense. But survey insights do provide a lot of critical mass data which enables to take data driven decisions.

However surveys as with all other forms of customer research have the risk of being proven false. This is because the customers are quirky, they say one thing and often end up doing another. That's the gap being stated intent and actual behaviour. Hence constant experimentation and refinement is the key, this has to be an ongoing activity to always be on the top of our game and enable value add from this activity.