{{Short description|Summarizes customers' expectations, preferences and aversions}}
In marketing and quality management, the '''voice of the customer''' ('''VoC''') summarizes customers' expectations, preferences and dislikes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2025 |title=Voice of the Customer (VOC) |url=https://focus.admin.ox.ac.uk/files/vocpdf |access-date=10 January 2026 |website=University of Oxford}}</ref> According to the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) the definition of voice of the customer is: "Actual customer descriptions in words for the functions and features customers desire for goods and services".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Content Manual Preview |url=https://www.ascm.org/globalassets/documents--files/learning--development/cpim-part-1-6.0-final-ecm-preview2.pdf |access-date=10 January 2026 |website=Association for Supply Chain Management}}</ref> Long term business success involves listening to, analysing and adapting to the VoC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Ken |date=2024-10-04 |title=How to Use Voice of the Customer to Improve Customer Experience |url=https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/voice-of-the-customer-voc/ |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=isixsigma.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
Companies reputations have been negatively impacted by sources of VoC data, as customers can share word of mouth views on companies and products online.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Hanjun |last2=Han |first2=JinYoung |last3=Suh |first3=Yongmoo |date=2014-05-01 |title=Gift or threat? An examination of voice of the customer: The case of MyStarbucksIdea.com |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567422314000088 |journal=Electronic Commerce Research and Applications |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=205–219 |doi=10.1016/j.elerap.2014.02.001 |issn=1567-4223|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A successful VoC programme involves creating business goals, employee participation, researching customers (understanding the customer journey, gathering feedback and conducting consumer and market research), analysing this data and then refining strategies and products, making business changes or activities such as improving customer service, based on actionable insights.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How To Build A Voice Of The Customer Programme |url=https://uk.surveymonkey.com/mp/voice-of-the-customer/ |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=SurveyMonkey |language=en-GB}}</ref>
VoC studies can consist of both qualitative and quantitative research and can be conducted at the start of any new product, process, or service design initiative to better understand the customer's wants and needs, and to contribute to new product definition, quality function deployment (QFD), and the creation of detailed design specifications.<ref name="gaskin 2011">{{cite web |last1=Gaskin |first1=Stephen P. |display-authors=etal |title=Voice of the Customer |url=https://www.mit.edu/~hauser/Papers/Gaskin_Griffin_Hauser_et_al%20VOC%20Encyclopedia%202011.pdf |access-date=2018-03-25 |website=mit.edu |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> Data collected can be organized into a hierarchical structure, and then prioritized in terms of importance and satisfaction with current alternatives.<ref name="gaskin 2011" />
== Data gathering & analysis == Much has been written about this process,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120129801401017897 |title=So Many, Many Words |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date= 2008-01-28|access-date=2010-04-14| first=Scott | last=Morrison}}</ref> and there are many possible ways to gather the information – focus groups, individual interviews, contextual inquiry, ethnographic techniques, conjoint analysis, A/B testing, email, web chats and analytics. Some methods involve a series of structured in-depth interviews, which focus on the customers' experiences with current products or alternatives within the category under consideration. Other techniques involve structuring and analysing information already held by an organisation. Needs statements can then be garnered, organized into a more usable hierarchy, and prioritized by customers.<ref name=":0" />
Modern VoC programs can integrate natural language processing (NLP) to develop themes from open-ended interview questions, allowing companies to act on insights in real time.<ref>Homburg, Christian, et al. "Implementing the concept of customer orientation: A structured management approach." ''Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science'' 38, no. 5 (2010): 633–651.</ref> Companies using advanced NLP, with AI-powered analysis have reported cost savings, improved customer satisfaction scores and increased sales.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meglio |first=Francesca Di |date=2025-09-09 |title=VoC Listen to customers |url=https://www.cxnetwork.com/customer-insights/interviews/mckinsey-voice-of-customer-voc |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=CX Network |language=en}}</ref>
Social media listening tools, which report sentiment analysis, can help companies to understand what customers are saying about their brand and products online. Some software tools that utilise deep-learning and AI are able to centralise customer data from multiple sources (unstructured feedback and customer interactions across reviews, support, and social media).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Osorio |first=Liliana |title=Top 10 Voice of the Customer Tools |url=https://chattermill.com/blog/voice-of-customer-tools |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=chattermill.com |language=en}}</ref> Companies that are integrating VoC data into one platform include Oracle and Fujitsu.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gulko |first=Ricardo Saltz |date=22 May 2025 |title=These Tech Firms Flipped the Customer Experience Metrics Script |url=https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/these-tech-firms-rewrote-the-rules-of-customer-experience-metrics/ |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=CMSWire.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Product development == Incorporating the needs of customers at the initial product development stage is much more cost effective compared to doing this after a product is launched.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Freeman |first=Graham |last2=Radziwill |first2=Nicole |title=Voice of the Customer (VoC): A review of techniques to reveal and prioritize requirements for quality |url=https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?start=10&q=voice+of+the+customer&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5#d=gs_qabs&t=1768068440817&u=%23p%3De-TvlOt1BakJ |journal=Journal of Quality Management Systems, Applied Engineering, and Technology Management |volume=2018 |issue=3 |pages=1–29}}</ref> VoC programmes can be adapted so that insights specific to product development can be generated.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melander |first=Lisa |date=27 September 2019 |title=Customer involvement in product development: Using Voice of the Customer for innovation and marketing |url=https://www.emerald.com/bij/article-abstract/27/1/215/66289/Customer-involvement-in-product-developmentUsing?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Benchmarking|volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=215–231 |via=Emerald Insight}}</ref>
Product Managers and marketing employees play an important role in developing and acting on VoC insights, for product development. They should contribute to designing the research, deciding who should participate and what questions should be asked. Often, such personnel will participate in the interviews or observe them. After analysis, the actionable insights can be applied to the product strategy and roadmap.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voice of Customer (VoC) |url=https://www.productplan.com/glossary/voice-of-customer/ |access-date=2026-01-10 |website=ProductPlan |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also == *User research *Sentiment analysis *ITIL *Conjoint analysis
== References == {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=3LDeknA6g-UC&q=%22Voice+of+the+customer%22 Voice of the Customer: Capture and Analysis]''. McGraw Hill Professional. * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=p8w__7iMU4EC&q=%22Voice+of+the+customer%22 Acquiring, Processing, and Deploying: Voice of the Customer]''. CRC Press. * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PzSnr1xjOpUC&q=%22Voice+of+the+customer%22 Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer]''. Penguin.
{{Six Sigma Tools|state=collapsed}}
Category:Product management