Over lunch Eva and I sat down and caught up on how life was going. We swapped stories about kids, husbands, minor league hockey and vacation plans for the March Break.
During dessert Eva mentioned how nervous she was about the new aseptic line. Probing a bit, it turned out that she, as plant manager, was worried she was putting in a line that would ultimately fail in the marketplace, either because of cost or design.
"Well, what did you guys do to determine the VOC?" "The what???" "Ah!"
As we finished our cheesecake and settled down with our green teas, I proceeded to outline the idea of the Voice of Customer - or VOC.
The trickiest part is determining who is hte customer. Then, it is determining the need or want when the customers themselves doesn't know what it is.
Ultimately the customer is the person who uses the final product. But between you and that customer are many other customers; downstream equipment, the bank, company stakeholders, the distribution chain, the vendor and the government to name a few. Each one of them has their own needs and expectations. You need to prioritize them and find out which ones you need to respond to.
As far as knowing their needs and wants? You could look to your complaints file and find answers there, or you could conduct surveys, hold focus groups or do interviews. Or you can research on emerging trends to anticipate a change or look to upcoming regulations and laws which will change the operating landscape.
True, if you have managed to meet virtually all of the customers' needs (price, quality, functionality, aesthetics, ease of use....) and don't have a good sales and marketing program, you may not get far. Even with the best marketing plan but an unfulfilling product, you may get the initial buy, but not the repeat.
During dessert Eva mentioned how nervous she was about the new aseptic line. Probing a bit, it turned out that she, as plant manager, was worried she was putting in a line that would ultimately fail in the marketplace, either because of cost or design.
"Well, what did you guys do to determine the VOC?" "The what???" "Ah!"
As we finished our cheesecake and settled down with our green teas, I proceeded to outline the idea of the Voice of Customer - or VOC.
The trickiest part is determining who is hte customer. Then, it is determining the need or want when the customers themselves doesn't know what it is.
Ultimately the customer is the person who uses the final product. But between you and that customer are many other customers; downstream equipment, the bank, company stakeholders, the distribution chain, the vendor and the government to name a few. Each one of them has their own needs and expectations. You need to prioritize them and find out which ones you need to respond to.
As far as knowing their needs and wants? You could look to your complaints file and find answers there, or you could conduct surveys, hold focus groups or do interviews. Or you can research on emerging trends to anticipate a change or look to upcoming regulations and laws which will change the operating landscape.
True, if you have managed to meet virtually all of the customers' needs (price, quality, functionality, aesthetics, ease of use....) and don't have a good sales and marketing program, you may not get far. Even with the best marketing plan but an unfulfilling product, you may get the initial buy, but not the repeat.
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