Voice of Customer (VoC) for Manufacturers | Buffalo Market Research

manufacturers buffalo market researchVoice of Customer or VoC is the process of collecting customer and potential customer feedback to obtain answers to the most pressing questions at your business. A VoC market research company works with you to develop objectives, customize questions, and develop targeted lists. Then the VoC firm manages the fieldwork, completes a comprehensive report, and makes recommendations based on the feedback. Drive Research offers both qualitative (deeper exploratory focus) and quantitative (reliable data for measurement) VoC options.

Drive Research follows a unique and exclusive process to our VoC. We’ll consult with you to choose the best methodology. Regardless of whether it is qualitative or quantitative, they follow a similar plan.

VoC ensures your business decisions and strategy is guided by the most important stakeholder in the process: your customer. VoC determines customer perceptions, needs, drivers to loyalty, competitive influences and a number of other criteria. Drive Research provides your manufacturing company with actionable next steps based on the VoC feedback. It creates a well-aligned strategy using customer feedback. The VoC outcomes can be integrated into all phases of your business, from sales, to operations, to marketing.

Addressing some frequently asked questions about VoC can help clarify process, .

What type of Voice of Customer (VoC) approach is recommended?

Drive Research recommends utilizing online surveys. VoC online surveys are cost-effective, offer a quick turnaround, and provide in-depth quality feedback from customers. Our online surveys are friendly on multiple devices including phones, tablets, and PCs). These VoC surveys will address your unique and custom objectives. Our team works closely with your team to listen to your needs but also recommend best practices.

We use a combination of both closed-ended questions and open-ended free comment boxes in our survey scripts. We benchmark your organization on key performance indicators (KPIs) like net promoter score (NPS), customer effort score (CES), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and likelihood to switch (LTS). Our team also builds reminder phone calls into our surveys to contact non-responders if response rates fall below expectations. This is often needed in several industries, particularly manufacturing, where suppliers and end-users are extremely busy. This adds a personal touch to our process and confirms the importance of a response.

The interpretation of data and results is our true differentiator at Drive Research. Receiving the feedback is only the beginning of the process for us. We provide you with comprehensive yet digestible VoC reports. These reports include an executive summary of key themes, recommendations and action items, infographic, customer persona, and an appendix of question by-question results. We are driven to decipher the data and translate it into next steps and action items for your teams.

Does Drive Research have experience in the industry?

Drive research has experience in the manufacturing, industrial, and technology sectors. Several of our research team members have worked with global manufacturers and industrial-space companies such as EnPro, Garlock Sealing Technologies, GPT Industries, Kris-Tech Wire, Pensar Development, and Alkilu to name a few. Staff has conducted over 250 in-depth executive interviews with distributors, end-users, buyers, engineers, and OEMs. This supplier and end-user sales structure is a specialty area for Drive Research.

Based on our portfolio of projects and focus on both regional, national, and global business, Drive Research is very well-suited for VoC research needs of manufacturers. We specialize in obtaining feedback from busy end-users and suppliers through VoC. Our exclusive VoC process follows a step-by-step approach to minimize issues and ensure successful outcomes. Our experience spans from researching high-performance fluid sealing and pipeline solutions, to critical electrical isolation products, to integrated design and engineering structures, to organic light emitting diode (OLED) products

Drive Research is a Voice of Customer (VoC) firm for manufacturing and industrial companies.

What does the VoC timeline look like for manufacturers?

Drive Research is built on a customer-centric culture. Many companies will say they are agile, flexible, and responsive to their client needs, but we live it. Every hour. Every day. Every project. You’ll have a dedicated account team giving your project the attention it deserves.

Our VoC projects can be completed in as little as 2 to 3 weeks. Moving through kickoff, set up and design, fieldwork, and reporting, our exclusive process minimizes downtime and accelerates your insights.

What do the VoC reports include?

During fieldwork, our clients are provided a passcode protected link to access live data as it is collected. These live-data reports can be broken down by geography, user, class of customer, or any other segment our clients need.

At the conclusion of fieldwork or as part of a regular VoC program, Drive Research prepares a comprehensive PowerPoint report. This can be a one-time deliverable or delivered monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. The Drive Research team debriefs with our clients on all reports through an in-person meeting or via conference call. All of our post-fieldwork reports include recommendations and action items. The interpretations and suggestions we pull from the data assist our clients with next steps and strategy.

The reports have several pieces that can be shared specific to certain departments or management teams. Since the reports are created in PowerPoint they are easily shared and can be used as part of presentation decks internally for our clients. We look for ways to work with our clients to maximize the value and repurposing of our reports.

What makes Drive Research different from a normal consultant?

Drive Research is part business consultant, part market research company. A normal consultant will go into an organization and recommend A, B, and C using a sample size of himself or herself. We are a business consultant that uses hundreds and thousands of customer data points to make recommendations to you on operations, strategy, and business. We give you knowledge, power, and confidence in the decisions you make to ensure they reflect what your customers want.

Interested in learning more about market research options for manufacturers? Read the following:

Drive Research is a manufacturing voice of customer (VoC) company serving Buffalo, NY. Our firm is located in Syracuse, NY and we serve Upstate New York markets like Rochester, Binghamton, and Albany.

Interested in a VoC market research project? Contact us at 315-303-2040 or send us an email at [email protected].

Voice of Customer