If you've been to the Drive Research blog before, you know we spend a lot of time talking about Voice of Customer (VoC) market research. Our VoC company has covered lots of VoC topics.
Why?
Because we are big believers in aligning corporate strategy with the needs and wants of customers. No single mission will create a better win-win than decisions derived through customer feedback.
We do run into questions from clients asking whether they should manage VoC market research in-house. The clearest benefit of doing so is cost savings. However, we warn that cost savings may not account for the time and hours needed to complete the VoC. It may take your staff twice as long or twice the number of hours to complete it than if you used a Voice of Customer (VoC) research company like Drive Research.
So the question then becomes opportunity cost. Is VoC the best place to spend your time or should you hire out so you can free up your time and your team's time to work on other priorities? The choice is ultimately yours.
However, in this post we'll talk about 3 reasons you should consider a VoC research company.
Voice of Customer (VoC) market research is all about listening. Throw on your headphones.
Better is the opinion of the buyer, not the seller.
Reason 1: Outside Expertise
VoC research companies specialize in market research. It's all they do. They know exactly how to operate a VoC project from start to finish, they can identify potential problems before they occur, and employ best practices along the way.
Using an experienced VoC research company will ensure your market research project is successful and completed timely. They'll cater to your company's unique objectives to create custom questions but also make recommendations on questions based on past expertise. This could include suggesting metrics like net promoter score (NPS), customer effort score (CES), or likelihood to switch (LTS).
VoC market research companies bring a lot to the table. Tap into their expertise so the project runs smoothly and the analysis and reporting proves actionable. The best VoC companies will go way beyond data dumps. The firm will give you insights, interpretations, and recommendations.
Reason 2: Perspective
If you decide to complete the VoC in-house you may lack perspective. How does our customer satisfaction compare to others in our geography? Others in our industry? Key competitors in our state? Without any outside firm your data only exists in a silo.
Using a VoC research company adds value and comparisons to your data. Here you were thinking 58% customer satisfaction scores were good, but maybe the VoC market research firm will tell you this is below average.
This perspective can come in the form of analysis but can also be integrated into next steps and recommendations. For example the VoC company can share blinded stories about what they've seen in the industry over the past 5 or 10 years and how that may impact your strategies.
Reason 3: Unbiased and Objective Recommendations
Some of the results you receive will likely be very positive and some won't be as rosy. Delivering the bad news can be tough particularly if you conducted the VoC study yourself or through an in-house team. The customer service reps or management team that performed poorly according to customer feedback may begin to question your expertise, methodology, or approach in the VoC to poke holes.
Using an objective third-party will help mitigate this response. A third-party VoC company can help everyone at a company look past the negative feedback and determine ways to turn it into actionable strategies. It changes the conversation from "I" think to "here is what our customers think." That's a powerful and freeing message for any marketer or manager when it comes to training.
Contact Us
Drive Research is a Voice of Customer (VoC) research company located in Syracuse, NY. Our VoC services include online surveys, phone interviews, mail surveys, and other methodologies.
Interested in conducting a VoC survey with our market research firm? Contact us at 315-303-2040 or email our team at [email protected].