As a friend, can you really tell how well you know a person?
You might say, "Of course! I learned everything I could about my friend. We've known each other for a long time!"
And that's great!
But as an eCommerce business owner, can you say the same thing about your customers?
As you may know, knowing the Voice of the Customer is the foundation where you build customer experience.
When you create a great customer experience, you'll benefit from high conversions and sales.
So, let me ask once again... Do you really know your customers? All of their needs, views, and experiences?
I urge you to keep reading, as you'll discover...
- The definition of the Voice of the Customer (VoC)
- Advantages of knowing VOC
- How to build on your Voice of the Customer research
- Best VoC questions to ask your customers for the best insights
- Tips for leveraging as you collect customer feedback
We'll cover a lot, so let's dip our toes in...
What Is The Voice Of The Customer?
To hear the Voice of the Customer, you need to have a solid understanding of what it is...
The Voice of the Customer is a way of capturing customer feedback. These include customer expectations, opinions, and perceptions of your product or services.
You can use this valuable feedback to improve your products or services. Knowing how your customer perceives can also help you create a better customer journey and facilitate innovation.
Collecting feedback entails using different Voice of the Customer methodologies, which we'll discuss more later.
You'll also see how Voice of Customer research lets your customers give qualitative and quantitative data to gain insights for a more effective marketing strategy.
Let's dive deeper into how you can benefit from gathering feedback...
Why Is The Voice Of The Customer Important?
Learning how your customers perceive your online business is crucial to its success.
Ask yourself...
Do I understand what leads to their purchasing decisions?
Do I prioritize what a customer needs? How so?
Are my products and services helping my customers?
Knowing the answer to these questions shows the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Your customer feedback will let you fill in any shortcomings and create a stronger brand.
And one of the most effective ways to market research is through Voice of the Customer questions.
You'll discover what their expectations are and how they compare to the actual customer experience.
A VoC survey will also let you...
Retain Existing Customers
Listening to customers' voice will determine how a customer feels about your service, how likely are they to become loyal customers, etc.
As you collect VoC data, you get to...
Lessen Negative Feedback
Like any online reviews on social media platforms, negative feedback can irreparably damage your brand reputation.
Proactively extending online surveys will provide a channel for customers to share negative feedback... without everyone knowing about it.
A VoC survey can help you...
Get A Complete Picture Of Your Customer
Gaining VoC feedback from different customer touchpoints lets you see the full picture of your customer base.
You can focus your marketing campaigns better on your target audience.
Choosing your research method is vital to gaining unfiltered feedback.
So let's move on to...
What Are The Ways You Can Gain VoC Feedback?
While shopping, did a staff member ever ask you, "Did you find everything you need?"
Answering yes means you are content. Saying no means they failed to meet your expectations.
Without even knowing it, they were surveying customers!
Yep, customers provide valuable feedback when you ask the right product survey questions... and through the right way.
It all depends on what aligns best with your brand needs. To choose well, you must know the active and passive methods of customer surveys.
The active method means directly asking them after a purchase. This includes...
Customer Surveys
Once your customer is done with their purchase, you can ask them about their shopping experience.
Feedback surveys can be a simple thumbs up/thumbs down question or multiple choice.
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a good example of measuring customer satisfaction.
Another way of gauging customer satisfaction is through...
Focus Groups
A random sampling of your customers can share what they think of your brand. Their customer conversations can give you ideas on how to strengthen customer retention.
Focus groups will also get you more information than other methods.
Up next...
Face-To-Face Customer Interviews
Did you know that even casual conversations with customers can get you crucial information?
So make sure that you spend some time talking to customers. That can be through email, video meetings, or even in person.
You can also gather feedback from...
Popup Feedback On Your Site
This allows interested customers to help improve your eCommerce site.
This customer strategy also shows how much you value how customers feel. That's a pretty effective way of fostering customer loyalty!
A good way of getting fine customer feedback is...
Feedback Forms In Emails
Directly asking for feedback through transactional surveys gives customers time to chime in.
You can use email automation to request feedback. Make sure that you properly link everything in your email.
Of course, we can't forget about the passive methods of collecting VoC data.
Passive methods mean it's the customer initiating the interaction with your brand. This also means you have to closely listen to their voice.
The first method is...
Live Chat
Your customers can reach out with any questions they have through a live chat.
To fully integrate this into your online store, use Debutify's Add-On, and Facebook Messenger. Your customers can easily chat with you through the Facebook Messenger chat widget.
You can not leave out...
Social Media Channels
Social media is a rich platform to look for reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content. All of these reflect the Voice of the Customer.
So don't miss out!
You can observe (and even participate!) in conversations they have about your business.
Don't forget to include...
Online Reviews
This social proof is a good source for answering your qualitative questions about your VoC program.
Fortunately, Debutify Reviews has everything you need to collect high-quality reviews. And when you're done gaining VoC data, it also lets you proudly display it on your online store.
You can also get passive feedback with...
Site Behavior
Analysis tools such as heatmaps and Google Analytics can determine customer data like their location, sites they visit, etc.
It can also determine the popular pages on your store, and which ones are underperforming.
Yep, there are a lot of ways to acquire feedback. And VoC ecommerce survey questions are one of the easiest ways you can do it.
So let me show you the best Voice of the Customer questions you can ask for the best insights...
Best Voice Of The Customer Questions You Need To Ask To Improve Customer Experience
Listen... your customers don't have a lot of time to answer all your questions.
So, it's best to segment your audience to get the most productive answers. After all, your customer survey depends on your niche, your goals, and who your customers are.
So choose your customer survey questions wisely!
To help you choose, I have put the questions into different categories.
Let's start with...
Overall Customer Experience
- From 1 to 10, what is your overall rating on your experience with our brand?
- Were you satisfied with your experience today?
- What is your biggest challenge when purchasing?
- What do you like best about [BRAND]?
- How would you rate [BRAND]'s website on each of the following?
- What do you look for when visiting a website like [BRAND]?
Brand Perception
- When you think of [BRAND], what word or phrase comes to mind?
- How did you hear about [BRAND]?
- Where did you learn about [BRAND]?
- What brand first comes to mind when you think of [PRODUCT/SERVICE]?
- How much do you trust [BRAND]?
- How does [BRAND] compare to the competition?
Product/Service-Specific
- Have you found what you were searching for?
- Do you have a product or service you were hoping for but didn't find on our site?
- Did anything prevent you from completing your purchase?
- What product or service have you purchased from [BRAND] in the past 6 months?
Communication
- How do you prefer communicating with us?
- Which of the following social media platforms do you use weekly?
- Did our customer service team help you resolve any issues you have? Why/Why not?
Key Performance Indicators
- Would you buy from us again?
- How likely are you to recommend [BRAND] to a friend, family, or colleague?
- How satisfied are you with [BRAND]?
- What would you say to someone who asked about us?
- What should we continue doing?
Building your Voice of the Customer Program on these questions will truly get you the best feedback... Not only to create the best customer experience, but to up your marketing efforts and, in turn, your eCommerce sales.
Let me help your VoC program with...
Tips When Choosing Your Voice Of The Customer Questions
- Decide on a goal. You have to know how you are going to use the answers you'll get. It will help you choose the right queries.
- Keep it simple and short. A quick and easy survey will have more chances of being answered.
- The first question should be about your overall rating. By asking this first, you won't influence their answer with more specific questions before it. They might reduce your rating when you ask too many questions beforehand.
- Ask yes/no questions. This type of question is easy to analyze than open-ended questions. It will also entice your customers to answer.
- Avoid leading questions. Encouraging your customers to answer a certain way will not help your brand to improve.
And that's how you...
Listen To The Voice Of Your Customers!
Everybody wants to be heard. That includes your customers who want the best they can get from your business.
So do not disappoint them!
By asking the right questions, you are showing how important they are. It also exceeds their expectations of you.
All of your efforts can lead to them going back to your online store for more... which means more sales and profits!
Doesn't that sound perfect? And to keep collecting more feedback, you should try Debutify Reviews!
It allows you to manage and collect user reviews effectively... even photos and videos!
