What Your Customers Know That You Don’t

Most manufacturers would tell you they know their customers well. Salespeople talk to them regularly. They see the complaints, quotes, orders, and occasional survey.  But there is a difference between being close to your customers and truly understanding what they think about your business.

That is where Voice of Customer, or VOC, comes in.

One of the biggest risks I see with leadership teams is that, over time, they begin to believe their own story. They develop a clear view of why customers buy from them, what differentiates them, and where they are strong or weak. The problem is that customers do not always see the company the same way.

I once worked with a manufacturer that described itself as an “outsourced partner.” Internally, that made perfect sense. But when I interviewed customers, I discovered that outsourced was actually a negative word. What resonated much more strongly was the idea that this company was an extension of their business and their team.

You probably would not discover that sitting around a conference table talking to yourselves.  So why don’t more companies conduct formal VOC interviews? Some believe they already know what customers think. Others assume salespeople are gathering the information. Some are unsure what they would do with the feedback. Some also worry about what customers might say.

A good VOC process is different from sending a survey or calculating a Net Promoter Score. Those tools can tell you what someone thinks. A one-on-one conversation helps uncover why. I can hear hesitation, ask follow-up questions, explore an unexpected comment, and read between the lines.

I also prefer having someone outside the organization conduct the interviews. Customers will often tell an independent third party things they would never say directly to their salesperson, account manager, or CEO. The interviewer has nothing to sell or defend. The job is simply to listen.

Who you interview matters too. I want a cross section: strategic customers, transactional customers, declining or lost customers, and sometimes prospects you expected to win but didn’t. We are not looking for a customer satisfaction parade. We are trying to collect multiple versions of the truth.

Sometimes those conversations uncover opportunities nobody was looking for.

In one engagement, I interviewed a former customer who had moved its business to another supplier after my client’s bid missed the mark. The call was not a sales conversation. I was simply trying to understand their experience.

I learned they were unhappy with the new supplier’s quality. They also told me what my client could have done differently and what it might take to earn the business back. I brought that feedback to my client, they re-engaged the customer andd ultimately received an order worth more than $500,000.

That does not happen every time, and VOC should never be disguised lead generation. But it shows what can surface when you create the right environment for an honest conversation.  VOC can reveal why customers choose you, where you create friction, what they value most, why they are buying less, what else they might buy, and where unmet needs or new opportunities may exist.

The next question is: What did we hear, what does it mean, and what are we going to do about it?

The strongest themes should find their way into strategic planning, quarterly priorities, product development, positioning, sales strategy, and operational improvement. VOC should not become a report that gets presented once and filed away.  For most manufacturers, I recommend a meaningful VOC initiative at least annually, ideally before strategic planning. It also makes sense when entering a new market, launching a product, experiencing customer attrition, seeing slower growth, or considering a major strategic move.

Markets change. Customers change. Competitors change. Some of the most valuable strategic information your company needs is already sitting in the minds of your customers.

You just have to ask the right questions.

If this resonates with you, get in touch to learn how MAGNET’s Strategy, Marketing & Sales team can help you build a disciplined, practical growth plan, and turn it into repeatable processes that attract, convert, and retain the right customers.