Voice of the customer programs are on the rise—but are companies really listening?

The term "voice of the customer" (VoC) may be all the rage in customer experience circles, but its roots trace back decades to the methods used by researchers and quality improvement specialists who sought to improve products by understanding what customers truly needed. 

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Although the term was originally coined in a 1993 MIT Sloan Management review paper, it wasn’t until the early 2000s, however, that VoC gained mainstream attention—as customer satisfaction became a clear differentiator in competitive markets. 

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Fast-forward to today: as customer expectations grow and social media amplifies the impact of every customer experience, businesses are prioritizing VoC programs to ensure they’re not only listening to their customers but acting on what they hear.

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But a major question remains: are companies really paying close enough attention? 

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Read on to learn why businesses are dedicating resources to voice of the customer programs, what it takes to build an impactful one, and how some teams could be setting themselves up for failure if they aren’t using the right tech to build their approach.

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Why so many businesses are investing in VoC programs

Customer loyalty is harder to win than ever. We’re in an era where customers know they can demand more, and they expect brands to listen and respond. As more brands start competing on experience rather than just price or product features, it’s no longer enough to assume what your customers want—you need to know it.

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VoC programs are a powerful response to this shift. Companies that prioritize VoC gain insights that go beyond conventional metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). 

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They learn why their customers feel the way they do, uncovering the subtleties behind customer behavior. This insight enables brands to make more informed decisions, refine their offerings, and meet customers’ evolving expectations in a way that genuinely resonates.

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But here’s what surprises most teams: voice of the customer programs are complex. 

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“While all good teams have quantitative measures in place to track how their users are engaging with their products, the best teams understand all metrics have blind spots. Regularly reviewing actual customer anecdotes, especially patterns of similar anecdotes, helps you unearth problems or opportunities that you may have failed to measure,” says Ashwin Singhania, CTO and co-founder of Unwrap.ai. 

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That’s hard to do. To be genuinely effective, they must be comprehensive, cohesive, and purpose-driven. Unfortunately, many organizations have rushed to implement VoC initiatives without a clear strategy or the right tools, potentially undermining the very outcomes they’re aiming for.

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The best VoC programs start with intentional data collection

The core of any voice of the customer program lies in how well it captures customer feedback from a variety of sources—essentially, its data. Here’s a look at some of the foundational types of feedback every VoC program needs:

• Direct feedback: This is feedback that comes directly from customers—think surveys, reviews, customer service interactions, social media mentions, and calls with prospects and customers. It’s the most explicit feedback source, but it has limitations. For example, people often only provide this type of feedback when they’re extremely happy or deeply frustrated, leaving out more moderate but still important sentiments.
• Indirect feedback: This involves feedback inferred from customer behavior rather than explicitly shared opinions. For instance, website analytics, purchase patterns, or tracking how long users engage with certain features can reveal preferences and frustrations that customers may not directly communicate.

By gathering these types of feedback, VoC teams can build a more accurate, nuanced picture of customer needs. But gathering data is just the start.

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If the tools you’re using aren’t up to par, or if your team doesn’t know what’s available, the data you work so hard to gather may not turn into consequential insights.

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The downfall of VoC programs: When technology becomes a barrier

Many VoC teams—especially those in organizations implementing programs for the first time—are working with tech stacks that weren’t necessarily designed with a VoC strategy in mind. 

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Often, they default to tools they’re already familiar with, or worse, tools that don’t integrate well, creating a fragmented view of customer sentiment and total feedback.

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For example, they might rely solely on traditional survey tools or CRM systems to collect feedback. While these tools can gather data, they may not be equipped to analyze it in a smart way that truly reveals the Voice of the Customer. 

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The result? VoC insights get stuck in silos, the data isn’t synthesized and grouped effectively, and teams resort to relying on manual trend detection—potentially missing out on critical insights.

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What’s needed to shape a VoC program that takes listening to heart 

Given these challenges, how can a company build a VoC program that really works? Here are the must-do steps that can help your VoC program hit the ground running—and avoid the pitfalls that many newly-minted programs encounter.

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Define clear program objectives

Start by identifying what you want to achieve. Are you looking to improve product development, boost customer satisfaction, or reduce churn? Clear goals will help your team filter through the noise and focus on feedback that truly matters.

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Invest in the right tools

Any old feedback tool isn’t going to do. You need to invest in a platform that’s designed to integrate feedback sources, analyze data holistically, and present actionable insights. Platforms that support qualitative feedback analysis—think an AI-powered platform that identifies patterns from multi-channel feedback and surfaces those patterns up to you—are the ones that will actually make a difference in your success.

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Create a feedback loop

Customers need to know they’re being heard. Once feedback is gathered, communicate your findings back to the customer base, and share specific examples of changes made in response to customer input. This builds trust and encourages future participation.

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Champion cross-functional collaboration

The most effective VoC programs bring in perspectives from across the organization—product development, marketing, customer support, and even sales. When these teams work together, and can all view customer feedback from one dashboard, they can identify recurring themes in feedback and implement solutions faster and more effectively.

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Regularly reassess and adjust 

Customer needs are never static. Make VoC program reviews an ongoing process rather than a one-time initiative. Schedule regular reviews to ensure that the program is still aligned with your objectives and evolving customer needs.

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Speaking of, what makes an exceptional VoC meeting?

Imagine this: it’s Tuesday morning, and your VoC team gathers in a collaborative, virtual workspace to discuss the findings from the past month’s customer data. The team consists of members from product, support, marketing, and design, each bringing a different perspective on customer feedback.

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The meeting kicks off with a concise presentation of the month’s feedback insights. Using Unwrap.ai—an AI-powered platform that displays accurate customer feedback trends, quantifying customer anecdotes—the VoC manager showcases recurring pain points customers have experienced and highlights suggestions for new product features. A clear pattern of feedback shows that customers are looking for a faster checkout experience on mobile.

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Product team members chime in with technical insights, explaining what it would take to optimize the mobile experience. Customer support confirms that these issues align with complaints they’ve been fielding. Marketing suggests conducting A/B tests with the proposed changes to gauge customer response before rolling out a final update.

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The meeting wraps up with specific next steps assigned to each team, along with a timeline for implementation. The product team commits to creating a prototype within two weeks, marketing plans the A/B test campaign, and customer support agrees to track any new feedback related to the change.

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What makes this meeting so spectacular? It’s rooted in data that has quantifiable significance attached to it.  

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And from that data, product builders, customer support managers, and marketers can translate customer feedback into a concrete, actionable plan. Each team member leaves with a clear understanding of their role and a plan to push improvements forward.    

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The long and short of VoC programs

VoC programs are here to stay, but they’re only as good as the systems and processes that drive them. 

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For companies just starting out with VoC, taking the time to align technology, strategy, and team expertise will pay off immensely in the long run. As these programs mature, teams will find that they gain not only a clearer understanding of what customers want but also a more loyal and engaged customer base.

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The hypothesis here is simple but crucial. You want to build an impactful VoC program and become a leader in customer satisfaction? Your program needs to be fueled by the right technology.

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Because ultimately, the success of a VoC program comes down to a company's ability to listen—and without the smartest AI-powered tools to turn down the noise volume, you won’t hear what’s going to drive meaningful change. 

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Read how Citizen drove app improvements with customer feedback.