{"id":10417,"date":"2025-11-07T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usersnap.com\/?p=10417"},"modified":"2026-04-15T11:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T09:06:45","slug":"voice-of-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usersnap.com\/blog\/voice-of-customer\/","title":{"rendered":"Voice of the customer: the best VoC guide (UPDATED 2026!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a product manager or a SaaS company owner, what is your main drive in building new products? What impacts your decision-making process? <\/span>Do you consider customer feedback as well as the voice of the customer (VoC) techniques?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should the voice of the customer influence product development?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article you will find out why incorporating the voice of customers into your strategies can bring your business success. Ready to rock?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

Try Usersnap for Product Development<\/h2>Try Usersnap Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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You may have realized how customer feedback<\/a> has become a huge focus in recent years. It is the most important factor in delivering exceptional customer experience. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Frost & Sullivan\u2019s survey research on R&D\/innovation and product development priorities, 84% of the respondents declared that they employ the voice of customers (VoC) in their product development cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Should You Include Voice of Customer in Development Processes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, your developers are passionate about cutting-edge innovations and want to exceed expectations in all aspects of design. But that does not guarantee customer buy-in. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many software and internet companies with great product ideas and rocket-high<\/span> initial growth rates have failed to achieve product\/market fit. The key reason behind this lies not in quality management or financing but in the incompetence to understand and meet the wants and needs of the market. You might have the best expertise in the industry where your company operates, but that professional knowledge will never be more valuable to the business than customer insights<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotjar for example gave credit for their fast growth to the “staying close to our customers” mantra – in just 5 years they’ve gone from \u20ac0 to \u20ac17 million in Annual Recurring Revenue and their product has been installed on over 670,000 sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to ensure your new developments will gain the likes of the market is to listen to the voice of your customers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let your customers make product development decisions for you!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use customer suggestions and opinions as a decision-making guideline. Adjust your products and services to perfectly fit customer needs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change management with VoC leading the charge<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this era where new technology pops up every day, you are required to constantly make changes to your products.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change is good\u2026 when you make the right changes…<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change means opportunity, but no doubt it also means competition. In this game of change, there will be losers, if one complicates the product or is unable to stay relevant. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there will be glorious winners, gaining maximized customer retention and triumphing the market share. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How you strategize your move when faced with change is critical. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adopting<\/span> a customer-centric strategy, putting your customers first, and involving them to shape the future of your product developments, not only aligns their demand with your supply,\u00a0but they will also feel valued. When customers feel that they have been involved in product development and will inevitably become loyal customers.<\/span> The right voice of customer tool<\/a> makes that involvement practical\u2014not just aspirational. And the data backs this up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A substantial study<\/a> on 1193 commercially successful innovations across 9 industries, directed by MIT\u2019s Dr. Eric von Hippel<\/a>, discovered that 61.8% of those product developments were generated from the customers. He then came up with the famous term Lead User Innovation Method, in which the sophisticated users are the pioneers to identify a new need <\/span>in the market and make a breakthrough innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"61%<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This is strong evidence that collecting customer feedback can direct your product managers and developers to extraordinary achievements.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create the ultimate customer experience with the <\/span>voice of the customer in mind<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s technology and product designs are heavily based on experience. It is through the seamless customer experience that Apple products managed to stand out from the rest of the competition. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to focus on creating a complete customer experience when developing products.<\/strong> At every touch point of the customer journey, each experience should be adding value for the product and brand. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And naturally, the most effective way to give customers amazing experiences is to ask them what they like about your service and what should be improved.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular saying \u201cCustomers are Always Right\u201d stands not only for customer service but should also be incorporated to your actual product and service model. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no school to teach you the best way to build your website interface, as designs and user habits come in and out of fashion, but the rule to follow customer feedback is something you should always hold on to.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.\u201d Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How to embed the <\/span>voice of the customer in your product development life cycle?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that we’ve covered the benefits of listening to your customers, you will want to start thinking about how to implement this strategy into your product development routine. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In different stages of the product development process, the approach you should be taking to obtain feedback differs.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is crucial to keep in mind that the feedback must be actionable, so it is necessary to plan in advance how to effectively gain customer insights and where to apply the findings. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a breakdown of the product development process, <\/span>why VoC is essential to each step, and how you can apply the most suitable feedback tactics. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Ideation <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To develop a new product,<\/span> the team has to generate a bunch of new ideas, this brainstorming process can be both stressful and extremely inefficient. Even when a set of ideas are agreed upon, you are still taking on a high risk of failure in the market. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent such a \u201cgut\u201d based method, you should turn to your existing customers.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Review what your customers have been saying, run a poll with your customers, or request directly for suggestions. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. <\/span>Development<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From concept to reality, you will be faced once again with many uncertainties in details and designs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find it close to impossible to proceed without any customer feedback when making product development decisions. Using a correct decision-making framework<\/a>, you’ll be able to process customer feedback and decide on future steps more solidly.
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Most companies turn to leaders or internal feedback networks in prioritizing the roadmap. However, taking into consideration what we mentioned above, the customers know what they need best. So you should really be seeking for their opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Try Usersnap for Product Development<\/h2>Try Usersnap Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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At every step of the way, ask for validation and confirmation of functionality from customers. Don\u2019t wait until your budget is exhausted.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Quality Assurance<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the typical stage of product development where usability testing<\/a> begins. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often this is also the first time that the product is presented to the customers and feedback is received. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the \u201c80% of New Products Fail\u201d myth as a reference, you can easily imagine how much greater the percentage of prototype failure must be. To prevent going back to the drawing board at this stage and wasting all that time and money, you should start asking questions to your customers before prototyping. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not to say prototyping and product validation<\/a> is unnecessary. But the depth of the testing and observation can be even more valuable and accurate if the voice of the customer was involved throughout product research and development.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Screen<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You should have several alternative product prototypes for the users and customers to compare. When customers tell you about their experiences and feelings, you can use the \u201cI Like, I Wish, What If\u2026\u201d method to solicit critical feedback in a positive manner. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you are testing the prototypes across different levels and segments of customers, as different customer groups can help to uncover unique problems.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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4. Production<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you are happy to roll out the product, your main effort will shift to marketing and sales. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also keep an eye on the Customer Service team or the Customer Success team, as they will be receiving first-hand customer feedback. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure your customer service channel allows clear communication. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it might seem that customers don’t want to tell you about their problems. That’s false! Inefficient feedback systems are what put them off!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some questions for you to ask yourself and find out if your customer support is enough:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n