Fifth Annual Study of Large Companies Shows Low Levels of Maturity and Increasing Importance of Technology in VoC Efforts
WABAN, Mass., Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Temkin Group released a new research report, State of Voice of the Customer Programs, 2015. The research examines almost 200 large companies that have formal voice of the customer (VoC) programs and compares results to similar studies over the previous five years.
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Temkin Group found that companies continue to be bullish on their VoC efforts. More than 70% of large firms with VoC programs report that these efforts have been successful, while only 4% think that they have been unsuccessful.
The research shows that despite the positive results, companies are still struggling with a key aspect of these efforts: taking action based on what they find. Less than one-third of companies rate their efforts as good or very good when it comes to "making changes to the business based on insights" and "reviewing implications that cut across organizations."
The responding companies also completed Temkin Group's VoC Competency & Maturity Assessment, which categorizes companies into one of five levels of maturity: 1) Novices, 2) Collectors. 3) Analyzers, 4) Collaborators, and 5) Transformers. While only 16% of firms are in the top two levels of maturity, this represents an increase from 11% last year.
"Customer feedback on its own is useless, but taking action based on what you learn is priceless," states Bruce Temkin, Managing Partner of Temkin Group. "Most companies are only scratching the surface on the potential value of these efforts. Future VoC efforts will look completely different than they do today."
One of the key areas driving success with VoC is the use of technology, which respondents see as becoming an even more important component in the future. Two thirds of companies expect software for collecting and distributing customer feedback to become even more important in the future, while only 2% expect it to become less important. Of the companies that are already using different technologies, text analytics has the most momentum; 75% of the firms using text analytics expect it to become even more important in the future.
The study also reveals a significant change coming in feedback channels. Looking ahead to the next three years, 80% of respondents believe that customer interaction history will become a more important source of customer insight, and more than 70% believe that way about contact center interactions and open-ended verbatims. Only 28% of respondents believe that multiple-choice surveys will be more important than they are today, and an almost equal amount believe they will become even less important.
This research report can be accessed from the blog, Customer Experience Matters®, at ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com or at the Temkin Group's website, www.TemkinGroup.com.
For more information about Temkin Group, visit www.TemkinGroup.com.
About Temkin Group: Temkin Group is widely recognized as a leading customer experience research and consulting firm. Many of the world's largest brands rely on its insights and advice to steer their transformational journeys. Temkin Group combines customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of the dynamics of organizations to help accelerate results. Rather than layering on cosmetic changes, Temkin Group helps companies embed practices within their culture by building four critical competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Employee Engagement, Compelling Brand Values, and Customer Connectedness. The firm's ongoing research identifies leading and emerging best practices across a wide range of activities for engaging the hearts and minds of customers, employees, and partners. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or send an email.
About Bruce Temkin: Bruce is widely recognized as a customer experience visionary and is a CX Transformist and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. He is also the author of a very popular blog, Customer Experience Matters (ExperienceMatters.wordpress.com). Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a VP at Forrester Research for 12 years, where he led their CX practice and was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters. Bruce is a highly demanded speaker and regularly quoted in the press. He is also the co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association.
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