major voice of customer trends 2011[1]

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December 8, 2011

Major Voice Of The Customer Trends, 2011by Andrew McInnesfor Customer Experience Professionals

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For Customer Experience Professionals

ExECuTIVE SuMMAryForrester reviewed the voice of the customer (VoC) programs of the finalists from our 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards. Our analysis revealed that the 10 major trends observed last year, such as analyzing unstructured data and harnessing the voice of the employee, remain relevant today. We also uncovered six additional trends driving sophisticated VoC programs forward, including emphasizing the business value of VoC activities and bringing insights to life for back-office employees. Before adopting any of these practices, customer experience professionals should consider whether each practice will help nurture their firms’ customer experience ecosystems.

TAblE OF COnTEnTSSixteen Trends Characterize Leading-Edge VoC Programs

last year’s 10 Trends remain Highly relevant

Six Additional Trends Have Emerged From Today’s Leading Programs

rECOMMEnDATIOnS

Pursue The Practices That Support Your Customer Experience Ecosystem

nOTES & rESOurCESForrester accepted nominations for the 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards from March 25, 2011, to April 22, 2011, and presented the results at Forrester’s 2011 Customer Experience Forum in new york.

Related Research Documents“lessons learned From The 2011 Voice Of The Customer Award Winners”August 18, 2011

“The Customer Experience Ecosystem”June 22, 2011

“Ten Major Voice Of The Customer Trends”September 17, 2010

December 8, 2011

Major Voice Of The Customer Trends, 2011by Andrew McInneswith Elizabeth boehm and Jennifer Peterson

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http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=58750&src=58929pdf




© 2011, Forrester research, Inc. reproduction ProhibitedDecember 8, 2011

Major Voice Of The Customer Trends, 2011 For Customer Experience Professionals

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SIxTEEn TREnDS CHARACTERIzE LEADIng-EDgE VoC PRogRAMS

Companies with sophisticated VoC programs share a variety of leading-edge best practices. To better understand these practices, we reviewed the VoC programs of the finalists from Forrester’s 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards (see Figure 1).1 Our analysis revealed that the 10 trends we observed last year remain highly relevant. It also uncovered six additional trends helping VoC programs succeed in 2011.

Last Year’s 10 Trends Remain Highly Relevant

In 2010, the finalists from our VoC awards embraced 10 major trends.2 This year, those trends remain important characteristics of leading VoC programs. They are:

1. Tapping unstructured and unsolicited feedback. Software tools such as text analytics continue to help leading VoC programs efficiently mine freeform customer comments for insight. Nearly all of this year’s finalists use some form of text analytics to analyze unstructured comments from solicited sources, such as surveys, or unsolicited sources, such as inbound emails and tweets. For example, JetBlue Airways uses text analytics to categorize and report on open-ended comments from its 50,000 monthly post-flight surveys as well as its 30,000 monthly inbound emails. Benefits include access to richer customer insight and an opportunity to spot emerging issues that the company hasn’t asked customers about directly.

2. Integrating social media monitoring. Customers continue to increase their commentary about brands online, so it’s no surprise that leading VoC programs have continued to integrate with social listening activities.3 For example, VoC leaders at Ceridian and OpenText actively monitor discussions on social networking sites and blogs to spot overall trends and opportunities to intervene with specific customers. JetBlue’s VoC team collaborates with its Twitter customer service group to identify hot topics, review other customer data for validation, and route issues to the most appropriate people to develop action plans (see Figure 2).

3. Inviting customers into the design process. Rather than craft solutions behind closed doors, leading VoC programs invite customers to add their opinions to product and service design processes. Adobe Systems invites customers to participate in an online idea community to help identify and prioritize solutions (see Figure 3). It also engages thousands of customers in prerelease programs to take the guesswork out of product design. Ceridian uses customer advisory boards that meet regularly via phone and in person to prioritize and guide improvement projects. Symantec takes a more individualized approach with its large business-to-business (B2B) clients, meeting with each one to discuss survey results and develop action plans.

4. Harnessing the voice of the employee. This year’s finalists also solicit feedback from their employees. Vanguard’s employee suggestion program generated more than 900 ideas from more than 500 participants in just nine months — and in just one department. Today, more

© 2011, Forrester research, Inc. reproduction Prohibited December 8, 2011


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than 400 of those ideas have been implemented, leading to a variety of customer and employee experience improvements. OpenText and Fidelity also conduct regular employee engagement surveys to take advantage of the link between employee experience and customer experience.4

5. Prioritizing improvement areas more methodically. While many firms still struggle to prioritize actions based on VoC data, leading programs use effective models to avoid analysis paralysis. For example, EMC plots loyalty drivers on a simple matrix based on their importance to customers and current performance levels according to customers, identifying the most important — and broken — moments of truth (see Figure 4).5 Similarly, Fidelity uses customer feedback, operational data, and employee insights to pinpoint touchpoints that matter to both customers and the business and that also have significant opportunity for improvement (see Figure 5).

6. Closing the loop on customer feedback. Responding to customers who provide negative feedback has become table stakes for most companies, but this year’s finalists have gone further with their closed-loop activities. For example, Intel sends written and video messages to all clients asked to provide feedback to review overall VoC findings and describe intended solutions, all customized based on account type and region (see Figure 6). Pitney Bowes also closes the loop with customer-facing employees by routing alerts to managers who then coach on customer-identified improvement areas and give kudos based on customers’ feedback.

7. Linking customer feedback to other business data. VoC programs can provide a new level of insight when combined with data from other enterprise systems. The most common way for firms to systematically combine key data sets is to append additional fields to survey responses. For example, JetBlue appends information such as flight and seat number, aircraft type, and time of day to each customer’s post-flight survey response. That allows the VoC team to more effectively assess the root causes of dissatisfaction and make operational improvements, such as fixing specific broken TVs or retraining staff on problematic flight routes.

8. Aligning employee objectives with VoC metrics. Leading firms continue to tie employee compensation to VoC-based metrics. At Intel, every employee earns two extra days’ worth of pay when customer delight reaches the target goal for the year. Several of the other finalists tie variable compensation to satisfaction or Net Promoter Score (NPS) at various levels.6 Symantec took a different approach with its salespeople by rewarding high response rates rather than high scores. This tactic has helped engage people in the program during its early days and focus them on the value of feedback, regardless of its content. Once salespeople have feedback and understand its value, they tend to use it.

9. Consolidating data collection and analysis. Sophisticated VoC programs have continued to consolidate data collection and analysis responsibilities within their organizations. EMC handles these activities through a special program office reporting directly to the chief executive officer (CEO) and supporting all departments and lines of business. Vanguard centralized its



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efforts into a companywide client insight group comprised of roughly 100 people who design market research, analyze and synthesize data, and make recommendations to each part of the business. These consolidations improve analysis by enabling better linkage between data sources, encourage adoption by giving employees a one-stop shop for customer insight, and save time and money by creating process and technology efficiencies.

10. Widening access to data and making it more actionable. Because every employee ultimately affects the experience delivered by a company, leading VoC programs help make customer experience everyone’s responsibility. To that end, the programs we reviewed make VoC data widely available, such as by creating online portals for customer insights. They also make insights relevant for individual audiences to encourage meaningful adoption. For example, Pitney Bowes and Fidelity use the role-based reporting capabilities of their enterprise feedback management (EFM) systems to automatically tailor dashboards, reports, and action alerts for each recipient, whether that person is a frontline associate or a senior executive.7 Symantec makes VoC more actionable for salespeople by integrating it into existing account planning processes.

Figure 1 Details Of Forrester’s 2011 VoC Awards

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.58929

1. Clarity of approach2. Customer experience impact3. Business impact4. Degree of innovation5. Lessons for other firms

• Adobe Systems• Ceridian• EMC• Fidelity Investments• Intel• JetBlue Airways• OpenText• Pitney Bowes• Symantec• Vanguard

• Adobe Systems• Fidelity Investments• JetBlue Airways

Evaluation criteria Finalists Winners



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Figure 2 Jetblue’s Twitter Hot Topic report


Source: Crowdbooster Twitter analytics, March 15-April 15, 2011



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Figure 3 A Series Of Posts On Adobe’s Idea Site


Source: Adobe Systems website

Customers can post and tag their ownideas as well as review, comment on, andvote for submissions from other people.



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Figure 4 EMC’s Framework For Prioritizing Customer Experience Improvement Areas


Source: EMC, adapted by Forrester Research

Maintain Promote

Invest Fix

Currentperformance

level

Impact on customer

High

LowLow High



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Figure 5 Fidelity’s “Moments That Matter” Prioritization Framework


Source: Fidelity Investments



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Figure 6 Example Of Intel’s Closed-loop Customer Communications


Source: Intel

SIx ADDITIonAL TREnDS HAVE EMERgED FRoM ToDAY’S LEADIng PRogRAMS

In addition to the 10 best-practice areas shared with last year’s VoC award finalists, this year’s leaders have embraced the following six trends to further advance their programs:

1. Tailoring VoC activities for specific customer segments. Not all customers want to provide feedback in the same way or about the same issues, and not all customers have the same value to a company. The 2011 finalists have taken this idea to heart. For example, EMC aligns its data collection methods to respondents’ title levels. Executives provide feedback through in-person discussions, managers through periodic online surveys, and end users through event-triggered online surveys. OpenText pays extra attention to its highest-value customers, who represent four specific personas, through one-hour in-depth interviews done in addition to regular surveys. Similarly, Ceridian executives periodically visit key customers to discuss concerns and gather suggestions, which then feed into the overall VoC process.



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2. Aligning key functions around VoC insight and action. While customer experience professionals often take the lead in VoC programs, other roles can offer valuable expertise to help effectively collect, analyze, and act on customer insights. Fidelity’s customer experience group partners with its market insights department to manage the research aspects of VoC, such as survey design and sampling methods. Vanguard takes a similar approach by teaming up market research, VoC, and analytics teams within its centralized customer insight department. Both firms also partner VoC practitioners with business process experts to help identify root causes of customer issues and develop solutions. Likewise, EMC aligns its VoC activities with Lean Six Sigma processes and tools.

3. Building networks of VoC champions. To further incorporate VoC insights into daily operations, several of this year’s finalists have built networks of VoC champions across their companies. For example, Intel relies on a designated program representative within each organization to lead the feedback review and improvement process in that area, with the support of the firm’s centralized program management team. Similarly, Symantec has Sales Loyalty Champions within each region to lead the process and encourage participation at the ground level, in addition to their main business responsibilities. These embedded evangelists ease the burden on centralized VoC teams and make the feedback process more relevant for specific parts of the business.

4. Bringing the VoC to life for back-office employees. In addition to their many analytical activities, today’s leading VoC programs also appeal to employees’ emotions. For example, Adobe makes the customer experience personal for executives by taking them through day-long immersion exercises, where they attempt common customer tasks and mingle with frontline employees. Members of Vanguard’s Swiss Army, a group of roughly 1,000 crew members including the CEO, connect directly with customers by answering calls and processing transactions during peak times. These efforts help employees understand the human impact of their decisions, and they often act as catalysts for change.

5. Measuring the value of an improved customer experience in general. Nearly all of this year’s finalists have linked customer feedback to loyalty and revenue to prove the business impact of customer experience. Analysts at Adobe combined historical purchase and upgrade data with survey data and found that customers with the highest feedback scores also had the greatest lifetime values. Differences in lifetime value between customers with the lowest and highest feedback scores ranged from 43% among retail customers to a whopping 288% among key business accounts. These overall linkages help maintain momentum for customer experience efforts and project the financial returns associated with changes in customer perceptions.

6. Proving the value of the VoC program specifically. Because customer experience improvements can come from many places within a company, today’s leading VoC programs also prove the business value of the activities that they directly drive. One common approach is to measure the impact of closing the loop with individual customers. Pitney Bowes surveyed customers who had designated themselves as likely to leave the company and then received



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immediate intervention through its closed-loop VoC process. Post-intervention, 57% of those customers had become likely to stay, and 13% had become neutral. Several of the other finalists track the impact of the broader improvements they help initiate. For example, JetBlue measured a 10% decrease in complaints about delayed flights after implementing an on-the-spot apology process launched in response to customer feedback. Pointing to these specific returns helps VoC programs get the recognition they deserve and keep their seats at the executive table.

r E C O M M E n D A T I O n S

PuRSuE THE PRACTICES THAT SuPPoRT YouR CuSToMER ExPERIEnCE ECoSYSTEM

The finalists from Forrester’s 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards offer a number of ideas for other customer experience professionals to consider. but not every practice is right — or realistic — for every VoC program. Evaluate each practice in light your own firm’s customer experience ecosystem.8 In particular, consider how, or whether, each practice addresses:

· Customer moments of truth. Customers don’t place equal importance on all of their interactions with companies. Companies shouldn’t either. Instead, make sure that each new VoC practice helps address a key moment of truth for customers. For example, if your customers value their interactions with your company on Twitter — or they provide feedback about other moments of truth on the site — then invest in tools to monitor and mine those conversations. If not, then focus your attention elsewhere. If your firm hasn’t clearly defined customers’ moments of truth, focus first on mapping common customer journeys to identify those moments before investing in additional VoC efforts.9

· Employees who affect those moments. VoC programs need to influence employee behavior in order to have a large-scale impact. To focus on the most important employees in your customer experience ecosystem, start with customer moments of truth and work inward — identifying the frontline and back-office employees who affect those moments.10 Then consider whether new VoC practices directly support those employees with the insight they need to improve the customer experience. For example, if you identify salespeople as essential players, then make sure that dashboards and reports have highly relevant and timely insight for that audience, court champions in sales, and establish mechanisms to harness the voices of salespeople themselves.

· Barriers to making positive improvements. Smart program managers should consider why key players in the ecosystem don’t currently do everything they can to improve the customer experience. They should then pursue new VoC activities that will address those barriers. For example, if employees don’t believe in the value of an improved customer experience, then work on linking customer feedback to financials in order to prove that value. If employees understand the value but don’t feel compelled to act, then create an emotional catalyst for change by bringing the VoC to life, and start aligning recognition and rewards with customer feedback scores.



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EnDnoTES1 Forrester received more than 40 nominations for the 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards. We evaluated

each nomination based on five criteria: clarity of approach, customer experience impact, business impact, degree of innovation, and lessons provided for other firms. Each of five judges graded each nomination. The 10 top-scoring firms overall were (in alphabetical order): Adobe Systems, Ceridian, EMC, Fidelity Investments, Intel, JetBlue Airways, OpenText, Pitney Bowes, Symantec, and Vanguard. From this list, each judge selected a top three. The three firms with the most votes were named as winners. They were: Adobe Systems, Fidelity Investments, and JetBlue Airways. For more information on the finalists and winners, refer to the post about the results. Source: Andrew McInnes, “Results Of Forrester’s 2011 Voice Of The Customer Awards,” Andrew McInnes’ Blog For Customer Experience Professionals, June 22, 2011 (http://blogs.forrester.com/andrew_mcinnes/11-06-22-results_of_forresters_2011_voice_of_the_customer_awards).

For more information on the Awards themselves, refer to Forrester’s Voice Of The Customer Awards page. Source: Forrester Research (www.forrester.com/voc_main).

2 We documented 10 trends from the 2010 VoC award finalists. See the September 17, 2010, “Ten Major Voice Of The Customer Trends” report.

3 Forrester’s Consumer Technographics® data tracks how consumers complain about poor service. Between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, the use of social channels to complain increased by 50%, with almost a quarter of consumers who got bad service in 2010 saying that they complained about it via social media. See the June 20, 2011, “Updated 2011: How Consumers Complain About Poor Service” report.

4 Employees have a wealth of insight about both customers and internal operations. Many also have the influence to quickly improve customer experience at the ground level through frontline interactions and behind-the-scenes decisions. Customer experience professionals should draw on employees’ insight and influence to feed two key activities: improving customer experiences and building customer-centric culture. See the January 28, 2011, “How The Voice Of The Employee Empowers Customer Experience Efforts” report.

5 Forrester documented EMC’s VoC practices in greater detail in a dedicated case study. Highlights include EMC’s centralization of customer feedback efforts, consolidation of surveys, and alignment of existing quality metrics with customer feedback scores. See the March 22, 2011, “B2B Case Study: EMC Puts The Voice Of The Customer At The Center Of Its Business” report.

6 Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain, Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems. Source: Bain (http://www.bain.com/search.aspx?q=Net+Promoter); Satmetrix Systems (http://www.satmetrix.com/).

7 EFM solutions help customer experience professionals manage the inherent complexities of large-scale VoC programs by centralizing and automating essential VoC activities. To help customer experience professionals find the right solutions for them, we identified six EFM vendors that specialize in customer satisfaction and loyalty work and evaluated their offerings based on 76 criteria. We found that Medallia and MarketTools led the pack with comprehensive software solutions and compelling product plans. Satmetrix Systems and Allegiance also demonstrated solid software and services for enterprise customer experience









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leaders, while fellow Strong Performers Mindshare Technologies and Empathica showed competitive solutions for clients with narrower purviews. See the September 27, 2011, “The Forrester Wave™: EFM Satisfaction And Loyalty Solutions, Q3 2011” report.

8 To address the root causes of customer experience problems and create sustainable solutions, firms must consider the influence of every single employee and external partner on every single customer interaction. Forrester calls this complex set of relationships the customer experience ecosystem. See the June 22, 2011,

“The Customer Experience Ecosystem” report.

9 Customer journey maps help firms examine interactions from their customers’ points of view. Mapping the customer journey requires five steps: 1) Collect internal insights; 2) develop initial hypotheses; 3) research customer processes, needs, and perceptions; 4) analyze customer research; and 5) map the customer journey. Effective journey maps define which interactions customers value most, enabling firms to focus their attention on those moments of truth. See the February 5, 2010, “Mapping The Customer Journey” report, and see the October 15, 2010, “Assess The Effectiveness Of Your Customer Journey Map” report.

10 To fully understand the key players and interdependencies within their own customer experience ecosystems, firms should go through an exercise called ecosystem mapping. It is a collaborative process that typically takes place in a workshop setting where teams identify and document the people, processes, policies, and technologies that create the customer experience. This includes those parts of the ecosystem that are in plain view of customers as well as those parts that influence the customer experience from behind the scenes. See the August 15, 2011, “Executive Q&A: Customer Experience Ecosystem Mapping” report.







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