Leveraging the ‘Voice of the Customer’

The old adage “The customer is always right” was once the foundation for good customer service – do what it takes to make the customer happy, no questions asked. While the basic premise is still the same, that blanket approach has gone out the window. Today’s consumers have evolved so dramatically that asking them questions is now a critical part of an increasingly complex buyer’s journey.

In fact, gathering and acting on customer feedback is a growing area of study called “Voice of the Customer” (VOC). VOC focuses on customers’ expectations of and experiences with brands and encompasses the many touchpoints a customer has with a company – products, sales reps, store displays, websites, etc. It’s not surprising that a concept dedicated to consumer input is gaining momentum, as today’s shoppers demand greater engagement with companies: they want to be heard.

So how can we best leverage customer interactions with meat brands? At Midan, we have always been focused on what drives meat eaters, so a VOC approach is just a natural extension of our laser focus on the end consumer. We collect feedback after customer interactions using a variety of techniques, including:

• Satisfaction surveys: gain a better understanding of what motivates consumers to help improve their experience
• One-on-one interviews: get insightful input from those who regularly interact with our clients’ brands
• Online chats: gather real-time feedback regarding interactions
• Web analytics accompanied by behavioral analytics: analyze how people engage with website content
• Social monitoring: study the conversations taking place online

We then analyze the data to get a clear picture of what’s causing both positive and negative interactions. Armed with a deeper understanding of consumer preferences and challenges, we develop and deploy strategies to create better customer experiences, whether in store, at the meat case or on a website. By providing opportunities for better interactions with customers, we can ultimately help our clients increase overall satisfaction with their brands and drive higher brand loyalty.

At Midan, engaging with meat shoppers is nothing new. We know that leveraging valuable customer feedback as part of a VOC strategy can create positive customer experiences that lead to a nice pay-off for our clients: loyal customers.