If you want to manage your customer relationships, you need to understand their perspective. Voice of the Customer (VOC) research provides a structured means of doing so that can be used wherever you have significant contact with your customers. If you are interested in new product or service development, VOC can help identify and prioritize customer needs. If you are interested in fostering customer loyalty, VOC can help you identify the primary problems with your own products or services—and the advantages that drive customers to use you competition even when you have a competitive offering.

In essence, VOC can provide a critical feedback loop at almost every touch-point that you have with your customers. As such, VOC encompasses a host of different research techniques that center on one primary question: What do our customers need?

Determining what customers need is no simple task. Over the years, I have developed five critical guidelines for the "big picture" that will help ensure the success of your VOC program, regardless of where you apply it.

• Guideline 1: Think Strategically Read more »