1. IENG 451 / 452 Voice of the Customer: Collecting VOC information
IENG Lecture 07
Voice of the Customer:
Collecting VOC information
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

2. Voice of the Customer (VOC)
IENG 451 / 452
Voice of the Customer (VOC)
The VOC is integral to the assessment of Value:
External customers assess value in deciding what they will pay for, and whom they will buy from, to fulfill their perceived needs
Internal customers assess value in deciding what form and orientation they desire their inputs in; in deciding what processes (inspection, re-work, …) they will need to perform and what equipment and operator quantities they will need to use to produce their outputs
The company needs to address these expectations and desires – without sub-optimizing for either internal or external viewpoints – in order to prioritize, survive & thrive
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

3. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
VOC Data and Selection
Collecting VOC data requires targeted efforts:
Collecting data from customers is not cost free …
Not all kinds of data have equal value …
Not all data sources have equal value …
The method(s) employed to collect data impact all of the above, and limit what kinds of analysis can be performed …
… which, in turn, limits what kinds of questions can be answered!
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

4. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Data Types
There are four levels of data:
Nominal – (names) allow you to group things, only. In terms of value, it can only provide attribute information, i.e.: good or bad, etc.
Ordinal – (order) allow you to both group things and put them into some kind of order – a sequence that might connote increasing levels of value … but not compare how much different.
Interval – allows you all the benefits of Ordinal, and adds the ability to address how much different. This level allows the use of most statistical analysis methods …
Ratio – allows all the benefits of the other levels, plus adds an absolute zero point, which allows for differences between measurement scales to be resolved (conversions)
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

5. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Sources of Data
There are different sources of data:
Existing Company Records – are not free, but are pretty close:
Product / Service sales records
Product / Service maintenance and returns records
Product / Service contract cancellations
Product / Service referrals and preference notes (and sales closure rates)
Customer Listening Posts – require a bit more mining:
Matter of course “How are we doing” surveys
Hotlines / Blogs / User Groups
Complaint / Suggestion boxes (or websites)
Research – investing in deeper understanding specific to the current project goal(s)
Direct: Interviews, surveys, focus groups, point-of-use observations
Indirect: Market share trends, industry experts, market watch (news letters, etc)
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

6. Contact Methods for Data
IENG 451 / 452
Contact Methods for Data
There are different methods of direct contact data:
Face-to-Face Interviews
Telephone Interviews
Surveys
Focus Groups
Point-of-Use Observation
All of these require:
Being clear about the purpose(s)
Being respectful of the contacted individual(s)
Deciding how, how many and which persons to contact
Preparing questions beforehand
Pilot Testing and revision
Collecting information
Transcribing and coding information collected
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

7. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Segmentation
There are different users, and their data have different value. Examples of segmentation criteria:
Economic:
Revenue
Profit
Loyalty
Frequency of Use
Purchase Size
Cost of business
Strategic Goals
Descriptive:
Location
Personal Demographics
Product / Service Demographics
Attitudinal:
Price
Value
Service
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

8. Face-to-Face Interviews
IENG 451 / 452
Face-to-Face Interviews
This method allows you to develop communication on an individual basis – permitting flexibility and probing questions – while helping the individual feel “listened to”
Use early to find out what is important to customers
Use interviews during a project to:
Better understand customer issues
Get ideas or suggestions from the customer
To cheaply test ideas with customers
Use at the end of a project to validate findings and get “buy-in”
Mistakes to Avoid:
Not having a clear purpose
Not having prepared questions
Not planning for the logistics – timing, sample size, costs & training
Not performing practice / pilot interviews before going public
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

9. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Telephone Interviews
Similar to Face-to-Face, this method may obtain similar benefits (below), but is perceived as “less personal”
Use early to find out what is important to customers
Use interviews during a project to:
Better understand customer issues
Get ideas or suggestions from the customer
To cheaply test ideas with customers
Use at the end of a project to validate findings and get “buy-in”
Mistakes to Avoid:
Not having a clear purpose
Not having prepared questions or having an overly prepared “script”
Not planning for the logistics – timing, sample size, costs & training
Not performing practice / pilot interviews before going public
Not “hearing” the “body language” during a call
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

10. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Surveys
Similar to Interviews, this method is perceived as even less personal and cannot easily go into as much depth; but can efficiently gather more & anonymous information
Use get information from many customers (quantitative data)
Use as pre-work for interviews in order to:
Better understand the range of customer issues / responses
To identify target areas for in-depth exploration
Use as a follow-up to focus groups and interviews to quantify relationships and identified patterns
Mistakes to Avoid:
Not having a clear purpose
Not planning for the logistics – timing, sample size, costs & training
Not doing a pilot survey before going public
Not planning for a long enough response time or a low response rate
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

11. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Focus Groups
This method allows you to get feedback on new concepts or existing problems / products – along with a quantitative feel for the results
Use for same reasons as the interviews (see before)
Use with open-ended questions to get more creativity in answers
Use to observe physical interactions among participants:
Customer interactions with existing products / materials
Customer interactions with new prototypes / materials
Customer interactions with the community (providers / customers)
Mistakes to Avoid:
Not having a clear purpose
Not planning for the logistics – timing, sample size, costs & training
Not doing a pilot focus group before going public
Not having an experienced focus group leader (avoid biasing the group!)
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

12. Point-of-Use Observations
IENG 451 / 452
Point-of-Use Observations
This method is very similar to Focus Groups – minus the stimulated creativity benefits and biasing dis-benefits – but with a realistic qualitative feel for the user experience
Use to observe physical interactions among participants:
Customer interactions with existing products / materials
Customer interactions with new prototypes / materials
Customer interactions with the community (providers / customers)
Mistakes to Avoid:
Not having a clear purpose
Not planning for the logistics – timing, sample size, costs & training
Not developing and testing the observation form in a pilot study!
Not giving the observer(s) observation experience through a pilot study!
If going on-site (to a customer):
Not giving enough consideration to the customer’s logistics
Not giving the customer sufficient follow-up results (partnership!)
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen

13. IENG 451 Operational Strategies
Questions & Issues
6/4/2018
IENG 451 Operational Strategies
(c) D.H. Jensen