No matter your industry, the battle for customers is fierce. But here’s the thing: it’s only getting more chaotic and more sophisticated as time goes on. To attract customers and drive loyalty, you need to know which parts of your customer journey work, which don’t, and why. Then, you need to be able to take that knowledge and apply it.
Ready to find the ideal partner for your brand—the one that will both grow business and minimize headaches? We’ve drawn on insights from a Forrester Research report, “Four Questions CX Pros Should Ask When Evaluating VoC Partners,” to compile the ultimate checklist for customer experience (CX) professionals to evaluate your next Voice of the Customer (VoC) provider.
9 key aspects of a Customer Experience (CX) provider
1. ROI: Can your VoC program demonstrate its own ROI?
To invest in a VoC provider that aligns with your CX strategy, you must be clear about your goals and focuses. Ask providers for relevant, recent references, and about the services they provide after implementation. Will they help you uncover insights and understand where to take action? Do they have industry-specific case studies showcasing how they’ve helped their other customers prove ROI?
2. Industry knowledge: Ask providers to prove expertise in your industry, not just CX.
From the customer journey to the customers themselves, every industry is unique. Your provider should have evidence of knowing the context + KPIs that will develop experiences your customers care about. Industry-specific knowledge will lead to actionable insights significantly faster, help benchmark against competitors, and even ensure a tech platform performs better by knowing your industry’s taxonomy—the words, phrases, and trends that matter.
3. Analytics + insights: You want an end product that delivers actionable insights that drive results, and not just dashboards.
You could have all the data in the world, but it’s pretty darn useless if you don’t have a way to turn it into something meaningful. Do you have access to specialists to help uncover actionable insights in your data? (If not, having to staff that position can lead to unexpected costs or mediocre results.) Ask providers for examples of how their services, analytics, and reporting tools have helped other companies quantifiably improve their CX.
4. Listening activities: Find a provider who will start identifying gaps and opportunities in your listening program and stop ineffective surveys.
Your customer engagement should be wide-ranging but focused. How are you evaluating the customer experience throughout the complete journey? Where do you currently collect CX feedback + information? Is any of it open-ended, and can you evaluate the flow of feedback for actionable patterns?
5. Services + support: Ask providers if they have the services to support your program and ensure its success, not just its existence.
There’s a big difference between having a bus and having someone who can drive it. You want a provider who is going to prioritize your program’s success rather than simply train you to use a tech package. From design to deployment to long-term engagement, every phase of a rollout has potential pitfalls that can undercut your work in ways you may not realize. You want a partner that will realize and then prevent them.
6. Integration: Ensure potential VoC solutions integrate with existing systems and tools, and whether those integrations come Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) or as add-ons.
Ideally, the product you choose should support the collection of both survey and non-survey sources—like data from your CRM, POS system, or online ratings + reviews—in one platform so they can be analyzed together. And don’t forget to confirm who will do the work of implementing your integrations. Will it be your team (which is common with DIY solutions), an extra consultant you’ll have to hire, or your CX provider?
7. Scalability: Ask potential providers about their scalability and the upper level of traffic and modifications included with your contract.
You’ll need to be able to scale your VoC program as your business grows. If you’re using a provider to service your program, make sure you know what’s included when you want to make survey modifications or receive on-the-fly analyses—or if it will cost extra.
8. Ease of use: You need to be able to use your VoC solution without requiring extensive training.
Ask providers about their user interface and if it’s easy to navigate. (If not, why, and what’s being done to improve it?) Find out who will be there to help use the system and navigate questions you may have.
9. Pricing: Be aware of—and compare—the complete cost of CX program options.
The cost of the VoC solution should match the value it provides. Ask for pricing information and compare it to other providers in the market. Examine the total cost from implementation to ongoing support—you don’t want to be caught off-guard by extra expenses or discovering you need to hire a contractor to get things done.
Your CX program should make an impact
Choosing the right VoC provider requires you to look beyond the flash of shiny features. You want the partner that will get your CX program on the fastest path to value. One that can help engage with your organization to get top-down buy-in, and one that will build quick wins and lasting change at every level and every location.
But don’t just take our word for it. Try it out for yourself and let us know what you think!
