Making the voice of the customer a management tool

"The customer is everyone's business". It's hard to escape this mantra, heard in so many speeches! Of course, it's important to mobilize all employees around a customer-centric strategy. But to do so, you need to use the right levers.

At a time when every company is talking about "putting the customer first", why not start by talking about customer satisfaction, and integrate the voice of the customer into your management strategy?

Sharing the voice of the customer

Most organizations now collect customer feedback (satisfaction scores, NPS, verbatims, etc.). Some, however, tend to want to keep it preciously within management and comex. There's no doubt that it's difficult for employees to feel involved if they don't know exactly what makes customers happy or unhappy.

Another reason why communicating the voice of the customer internally proves useful is that employees often overestimate their customers' level of satisfaction. Indeed, the Culture Services Barometer (carried out by the Académie du Service) notes a 20-point gap between actual customer satisfaction and employees' estimates.

Create animation around the voice of the customer

Beyond the imperative need to share customer feedback with teams, it can be a good idea to create emulation around the results. Here are a few ideas:

• Display customer notes and verbatims.

At Nocibé, a "wall of kisses" has been installed in the stores. During each pre-opening meeting, teams comment on the customer feedback posted on the wall.

• Set up a trophy system.

At Speedy, the monthly Customer Satisfaction Trophy rewards the three centers (gold, silver, bronze) with the highest scores.

• Offer a gift or bonus.

At Domino's Pizza, a franchisee has set up a prize draw among the month's positive comments. He offers a gift voucher to the employee concerned by the verbatim.

• Start meetings by reviewing verbatims.

At ING Direct, every meeting begins with the reading of a few customer complaints and listening to customer service recordings.

• Distribute notes to customers.

At Léon de Bruxelles, satisfaction ratings are displayed directly at the entrance to each restaurant.

Incentivizing employees

Another motivational lever used by some companies is variable remuneration or bonuses. It's the teams who play a key role in customer satisfaction. So why shouldn't they have the right to reap some of the rewards? By giving priority to this method of remuneration, the company positions the improvement of customer satisfaction as a business issue that relies on all employees. It highlights the value of collective mobilization, and reminds us that without customers, there is no company!

Thinking outside the "business centric" box

Encouraging employees to focus on customer satisfaction is also a good way of prioritizing quality over quantity. Indeed, variable remuneration based exclusively on results can be counter-productive, even pernicious. Let's imagine for a moment that a salesperson focuses all his or her efforts on the sale, with no regard for the customer's experience. That customer might well feel he's been pushed into consumption. And they'll probably think twice before coming back... Many companies - and administrations too! - have already implemented this mechanism. Their ultimate aim: to establish a genuine customer culture through the positive leverage and incentive of remuneration.

Using customer feedback as a tool to motivate teams can really prove effective in establishing a customer culture. On one condition: put in place systems that enable real communication and exchange between employees and their managers, and a means of collective improvement.

To find out more: Feedback Management Program: how to set up incentives?