What are common mistakes that you see product marketing teams make when starting a VoC program in their company?

The two biggest mistakes I see are (1) not having a clear goal as to what you want to learn from customers and how this will inform product / go-to-market strategy, and (2) not truly prioritizing or resourcing the effort.  With regard to (1), I find it's really important to be clear about what you are trying to learn from Voice of Customer. Don't get me wrong, it's important to have broad discussions with customers that raise topics you may not have thought... however, I suggest gathering these ...Read More

The most common mistake I've seen in developing VoC programs is thinking too narrowly about the customers' voice. Often, VoC programs start with marketing or customer success with the goal of obtaining advocates for case studies, reviews and references. Advocates can be leveraged for so much more; for example: Participants in UX research Beta participants Participating in persona interviews or providing feedback on messaging In addition to obtaining case studies and references, VoC programs can ...Read More

I think the easiest thing to miss when setting up Voice of Customer programs is alignment cross-functionally on the purpose of these programs. As product marketers, it’s easy to drive towards your goal of turning your customers into heroes and heroines via case studies and testimonials for your site. However, a strong VoC program needs to do more than just build a pipeline of case studies. You need to be able to infuse the customer voice back through all facets of the organization. So I think th ...Read More

Not getting enough feedback from stakeholders on missing value.  VoC programs are amazing when implemented well, but if they are created in a silo or without solving a problem then it will not get the internal traction it deserves.  For example - are you marketing, sales, or product teams HUNGRY for more customer input? Where? Why? Dig into what pain it would solve if they had more insight.  Then, deliver that value first when building out your VoC program.  If your stakeholders say something li ...Read More

I have been a Product Marketer since 2013 and have built numerous VoC programs back when I worked at Medallia.  For one, generally speaking, PMMs don't always own the VoC program.  That being said, there are some common mistakes some companies make with VoC programs: 1. Score Watching: They only look at the NPS score and don't take any action. 8/10 companies will do this. The NPS or equivalent north star metric is only useful if the action is taken on the qualitative feedback and improvements ma ...Read More