Understanding the Voice of the Customer- Virtual Assistants Used to Help Improve Customer Satisfaction

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According to Google, “Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation.” One way to increase customer satisfaction is by having exceptional customer support, through the channels they prefer. Self-service options are continuing to become the consumers' choice to fulfill their support needs. 

The way we measure customer satisfaction has changed and can vary depending what your company wants to know. CSAT is commonly used to measure how satisfied a customer is with their recent interaction with the company. Another metric used is Net Promoter Score (NPS) which asks the question, "How likely are you to recommend our company to a friend?" Recently, companies have been using Customer Effort Scores (CES) to determine customer satisfaction. CES works on the premise that if a customer does not have to put in much effort to get to the solution they need, they are satisfied. We live in a fast paced world, and speed and efficiency are what people are looking for. Virtual Assistants provide customers with that convenience of ease and quickness that they desire. 

While each customer satisfaction metric has their own advantages and limitations, it is important that your company understands its customers, hearing it directly from the customer. How does your company capture the Voice of the Customer (VOC)? Would a Virtual Assistant help improve customer satisfaction? 

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What Is Your "Pounds of Chocolate" Metric?

Managing a company can get hectic. Multiple numbers and statistics get thrown at you all the time, measuring different aspects of your business, trying to determine if the return on your investment is being met. But how do you know which metrics to pay attention to when measuring success. Sources close to Warren Buffett, the man considered to be one of the most successful investors of the 20^th century, say since he is such a busy man, he does not have time to analyze a bunch of data to make sure his businesses are doing well. At one of the most popular candy (primarily chocolate) manufactures in the world, there is one key performance indicator (KPI) that he monitors closely, how many pounds of chocolate did we sell today? 

Figuring out what KPI you should hone in on depends on what part of the customer experience your company focuses on. In Warren Buffett’s case, he is primarily concerned with sales.  In another example from a leader in the security software industry, they put a large emphasis on Net Promoter Scores (NPS).  Another company specializing in the PC industry looks at the number of in warranty customers who do not escalate to call center agents. In other words, they look at the percentage of call deflections to determine if they are providing customers with excellent customer support. Yet another company focuses on voted effectiveness, which is a metric reported by a Virtual Agent that measures whether users voted the solution provided was effective, not effective, or partially effective. Looking at this metric, this company can get a better understanding of what users find useful and what can be enhanced.

As you can see, companies focus on different KPI’s to measure success. What’s your “pounds of chocolate” metric? How does your company measure the success of your business?