Data Listening

Chantel Wilson Chase - Science-based Insights Professional for the Human Experience, HX, CX, EX

What do we really mean when we say the Voice of the customer, the employee, the client, the patient, the member?

Oftentimes, we think in the simplest terms - primary data collection such as surveys and focus groups for example. And primary data is certainly clear and direct information. Spot on. It’s the cornerstone to any VoC/VoE program.

But what about the less obvious “voice”? Are we listening there as well? 

It’s easy – and intuitive – when you are face to face with a friend sharing a story. You hear the unspoken words, the pauses and silences. Verbal AND non-verbal. Are her arms crossed? Is he telling me his story in an animated way? Laughing, crying? Slow and measured or so fast the words are spilling out as they speak them? Do you have to tease out the information or is your friend sharing easily? And of course, topic matters.

All these intuitive reads happen at record speed as we instantly assess the emotion, topic, and importance of exactly what our friend is saying. We simultaneously are reading and adjusting our emotional and verbal response to match what they need. 

But what happens when it is not your friend – but an employee or customer or patient or member? And all you have is their data. Are you as adept at reading “the signs”? And what are those signs anyway?

Well, they come in many forms. 

For employees, it could be the silent employee in the meetings or the one who seems to be out sick a lot lately. Have they become disengaged? Had meeting attendees been actively using the chat feature and have now gone dark? Do people share company highlights on their own social media? Did high performers suddenly become average? What may have demotivated them? Are survey response rates dropping (or going up)? These are all voices, too. If we listen.

In a customer setting, were they buying and have slowly fallen away? What does churn look like? If you offer points or rewards, did they used to be high earners and now are non-existent? Or did you convert some to high users? Have sales successfully transitioned to virtual and are your customers/clients open to it? Are you reading the signs in the data?

It’s clear we have transitioned how we work, and it is important to bring along everybody – be it customer or employee, patient or member.

Like a friend’s silence, we can “hear” it in the employee and customer experience setting if we know what to look for.

The voice is as complex as any unique individual. Just as each of us is more than what we say directly, our employee (customer, etc) voice is so much more than the answer to one – or several – survey questions. 

Keep listening in ever-evolving ways.