In 2014, voice of the customer is 2.0- why are you offering customers to speak through microphones 1.0?

It was about seven weeks ago, that I had dinner with two former customer experience top executives, and currently principal consultants for one of the top customer experience consultancy. We were sharing opinions around topical customer experience issues, ranging from loyalty, customer feedback platforms, customer journey mapping and a host of others. I then, retracted and focused on the state of the voice of the customer systems.I told them that there are great VOC systems like: uservoice, Nice fizzback, NPS, usabilla, iperceptions, getsatisfaction and a host of other platforms..

With my customer facing and research background, I said there is a massive need for analyzing emotional drivers to positive or negative customer experience. I told them,trustpilot, a great customer feedback platform, that utilizes customisable emails, to garner customer feedback, affirms that they have about 7% response rate. 'Does that ring an alarm bell?'I asked, whimsically. One of the consultants, recalled an interesting experience, on a comical feedback comment cards in a gents toilet in Belgium. He did add, that gents had an opportunity to rate their experience using animated pictures that typified good or bad.

I ended by telling them, feedback programs should be accessible, dynamic and multifaceted - in a bid to collating emotionally measurable responses. I told them it is with this yearn and pain in my heart, that i have found the need to create vibevox. The ultimate aim is to bring web 2.0, microphone 2.0 and mobile 2.0 to customer feedback. I told them the about the idea and it resonated within them, as industry experts, on the need to have a dynamic and 2.0 voice of the customer platform.You could keep this preamble aside for a minute, we would put the strings or puzzle together in a moment. Don't swipe to a next blog yet, this journey is about to get interesting. Hang on a bit!

Microphones have evolved over the years- and have thus, transformed the music, public speaking and performance industry immensely. Microphones 1.0, within the music or performance world, could be conceived as microphones with cords or wires- epitomizing disruptions to dancing and mobility. This informed the need for the creation of wireless microphones, or cordless as some folks would term them. These microphones are handheld, but a distinct advantage is that they are wireless and aids a better stage performance. I choose to call this microphone 1.5 at this point, leaving us with a 2.0 that has aided charismatic singers and speakers utilize their full potential. “What is the Microphone 2.0?”- I can hear you quiz, with a handful of curiosity. Microphone 2.0 are game changers, they have given a whole meaning to music and are wireless and hands-free. They are called a headset wireless microphones, you have possibly used them or seen speakers used them during TEDx events or conferences. Please capture this in your mind, but imagine for a second, how companies still offer customers to speak through a wired microphone 1.0, that inhibits mobility, energy, charisma, emotional expression and freedom. Please hold on to these microphones, we are still brainstorming and would hit the point sooner than you think.

Neil Davey says the likes of Gartner are forecasting that Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs will be one of the most significant strategic investments over the next five years, and the VoC market is set for annual growth rate of over 30%. But while this may indeed come to pass, it is also accepted that VoC remains an immature market. In short – a lot of money could be wasted in the coming years. Jim Davies, research director at Gartner opines that, “From a corporate perspective, the focus on understanding customers by listening to them and using that understanding to market differently, sell differently, support differently, redesign processes and change the product, is becoming more and more important. It is a key part of customer experience management and a lot of companies are now realizing they can’t really differentiate by traditional means, but really understanding the customer can help them to do that.”


It is against this backdrop, that it is key for companies to offer her customers with a microphone 2.0, that gives these customers an opportunity to express their emotions in an unrestricted manner. What is microphone 2.0 in relation to the voice of the customer program? In a very simple and clear manner, the world is gone mobile with smart phones and gone creative with this likes of instagram, pinterest, vine and a host of others. In my extensive research with customer experience practitioners and customers- the clarion call in 2014, is that, companies should not restrict feedback platforms with wired microphones but facilitate with cordless headsets. Microphone 1.0, are feedback channels with just a restrictive email or text medium. Customers would be unable to express themselves emotionally and creatively through a restrictive email or text medium. Microphone 1.5, are customer feedback platforms that have animated pictures that accompany comment cards. Vibevox and hopefully many other VoC vendors in 2014, aim to utilize micro videos, pictures, voice memo’s and animated comment cards, to gather customer feedback. This is microphone 2.0, that does not restrict customers to one medium, but creates flexibility like a cordless microphone.

In addition, since the world has gone mobile, Voc 2.0 is calling for the additional use of mobile apps to gather customer feedback in the most accessible, effective and dynamic way. To add more urgency to this need, Joel Gascoigne, the founder of bufferapp, a social media scheduling tool, tweeted a few days ago: “Does video customer support exist? Any products out there that provide audio/video/screensharing customer support tools? Thanks :)”


I know it is a long piece, but what seems to be longer is getting the right quality and quantity of customer feedback. Companies should see the need to embrace an all encompassing medium (comment cards, video,voice memo and picture) to gather and interpret customer insight. Voices come in several tones and could be better understood with a variety of creative mediums. Don’t restrict your customer’s voice to one tone and medium!

‘Yes darling or okay babes’- the role of semantics in endearing or endangering customer experience.

I am a big lover of fruits- with a very sweet and soft spot for bananas, pears and apples. A few hours ago, I made a short trip to an open air fruit market, at south east London. I was torn between two fruits stalls- like a high school girl, wooed by the two most popular boys from the school basket ball team. I went back and forth both stalls, adorned in much indecision as both had a similar array of fresh and colourful fruits. One stand served customers without saying much- aside, “It’s £2 pounds please.” The second stall, had a bubbly and spirited lady enthusing, “Yes darling, anything more.” At other moments she would say, “Thank you darling;” after the customers pay, and end by saying, “Have a good day darling.” You could guess where my allegiance or pounds would sway towards, not the dispirited seller but the passionate lady with the magic word ‘DARLING.’ I picked a hand of bananas, and was about to pay for that, but the friendly use of the powerful phrase, “Thank you Darling,” inspired me to include some apples to my shopping cart.

On a different note, I came across a guy that worked for a retail outlet; he constantly struggled in achieving above 50% on his customer feedback metrics. On one occasion, a customer left a comment through the fizzback voice of the customer platform, on how she received a great service from him, but was not comfortable with how often she was referred to as ‘Babes.’ He used ‘Okay Babes,’ on too many occasions, which made her feel uncomfortable and did not get maximum 10, on the fizzback metrics. 

These are two scenarios, similar intentions but contrasting outcomes. It comes down to something known as semantics, a branch of linguistics and logistics concerned with meaning. It also could be conceived as the meaning of words, phrase or text. In customer experience, the use of the appropriate words within the apt context, determines if you end up with a satisfied or irritated customer.

It is very important to understand that words are very powerful in endearing or endangering the experience of customers. Understanding, the context and applying the relevant set of phrases and words would determine if customers would keep buying from you or try the competition. In some cases, it is critical to use powerful words like -darling, sweet, lovely, boss, babes, Sir, Madam, friend, mate and host of others, to either touch the hearts, massage the ego or inspire the minds of your customers.

Secondly, the context or business environment is essential, in understanding the role of powerful semantics. In a construction, building, railway or raw masculine business environment, the use of phrases like ‘thank you boss or yes boss,’ might be very instrumental in endearing the customer as it helps massage the ego. In an open stall, less formal and unstructured retail outlet, the use of ‘thank you darling,’ could hold sway. In a make-up, beauty or cosmetic retail outlet- using words like beautiful, pretty or lovely, to address your customers, could endear them. When you come into a more formal and structured setting, then addressing customers as ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’ could never go wrong.

Suffice it to say that, customers have emotions, egos and personalities that yearn for praise, complement or recognition. As you realise that customers differ, on so many fronts, using the appropriate words or phrases is a ‘no brainer.’  The business context differs, customers are a bit similar and somewhat dissimilar, understanding and training your staff to utilise the right words would either endear or endanger your customer experience. Are you endearing or endangering your customer experience with your semantics?

How a single and tiny punctuation mark transformed customer experience.

Punctuation marks are a common phenomenon in writing- more like the unique straight or overcast stitches, which holds together and garnishes the literary attire. These tiny but significant elements act like a concierge- by helping show a reader where a sentence starts and ends. Punctuation marks comprises of: full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, hyphen, brackets and a host of others. The presence of these marks, make reading and comprehension a lot easier but the absence of this on a particular occasion transformed my customer experience.

A few days ago I launched a new landing page vibevox, for a voice of customer platform that is currently in development. It took a few days for Google keyword research, logo design and conceptualisation; to craft the landing page- powered by Launchrock. The landing page went live by 2 am a few days ago; I was super excited and went to bed really pleased with my efforts. Before going to bed, I did send an instant message to a friend intimating him about the site. After a few hours ticked by, the alarm clock goes off- accompanied by a worse alarm, not the fire alarm, in case you are wondering. The alarm was an instant message from a friend saying the site was down. I panicked, as a chill of despair consumed my sense of reasoning. I quickly sent an email to my web host, citing the error 404 that was appearing on my landing page. They replied with a recommendation of some few ways of resolving the issue- tried these but to no avail. The page was intermittent, coming on for a brief moment every other hour. My customer experience was at an all time low as I had adhered to the outlined instructions from my web host. I watched a host of YouTube videos, addressing how to resolve similar issues- adjusted and tweaked the configuration, still fell at the feet of error 404.

I finally decided to resort to an online tech support chat, with the hostgator technical support assistant. Hoping this would be the climax of my customer experience journey, after a bumpy and foggy ride. Within a few minutes of investigating my web control panel, the tech support assistant wrote the best phrase every worried customer longs to hear- ‘Got it.’ He then further added that the problem was caused by a punctuation mark- full stop (.). This happens to be the tiniest punctuation mark but on this occasion it was a differentiator between a very satisfied customer to a disgruntled one. If you were wondering what category I was affiliated to, I would say between the former and the later- owing to the recent assurance from the tech support adviser. I was relieved that he had discovered the fault was a full stop (.), at the end of my domain name on the control panel. To be honest, I was not super confident that a tiny mark could distort a landing page- nonetheless, was advised to give it about three hours. I had no choice but to adhere to the instruction- countdown three hours, the site was back on and has never flickered for a fraction of a second. I was impressed and left a very good feedback on the hostgator feedback tool- sharing my utmost relief at the ease at which the technical support team resolved my humongous challenge.

John Wooden poignantly enthused, “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” It is against this backdrop that I would like to state that companies striving to enhance her customer experience should acknowledge at times, the elements that put off customers may not be the large punctuation marks like question mark, exclamations, hyphen or brackets. In most cases, the granules or the minute elements like a full stop or dot, (figuratively speaking) might transform the customer experience. The other key element in this school of thought would be to know when to eliminate or include a granule or minute element- that could transform the experience. In my case, erasing the punctuation mark made the difference; another scenario including the punctuation mark or minute element might enhance the experience. Remember your company is like an article, your customers are the readers and the right application of punctuation marks would enhance their reading experience.

What does voice classification in singing have to do with the voice of the customer?

Voice classifications are a very important element in the music industry. These voice categorisations are determined but not limited to vocal timbre, vocal tessitura, vocal range and transition points. Now you might be wondering what this has to do with the voice of the customer. Please, have your studio headsets on as we carry on exploring the vocal classifications in music as it relates to the voice of the customer. 

Research shows that there are about seven main voice types in music- particularly within the classical circles. 

These voice types are polarised or in a better tone, categorised along the male and female lines. The female voice is typically and somewhat historically divided in three types- soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto. A shallow dig into this voice types highlights soprano as the highest female voice- around a high 'C' - as typified by musical experts. The mezzo-soprano is the second highest female voice - a middle range voice type- and a category that houses the most number of female singers and wannabe singers. This leaves the contralto as the lowest voice type among the female singers. I know this is not a music lesson, even if it were to be one; I would be the wrong man to put you through the notes. I am not a music teacher, voice expert or vocal coach- i am just a customer enthusiast. Please hang on in this studio for a few more moment.

Men are mostly divided into four groups: countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. A further look into these categories reveals that the countertenor is unarguably believed to be the highest male voice and the tenor is the second highest. The third highest and the most common male voice is the baritone- this is the category that accommodates most men. The bass is the lowest voice among the male category. 
An important note is that people move up or down on voice types- dependent on factors like age, the musical role, instruments or repertoire. 

Research carried out by Gartner reveals that voice of the customer (VoC) programs, will be one of the most significant and essential investments over the next five years. They further added that the VoC marketplace is geared for an annual growth of over 30%.

Businesses need to understand that customers have different voice classifications. Some with very high pitched voice and others with middle range and low pitched- respectively. Borrowing a leaf from music, singers change voice classification based on age, instruments and musical roles. Companies have to understand that customers express feedbacks on products and services with voices that could be influenced by length of time they have been with your company, opinions from social media, past experiences with similar brands and how receptive you are. Customers have different voices but designing a program that records and responds to these ranges of voice in a timely manner is important.