How Voice of the Customer Drives Revenue Growth
Many companies say they listen to their customers, but few actually do it in a way that drives real revenue growth. And by “customers,” I don’t just mean the people buying your product or service. I mean all six of your right-fit target markets—your current and prospective clients, your current and prospective employees, and your current and prospective centers of influence.
When you ask these audiences what they think—and actually listen—you gain insights that fuel business growth in multiple ways:
- You Learn What Keeps Them Loyal.
- Understanding what makes your current customers happy helps you reinforce those strengths.
- More importantly, it gives you the exact messaging you need to attract new customers by telling that success story.
- You Uncover Opportunities for Improvement.
- Your audience will tell you what they think you should be doing.
- You can either adjust accordingly or clarify why you do things the way you do.
- You Identify Real Competitors.
- Many businesses are surprised to learn who their customers actually compare them to.
- Knowing this lets you adjust your positioning and competitive strategy.
- You Get Ahead of Problems.
- Customers and employees will tell you what they think needs to change—before they leave.
- Proactively fixing issues strengthens retention and loyalty.
This feedback loop drives revenue growth on multiple levels:
- Retention: Keeping clients and employees saves money and time.
- New Business: Understanding customer motivations helps you craft better messaging to attract new customers and talent. It also helps your centers of influence to tell your story when they refer others to you.
- Upselling: If you know what customers want, you can offer the right products and services at the right time.
- Stronger Storytelling: When you use real customer insights in your marketing, it makes your messaging more compelling.
- Market Adaptation: Staying in tune with audience needs helps you pivot and evolve your business.
- Referral Growth: When referral sources understand and believe in your story, they spread it for you.
How to Do Voice of the Customer Right
Ask a few open-ended questions, listen, take notes, and track trends. Some examples:
- What made you choose us initially?
- Why do you continue to buy from us?
- If you didn’t buy from us, who would you choose instead?
- What’s one thing you’d change?
Keep it simple—three to five questions at a time. Adjust the questions based on audience (customers, employees, centers of influence). The key is to actively listen and capture what’s being said.
Yes, an outside party will always get more honest answers, but even doing this yourself yields valuable insights.
The Most Important Step: Communicating What You Learned
Collecting feedback is only half the battle. You need to close the loop by telling your customers, employees, and referral sources what you heard and what you’re doing about it. This builds trust and credibility—two things that directly impact revenue growth.
When you commit to truly listening to your right-fit target markets, acting on what they say, and communicating that back to them, you create a continuous cycle of improvement that fuels business growth.
That’s the power of Voice of the Customer.