10 voice of the customer (VoC) metrics to track

Gathering and analyzing a range of data about your customers' purchasing habits and what they think about your brand can help you understand what you’re doing well and make informed decisions about ways to improve.

Here are some of the most beneficial VoC metrics to track, other helpful metrics that may benefit certain types of businesses, and how Dovetail can help you choose the most important metrics and analyze them as effectively as possible.

Here are four of the most helpful VoC metrics that virtually any business can use to understand their customers and improve their business.

Customer satisfaction (CSAT)

What it is

Ensuring your customers are satisfied with their purchase and their overall experience when interacting with your company is key to good business. If a customer is satisfied, they’re more likely to become a repeat customer, instead of going to a competitor next time. Tracking various customer satisfaction metrics can help you understand how well you are meeting your customers' expectations. 

Gathering information about what your customers are most satisfied with and which areas they feel could be improved can help you pinpoint specific ways to improve your overall customer service. This will allow you to create the best possible experience for your customers.

For example, ask your customers to rate their experience shopping with your company on a scale of 1 (very unsatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied).

When to use it

Learning how satisfied your customers are after each purchase can help you track how changes to your products and customer service impact how your customers feel about your company. This can be particularly helpful when assessing your customers’ response to steps you’re taking to create the best possible experience for them.

Customer effort score (CES)

What it is

Your customers should not have to work hard to get the results they want. Your customer effort score (CES) provides insights into how easy or difficult your customers find using your products. Keep in mind that these scores measure each customer’s perceived effort; they’re not a definitive statement of how easy or difficult each task is.

Although creating effortless products is not feasible in every industry, your customers should not be struggling to figure out how to use your products.

Failing to thoroughly test the usability of your products before launching them can make them far more frustrating to use than they should be. This can significantly decrease customer opinion of your company and the likelihood of making future purchases from your brand.

Products that are easy for you to use as an expert in your industry may be more challenging for customers new to your industry. It is important to evaluate what usability and effort typically look like for each type of customer.

Ask your customers to evaluate how much effort they put into using your products, navigating the purchase process, and other aspects of interacting with your company. This can help you determine where to concentrate on making it easier for your customers to get the most out of your brand and your products.

When to use it

Analyzing your brand's CES can help you troubleshoot usability issues with your products. This is particularly true for challenges that less experienced users may face that your team of experts is likely to overlook.

Loyalty index

What it is

Determining how likely your customers are to make future purchases and recommend your brand to friends and family can show you whether you are creating a quality customer experience that your shoppers want to repeat.

Your loyalty index shows how customers rate their likelihood of:

• Buying similar products again

• Trying new products from your brand

• Recommending your business

This metric measures the overall level of loyalty and satisfaction your customers have toward your brand or a specific product or service your company provides.

While this metric does not use a specific standard scale, any numerical ratings can help you understand whether a decent percentage of your recent buyers will continue to support your brand.

When to use it

Analyzing your business's loyalty index is helpful when you want to know if your brand's typical customer experience is sufficient to keep people interested in supporting your business.

Other metrics to track

Here are some other helpful metrics that may be particularly beneficial for certain types of businesses.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Discovering how each customer impacts your business over time can tell you which customers feel your business provides enough value to keep coming back. Even small purchases can add up when customers make them frequently, and these repeat purchases can provide a higher customer lifetime value (CLV) than the profits from customers who make a few large purchases.

Your brand may be too large to base its entire value on a small number of customers. However, knowing how much value specific groups of customers bring to your business over time can help you discover whether the majority of customers are satisfied with the experience you’re providing.

Repurchase ratio 

Repeat customers play a key role in determining your overall sales and profits. Knowing how many of your past customers are satisfied enough with their purchase and interaction with your company to buy from you in the future can tell you whether the experience you’re providing is meeting your customers' expectations.

Your customers have several options when making a purchase decision, including those similar to purchases they’ve made in the past. Brand loyalty is generally only a significant benefit when a customer's previous experience with your brand met or exceeded their expectations.

Your repurchase ratio tells you what percentage of your past customers have made at least one repeat purchase. You can use this information to make predictions about how many more of your current customers are likely to make another purchase from your company in the future.

Your brand can also use similar metrics to dig deeper into:

• How many purchases each repeat customer has made

• Approximately how long after an initial purchase first repeat purchases tend to occur

• Whether the majority of your customers are more likely to purchase multiple items at a time or space out repeat purchases of the same item with relatively predictable frequency.

Asking your customers directly about their purchasing habits can provide more details that support the accuracy of your repurchase ratio. While surveys are more beneficial for gathering information about your customers' opinions than VoC metrics, both options provide similar insights that you can use to improve your overall customer experience.

Would you miss us? (WYMU)

Having a high percentage of customers depend on your products to improve their lives is an important step in securing the future of your company. Finding out how much your customers rely on your brand can help you understand your overall brand loyalty and position among your competitors.

Most of your customers will have a handful of specific products they purchase regularly and have not found a strong alternative to. They may be concerned about whether they could find a decent replacement if that company went out of business.

Offering products that stand out can significantly improve customer loyalty. Although this question is not widely used, asking your customers to rate how likely they would be to miss your brand on a scale of 1–10 can give you an idea of how much value you’re providing to your customers.

WYMU is used to determine how dependent your customers are on your products, which can tell you how many of them have few or no other options.

High WYMU scores typically indicate a high level of brand loyalty because customers who have formed a high level of dependence on your product are more likely to keep coming back. They are also likely to be linked to strong relationships between your brand and your target audience. This gives them an extra incentive to go the extra mile to advocate for your company by writing positive reviews and recommending your products to friends and family.

Keep in mind your WYMU results may be somewhat inflated because many customers who like your brand may be reluctant to say they would not miss you, even if they have one or more feasible alternatives. However, this score provides one of the strongest indicators of whether you are accomplishing your goal of creating a product your target audience cannot live without.

Some types of VoC metrics are particularly useful for businesses that create products for other businesses. Other businesses often have different expectations than individual customers do. 

Knowing what both your entire target audience and smaller groups of customers want can help you meet everyone’s expectations.

Here are some of the key B2B VoC metrics worth watching.

Survey response rate 

Not all your customers will respond to survey requests, but compiling as many responses as you can will give you as much information as possible to work with.

A high survey response rate may indicate your customers are either exceptionally satisfied or highly unsatisfied with your brand and are particularly motivated to make their thoughts known. A lower response rate may mean their feelings are not as strong either way.

A sudden spike in survey responses is even more likely to indicate either a widespread problem or a major increase in customer satisfaction. Therefore, monitoring your survey responses for significant changes can help you quickly identify issues with customer satisfaction. This is particularly true if you have not recently taken steps to increase responses.

If you find you’re not receiving an adequate number of responses, you have several options for encouraging customers to fill out your surveys. For example, you might offer a discount code for future purchases in exchange for filling out a survey or provide a list of specific ways you have previously used survey results to improve your customer service and your business as a whole.

Number of customer logins 

Analyzing how frequently your customers are using their digital products or placing online orders can give you an idea of whether they are finding your brand valuable enough to use your products or shop from you frequently.

Tracking the number of times your customers log into their accounts can provide insights into whether they make frequent or occasional purchases, or whether they consider your business among their top choices for finding particular products.

Knowing how frequently your customers typically use your brand can help you serve them better, as you can tailor your service options to align with their typical use.

Account signals 

While data of any age has some value, tracking recent information provides the best insights into what your customers are looking for.

Monitoring various types of account signals in real time can give you up-to-the-minute information about:

• What your customers are searching for

• What purchases they are making

• How many sales a particular discount code is being used

• Times of day your customers typically log into their accounts, make purchases, or read marketing emails

This data provides the most recent insights into how your customers are interacting with your brand and what steps you can take to better meet them where they are.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

While tracking your CLV is important for individual customers, it can be even more helpful for tracking your relationship with businesses, as they typically make purchases in much higher volumes.

Although you do not want to lose specific individual customers, their overall impact on your business is nowhere near the impact of a business that purchases hundreds of items each week or that has subscribed to your entire software suite for decades.

A high-volume business that decides to move in a different direction will be much more noticeable for your business. Understanding how the CLV of a large business compares to that of an individual customer can help you use your resources more effectively.

You’ve invested a significant amount of time, money, and other resources into gathering your VoC data. Considering how the data can benefit your business will ensure you get the most out of your investment.

Partnering with a third-party company that is an expert in collecting, analyzing, and using VoC data, such as Dovetail, can be an important step in ensuring you’re making the most of your data. They will help you to use your VoC data effectively to improve your business in as many ways as possible.

How to carry out VoC analysis

Effectively gathering, analyzing, and using VoC data can be a lengthy process, but in-depth VoC analysis can significantly pay off when it comes to improving your business.

Some of the most important steps in any VoC analysis are: 

1. Identify a specific question you want your data to answer.

2. Determine who to obtain data from and gather an adequate amount.

3. Choose specific tools that will help you get the most out of your analysis.

4. Study and interpret your VoC data.

5. Visualize your results and how they can be used to benefit your company.

6. Plan and take specific steps to make data-driven changes to improve your brand.

At Dovetail, we are here to help you discover the best strategies for:

• Identifying the most important types of VoC data

• Gathering as much high-quality data as possible

• Interpreting it to make lasting changes that create a better customer experience and grow your business

Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of choosing us or to get started!

VoC is an important dataset for helping you build a deeper understanding of how your business is performing. You can use these metrics to identify specific areas your customers are satisfied with and those where your business can most benefit from improving.

These metrics are negative customer experience (NCX) rate and customer experience (CX) health.

Your NCX rate, or negative experience rate, identifies the percentage of customers that indicate they are experiencing problems with your business, such as website issues, order problems, or poor customer service.

CX health compares these metrics to those of similar brands to help you determine whether you are generally performing better or worse than your competitors.