Voice of Customer (VOC)

We regularly use the Voice of customer (VOC) method in the projects we carry out with our clients to help them take into account the voice of their customers and the market in their activities. Whether it’s testing a new concept with potential customers, gathering opinions from existing customers, or refining a development strategy, our field listening approach allows our customers to find answers to their questions and guide their strategic choices.

What is the Voice of Customer (VOC) concept?

The concept of “Voice of customer” (VOC) is a methodology based on listening to the market and to customers, whether they are existing customers on an existing offer, or potential customers on a new offer. It is therefore a matter of collecting and understanding their opinions, perceptions, needs, experience, etc. on one or more parameters that may vary from one situation to another (opinion on a new product, user experience and satisfaction on a new application, expectations on a purchase path, etc.) in order in particular to guide development of a product, to refine a concept, or to validate a marketing strategy.

In most cases, the most common parameters to capture are the needs of potential customers, their expectations and their pain points, or their receptivity to a concept, a technology, a product or service offering.

Why include a voice of customer (VOC) approach in your strategy?

The Voice of customer (VOC) methodology can offer many advantages to a company depending on the situation. It allows both to capture opinions and feedback from potential customers on a given concept at a specific moment in the life cycle of the product, to co-construct new offers with its customers or future customers, to retain existing customers by involving them in strategic thinking, or to ensure the existence of a market.

Our clients regularly call on our team using this method to:

Test a new offer concept with potential customers (new product, new service, new business model, etc.) before its creation or deployment
Collect the opinions of existing or potential customers on the evolution of an existing offer
Co-construct a new offer with customers or prospects
Evaluate the satisfaction of existing customers on specific elements of an offer
Capture feedback and experiences from current customers on an existing offer and identify levers to remain competitive in its market
Understand the “willingness to pay” of potential customers with regard to an offer
Prioritize market segments or geographies for the business
Validate or challenge a product or service launch plan
Collect the impressions of potential customers and their user experience feedback on the functionalities of a platform, an application, a web interface, …
… and many other types of projects depending on the situation!

Have a project? Write us!

How do we support you in your Voice of customer (VOC) projects?

Alcimed has been supporting its customers for nearly 30 years in their innovation and new market development projects, and regularly uses “Voice of customer” (VOC) approaches in its projects.

The diversity of our clients (large industrial groups, SMEs, start-ups, institutions, etc.), the geographic areas we explore, the sectors in which we operate (healthcare, agri-food, aerospace and defense, energy-environment, mobility, chemistry-materials, cosmetics, etc.) and the types of projects we develop, gives us in-depth expertise in Voice of customer (VOC) methodologies.

A project? Contact our explorers!

EXAMPLES OF RECENT PROJECTS FOR OUR CLIENTS USING A VOICE OF CUSTOMER APPROACH

Development of a “Smart Monitoring” offer via a Voice of customer (VOC) approach

We supported an industrial player in building its Smart Monitoring offer and the deployment of this offer via an iterative approach collecting the "voice of the customer".

Our team first carried out a benchmark of existing “Smart Monitoring” offers on the market, allowing us to build a first draft of a differentiating offer for the company. We then identified potential customers and then interviewed them in order to collect their needs and expectations, and pre-tested the first arguments. Then, 10 successive meetings with potential customers were organized to test their receptivity in order to refine the offer in an iterative manner. Alcimed also created promotional material for our client's teams:  visual presentation of the offer, associated sales pitch, and an interactive video.

Ultimately, our client was able to finalize the development of its offer and identify many commercial leads to follow once its offer has been marketed.

Identification of the needs of potential customers for a new production offer in the field of biotech

For one of our clients, we conducted a study with a VOC approach of the needs of potential customers in the biotech field concerning the establishment of a production platform for therapeutic peptides.

After an initial phase of identifying key quantitative market data and understanding the competitive context, we collected the voices of potential customers. This made it possible to confirm that there was a market for such a platform, to identify the best positioning for our client and to better understand the key needs of its customers, which could be used as marketing levers.

With the results of our study, our client was able to build an offer better suited to the needs of its customers and differentiating from the competition.

Validation of market interest for a new product and identification of marketing levers

We supported an aeronautics player in its desire to accelerate market access for low-power fuel cells by in-depth analysis of certain segments of interest (drones, armored vehicles, ground radars, generators of power for helicopters and business jets, and ground power generators).

After a quick bibliographical analysis and an analysis of the international competitive environment of the company, the heart of our intervention consisted in collecting the "voice of customers" in a VOC approach and thus to exchange with more than 20 key industrial players of these sectors in order to identify the applications of priority interest for this technology, the maturity of these applications, and the associated time to market.

Ultimately, with this data our client was able to confirm that there was a real interest in this technology and that it was urgent to accelerate its maturation on certain key applications. Discussions with customers also showed that our client was unknown to the players on this subject and that it was necessary for him to engage in marketing actions with these segments and the customers with whom we spoke.

Investigation of the PCA market and identification of key success factors for a new innovative solution

Alcimed supported one of its clients in the aeronautics sector with the analysis of the PCA (pre-conditioned air) market. As our client was used to communicating only with its direct customers, the aircraft manufacturers, it wanted to understand its end users, the airlines, and submit a new innovative solution to them.

Our investigation therefore focused on discussions with these users and made it possible to obtain key information on their practices, their feedback, their satisfaction, their needs, and their pain points. Beyond market data and a receptivity analysis on the new innovative solution proposed by our client, feedback from the field also prompted a new product idea to be developed.

Following our mission, our client established a joint venture with one of his clients and is now successfully selling a new product.

WHO IS ALCIMED?

Founded in 1993, Alcimed is an innovation and new business consulting firm, specializing in innovation driven sectors: life sciences (healthcare, biotech, agrifood), energy, environment, mobility, chemicals, materials, cosmetics, aeronautics, space and defence.

Our purpose? Helping both private and public decision-makers explore and develop their uncharted territories: new technologies, new offers, new geographies, possible futures, and new ways to innovate.

Located across eight offices around the world (France, Europe, Singapore and the United States), our team is made up of 220 highly-qualified, multicultural and passionate explorers, with a blended science/technology and business culture.

Our dream? To build a team of 1,000 explorers, to design tomorrow's world hand in hand with our clients.