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“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
— Thomas Edison
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The Next Evolution of Voice of Customer:
From Insight to Business Decisioning
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Welcome to our Q3 Verde Edition newsletter, where we provide companies with the data and information they need to improve the impact of Voice of Customer (VoC) programs.
Today, organizations have more customer data than ever and more sophisticated tools to analyze it. AI can summarize thousands of comments in seconds, identify emerging themes, detect sentiment, and surface customer friction at a scale unimaginable just a few years ago.
But having more insight doesn’t necessarily mean making better decisions.
In fact, that may be the defining challenge facing VoC programs today. Ninety-six percent of VoC and CX measurement programs still collect and analyze customer surveys, yet many organizations struggle to answer the questions executives care about most:
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- Which customer problems actually matter?
- What are they costing us?
- Which should we fix first?
- And where will investment generate the greatest return?
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That distinction between measuring customer experience and managing its business impact runs through much of our recent work at The Verde Group.
In B2B organizations, the stakes are just as high: more than 80% of business buyers now expect a B2C-level customer experience, and 54% will switch suppliers or abandon a purchase because of a poor one. Yet traditional retention measures can hide the problem. Customers don't always leave. They may quietly reduce share of wallet, consider competitors, disengage, or stop recommending the brand.
The same pattern appears across industries. In commercial banking, research highlights knowledgeable service (87.8%), care and empathy (87.3%), ease of process (83.9%), and timely updates (81.7%) as powerful contributors to a positive customer experience. The implication isn't simply that experience matters. It is that seemingly operational issues—communication, process complexity, responsiveness, service recovery, and employee knowledge—can ultimately become growth, retention, and revenue issues.
Our recent work with a global medical device manufacturer provides another example. Traditional CX metrics suggested a relatively stable picture. Behavioral analysis told a different story. Across markets, 62% to 97% of loyalty damage occurred after acquisition, while in the U.S. more than 80% of customers experienced at least one problem. The opportunity wasn't to “fix everything.” It was to identify the relatively small number of experiences creating disproportionate financial risk and focus resources there.
And this is where AI's role gets more complicated, but perhaps not in the way many expect.
AI can find patterns. It cannot tell you what those patterns are worth. A customer comment doesn't contain the lifetime value of the customer who made it. Sentiment analysis doesn't reveal the revenue associated with an unresolved service problem. And a dashboard can't independently determine whether fixing an onboarding issue deserves a modest process adjustment or a multimillion-dollar investment.
That requires connecting three perspectives:
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- Customer feedback tells us what happened.
- Operational data helps explain how it happened.
- Financial data tells us what it means to the business.
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Together, they transform Voice of Customer from a measurement exercise into a business decisioning capability.
In this edition, we explore that evolution and what it means for leaders trying to make better decisions about growth, retention, service, technology, and customer investment. The common thread is simple: the goal isn't to know more about your customers. It's to know what to do differently because of what you've learned.
Turn Customer Insight Into Better Business Decisions
If your organization is looking to move beyond traditional CX measurement and better connect customer insight to revenue, retention, growth, and investment priorities, we invite you to learn more about The Verde Group.
Explore our latest thinking, research, and capabilities on The Verde Group website, or contact us directly to start a conversation about where customer experience may be creating hidden risk or untapped opportunity within your business.
Thank you for your continued interest in our work. We look forward to sharing new ideas and perspectives that help leaders transform complexity into clarity and business challenges into measurable opportunities.
Cheers!
The Verde Group
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Why Retail Customer Insights
Often Fail to Drive Business Decisions
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Retailers have more customer data than ever, but more feedback doesn’t always lead to better business decisions. The challenge is knowing which customer experiences actually change behavior and put revenue at risk.
In our latest article, we explore how retailers can move beyond traditional Voice of Customer reporting to identify the experiences that matter most, quantify their financial impact, and prioritize where to act. READ MORE.
| | | Previously exclusive. Now available to everyone. | |
The Verde Group collaborated with the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School to explore an important question: Can loyalty programs help safeguard brands when customers face issues, or could they potentially exacerbate the damage?
Based on research involving over 2,500 U.S. consumers, the study identified what we call the Boomerang Effect of Loyalty Programs and offers a new perspective on the relationship between loyalty programs and the customer experience.
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AI Is Changing Customer Feedback.
But It Can’t Tell You What It’s Worth.
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Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed how organizations collect customer feedback.
Customer satisfaction surveys can now be generated automatically, personalized in real time, analyzed in seconds, and even conducted as dynamic conversations. AI can summarize thousands of customer comments, detect emerging themes, identify sentiment, and even predict potential churn before a customer voices a complaint.
For organizations, that’s incredibly powerful. But despite all of AI’s capabilities, one challenge remains:
Although AI has solved the problem of collecting customer feedback, it hasn’t solved the problem of understanding the business impact behind it.
Featured Blog: The Business Value of AI-Powered Customer Feedback explores how organizations can move beyond automation and use AI to uncover meaningful insights that support better decisions, improve customer experience, and accelerate growth. Read the blog
| | Five Warning Signs Revenue Is Slipping Through the Retail Customer Experience | | The most costly customer experience issues are often the ones organizations don't recognize until it's too late. | Many retailers focus on solving the loudest customer complaints, while the issues with the greatest financial impact remain hidden beneath the surface. Identifying and addressing these friction points can help protect customer loyalty and uncover opportunities for sustainable growth. | | |
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Declining Repeat Purchases | When loyal customers buy less frequently or stop returning altogether, it's often a sign that friction exists somewhere in the customer journey. Understanding why customers disengage is the first step toward protecting long-term revenue.
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Inconsistent Experiences Across Channels | Customers expect a seamless experience whether they shop online, in-store, or through customer support. Disconnects between channels create frustration, weaken trust, and increase the likelihood of customer defection.
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Unresolved Customer Friction | Minor inconveniences, such as inaccurate inventory, delayed fulfillment, or complicated returns, may seem insignificant individually, but together they can erode loyalty and reduce customer lifetime value.
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Customer Feedback Without Action | Collecting feedback is only valuable when it leads to meaningful improvements. Organizations that fail to identify and address the root causes of customer dissatisfaction risk repeating the same costly mistakes.
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Operational Decisions That Ignore Customer Impact | Process changes, staffing decisions, and technology investments can unintentionally create friction for customers. Evaluating decisions through the lens of customer experience helps organizations reduce Revenue@Risk® and strengthen business performance.
| | The most significant customer experience risks aren't always the most visible. Identifying and addressing the issues that have the greatest impact on customer behavior can help retailers protect revenue and strengthen long-term loyalty. | | READY TO TALK? Book an intro session with Dennis Armbruster, Verde Group Executive VP, to discover how you can enhance the impact of your CX program. We want to help you find methods to anchor your customer insights firmly within your business framework, driving stronger ROI and increasing executive buy-in. We want to learn more about your current challenges. | | Visit Our CX Strategy Toolbox | | |
From quick-hit blogs and insight-rich newsletters to in-depth white papers and proprietary research (including our Revenue@Risk® framework), there’s something for every CX leader in our growing resource library.
We’re passionate about helping organizations rethink customer experience through data, strategy, and decades of real-world insight. Dive in, explore, and see what ideas rise to the surface when you challenge the status quo.
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