Balanced Scorecard Benchmarking Business Process Reengineering Collaborative Innovation Core Competencies Customer Relationship Management Customer Segmentation Decision Rights Tools Downsizing Growth Strategy Tools Knowledge Management Lean Six Sigma Loyalty Management Mergers and Acquisitions Mission and Vision Statements Online Communities Outsourcing Price Optimization Models Scenario and Contingency Planning Shared Service Centers Strategic Alliances Strategic Planning Supply Chain Management Total Quality Management Voice of the Customer Innovation Related topics Customer Visit Teams Ethnography Focus Groups In-depth Interviews Lead User Analysis Description Voice of the Customer Innovation is a method of identifying and prioritizing customers' needs and wants to improve product development and service quality. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, companies can identify unmet needs, both articulated and unarticulated. Study methods may include focus groups, individual interviews, ethnography, or other techniques. The results can help identify new products or services, refine existing products, improve quality, and create product design specifications. Methodology Voice of the Customer Innovation involves the core product development team and cross-disciplinary representatives from areas such as Customer Insights and Marketing. Successful Voice of the Customer Innovation initiatives include the following steps: Define business objectives and focus the topic; Develop measurements that will determine whether an idea is worth pursuing; Determine appropriate combination of qualitative and quantitative research-methodologies that will uncover and prioritize needs, both stated and latent; Develop sampling plan; Conduct qualitative research to develop list of needs and concepts; Conduct internal brainstorming sessions to refine list to practical suggestions; Conduct quantitative research to prioritize needs and/or concepts; Develop these ideas into products or services. Common uses Voice of the Customer Innovation can help companies to: Increase the likelihood of developing products or services that meet existing customer needs; Identify potential adjacencies; Determine the optimal marketing message to convey the benefits of the product or service; Create a customer-focused culture; Serve as an innovation springboard. Selected references Birkinshaw, Julian, John Bessant, and Rick Delbridge. "Finding, Forming and Performing: Creating Networks for Discontinuous Innovation." California Management Review, Spring 2007, pp. 67-84. Harrington, Richard J., and Anthony K. Tjan. "Transforming Strategy One Customer At a Time." Harvard Business Review, March 2008, pp. 62-72. Nambisan, Satish, and Priya Nambisan. "How to Profit From a Better Virtual Customer Environment." MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2008, pp. 53-61. Seybold, Patricia. Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future. Collins, 2006. Ulwick, Anthony. "Turn Customer Input into Innovation." Harvard Business Review, January 2002, pp. 91-97. Ulwick, Anthony. What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services. McGraw-Hill, 2005. Zaltman, Gerald. How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market. Harvard Business School Press, 2003.