Unlocking True Customer Centricity: How AI is Transforming the Voice of the Customer

By Adam Liska, Glyphic co-founder and CEO

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, one undeniable truth remains: customer centricity is the key to success. Understanding and meeting the needs of your customers is at the core of any thriving enterprise. Yet, capturing the authentic voice of the customer amidst the cacophony of data has proven to be a formidable challenge. 

Customer centricity goes beyond simply offering good customer service, and it’s vital for a business. It entails a holistic approach that places the customer at the center of business decisions, products, and services. It means truly understanding the customer's needs, preferences, and pain points. 

The "voice of the customer" represents the collective opinions, feedback, and desires of your customers, providing invaluable insights for businesses to make informed decisions.When customers feel heard and valued, they are more likely to become loyal advocates and repeat buyers. In today's hyper-competitive market, customer retention and loyalty can be the difference between growth and stagnation.

Traditionally, the role of sales teams has been pivotal in capturing customer feedback. In the pre-digital era, a salesperson had to rely on intuition and interpersonal skills to assess a customer's needs and preferences. Before the internet, a customer walked into a store, and the salesperson had to quickly assess the person's needs, purpose for visiting the store, and other relevant information. This human interaction allowed for a degree of personalization in the sales process.

However, with the advent of the internet and subsequent technological advancements, the landscape of sales has changed dramatically. The internet ushered in the era of targeted advertisements based on user behavior and preferences. While this was a significant step forward, something crucial was still missing—the ability to capture and analyze conversational data, which often contains the most honest and valuable customer feedback.

Conversational data, which includes interactions like phone calls, emails, chats, and social media conversations, is a treasure trove of unfiltered customer feedback. It provides insights into customers' pain points, objections, desires, and expectations. However, there's a significant challenge—accessibility. Conversational data often remains locked away, inaccessible to sales leaders and decision-makers.

In the world of sales, everything is customized. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have custom fields, Revenue Operations (RevOps) teams work with vast datasets in Business Intelligence (BI) tools like Tableau, and intent data is captured based on target groups and customer segments. Outreaches must be hyper-customized to be effective. However, when it comes to analyzing conversational data, it is often processed through generic, uncustomized frameworks and tools that disregard organizational differences, such as Gong and Chorus.

This disconnect between customized sales processes and generic conversational data analysis hampers a company's ability to extract meaningful insights. It results in missed opportunities to refine sales strategies, tailor product offerings, and ultimately win deals. Without a clear understanding of what customers are saying in their own words, businesses are left guessing and may make decisions that do not align with customer preferences.

Today, the landscape is changing. Artificial intelligence is stepping in to bridge the gap between customer centricity and data analysis. AI-driven solutions are now capable of analyzing conversations to surface tailored insights, customizing them for individual companies, and providing actionable implications.

Customization for Individual Companies

AI can be customized to the specific needs and processes of individual companies. It can analyze conversational data in a way that aligns with the company's unique objectives, ensuring that insights are relevant and actionable. This level of customization ensures that businesses are not overwhelmed with generic information but receive precise recommendations that drive success.

AI can uncover a multitude of insights from conversational data. For instance, it can identify common objections raised by customers during sales calls. Armed with this knowledge, sales teams can proactively address these objections, increasing the likelihood of closing deals. AI can also highlight recurring pain points, allowing product development teams to prioritize features and improvements that directly address customer needs.

Furthermore, AI can analyze sentiment within conversations, gauging customer satisfaction and identifying areas where improvements are needed. This insight can guide customer support and product development efforts, ensuring that the company continuously aligns with customer expectations.

AI is emerging as the much-needed solution to unlock the true potential of customer feedback. The era of customer-centric AI is upon us, and those who embrace it will reap the rewards of a deeper understanding of their customers' needs and desires.