A Comprehensive Guide to Voice of Business
Prashanth Kancherla
Nov 22, 2024 | 10 mins read
Voice of Business—a company’s needs, goals, and objectives—is something you can’t afford to ignore if you’re aiming to run a smooth and successful operation.
Many companies focus heavily on customer feedback, but what about the needs and priorities within your own business? Without understanding VOB, you will have to make decisions that won’t address core business objectives. This will ultimately lead to inefficiencies and lost potential.
However, when you align business priorities with execution, you create a more focused, productive environment where every decision pushes you toward your goals. In this article, we’ll explore why VOB matters, how to gather it effectively, and how to integrate it with Voice of Customer for maximum impact. Read along!
What Is Customer Onboarding?
The customer onboarding process focuses on nurturing new customers—ensuring they are properly set up, familiar with your product, and comfortable using it. The purpose of customer onboarding is to provide value to your consumers as soon as possible so that they continue to return to your product and quickly embrace it as part of their regular work routine.
What is Voice of Business?
The Voice of the Business (VOB) refers to a business’s collective needs, goals, and expectations that guide its decision-making processes. It reflects what the organization wants to achieve, which guarantees that every action is in alignment with the core objectives.
VOB comes from various sources, such as financial reports, market analyses, strategic meetings, and internal discussions. Plus, it gives you insights into the company’s financial standing, growth strategies, and competitive positioning.
Let’s understand this better with the example of a manufacturing company that wants to expand into new markets. The company can identify which markets align with its long-term goals by listening to the VOB—through financial analysis, growth forecasts, and leadership discussions.
This data informs their decision, allowing them to allocate resources effectively and set up a successful market entry strategy.
Why is Voice of Business Important?
Unlike customer-focused approaches (such as the Voice of the Customer), the VOB focuses on the internal drivers that help the business grow, remain competitive, and navigate challenges.
Here’s why paying attention to the VOB matters:
Strategic Alignment
With the data that you gather from your VOB initiatives, you can break down your big-picture goals into small, actionable steps. Also, you’ll be able to recognize which projects deserve prompt attention and which ones can wait, making your planning more concrete and achievable.
Let’s suppose the VOB data shows that your operational costs are rising. In this case, you can focus on making your projects more efficient rather than expanding the business. This will make sure that you’re using your resources correctly and where they’re needed the most.
Informed Resource Allocation
Businesses operate with finite resources. By considering the VOB, you can allocate resources—time, money, and manpower—to areas with the most strategic value. This prevents you from spreading yourself too thin and ensures that every investment is well thought out and tied to larger business priorities.
Improves Collaboration
Your VOB helps different teams understand how their work fits into the bigger picture. When marketing knows the sales team’s challenges or when product development understands finance’s concerns, you’ll see better collaboration and fewer conflicting priorities.
This shared understanding prevents situations where one department’s success comes at another’s expense. Plus, when everyone understands the business’s core needs, they make better day-to-day decisions that support your overall goals.
Facilitates First Mover Advantage
By paying attention to your VOB, you’ll notice potential problems—and opportunities—before they become obvious. This early awareness lets you adjust course while you still have plenty of options rather than reacting to urgent issues.
For example, if the VOB data shows that your target customers are quickly changing their preferences, you can ask your product development team to brainstorm new ideas. This keeps you ahead of market shifts instead of scrambling to catch up.
Risk Management
Understanding your VOB helps you take calculated risks. You’ll know which risks are worth taking based on your business’s current situation and future goals rather than making decisions in isolation.
When considering new ventures or changes, your VOB provides important context about your company’s risk tolerance and resource availability. This means you can pursue opportunities confidently while avoiding risks that could threaten your core business.
Improved Decision-Making
With VOB insights, you can make confident business decisions as you’ll have data to back those decisions. This removes the feeling of doubt, and insteads gives you the assurance that your decisions are in perfect alignment with the business’s needs.
Also, this confidence means that you’ll be able to clearly communicate your ideas with your team which will help them focus on execution and not go around waiting for some clarity. This clear communications backed by solid reasoning also helps build trust among everyone involved.
Benefits of Voice of Business
That was a lot of information on VOB. But how can it bring value to your organization? Let’s explore some practical benefits you’ll experience when making VOB part of your daily operations.
Better Resource Management
You know how challenging it can be to decide where to invest your time and money. VOB helps you make these choices with confidence. By understanding your business priorities clearly, you’ll know exactly which projects deserve more resources and which ones can wait. This means you’ll spend less time second-guessing decisions and more time progressing on what matters.
Smarter Decision Making
When you use VOB insights, you’ll stop relying on gut feelings alone. Instead, you’ll have solid data backing your choices. Think about the last tough decision you had to make – wouldn’t it have been easier with clear business insights supporting your choice? VOB gives you this clarity, meaning that you can make decisions that cater to both short-term needs and long-term goals.
Improved Customer Results
When you focus on VOB, your customers often end up happier, too. Sounds interesting, right? Well, smoothly-run businesses naturally serve their customers better. Plus, when your internal processes work smoothly, and your teams are aligned, it shows in the quality of service you deliver.
Quick Market Response
Markets change quickly, and VOB helps you keep pace. You’ll spot trends earlier and adjust your approach faster. This means you can respond to changes before they become problems, keeping you ahead of competitors who are slower to adapt.
Strong Cultural Alignment
When employees understand the company’s mission, values, and strategic objectives, they’re more likely to put in extra efforts to reach the broader goals. This sense of unity promotes collaboration across multiple departments and functions, allowing everyone to work toward the same vision.
Long-term Sustainability
When you align your operational activities with business objectives, you’re not just solving short-term problems. You’re creating solutions that support the organization’s long-term growth and competitiveness. This mindset helps you adapt to changing market conditions while staying focused on what drives your company forward.
Industry Applications of Voice of Business (VOB)
VOB offers various advantages but how do you know if it’s the right one for your industry? Well, to answer this, let’s explore the different industries where you can apply VOB:
Manufacturing
In manufacturing, the VOB focuses on improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing product quality. By listening to the VOB, manufacturers can prioritize investments in automation, lean manufacturing practices, and process optimization to meet both immediate production targets and long-term business objectives.
Healthcare
Healthcare organizations leverage VOB to improve patient care while maintaining financial sustainability. By understanding the VOB, hospitals and clinics can allocate resources effectively to key areas such as patient care technology, staff training, and regulatory compliance, ensuring that these investments align with long-term goals.
Finance and Banking
The VOB is centered on risk management, profitability, and regulatory compliance in the financial sector. Banks and financial institutions rely on the VOB to align their services, investment strategies, and risk mitigation efforts with overall business goals.
Retail
In retail, the VOB revolves around maximizing revenue, enhancing customer experience, and expanding market share. Retailers often focus on aligning inventory management, marketing strategies, and customer engagement with the company’s broader growth objectives.
Sources to Gather VOB Data
Understanding your organization’s Voice of Business (VOB) doesn’t have to be complicated. Let’s explore how you can collect meaningful insights to guide your decision-making process.
Financial Reports and Analysis
Your company’s financial documents hold valuable stories about where you stand and where you’re headed. Start by reviewing:
- Quarterly and annual profit-loss statements
- Balance sheets that show your assets and liabilities
- Cash flow patterns that reveal spending trends
- Budget allocations across departments
- Investment returns and capital expenditure reports
Market Research Insights
What’s happening in your market directly impacts your business decisions. Here’s what you should look into:
- Industry reports from trusted sources
- Customer spending patterns in your sector
- Competitor pricing strategies
- Market share distribution
- New product launches in your space
Executive Input
Your leadership team brings unique perspectives shaped by years of experience. Make sure to capture their insights through:
- Board meeting minutes
- Strategic planning sessions
- Leadership roundtables
- Executive interviews
- Quarterly business reviews
Employee Feedback
Your team members often spot opportunities and challenges before they become obvious. Gather their input via:
- Anonymous feedback surveys
- Department meetings
- Process improvement workshops
- One-on-one discussions
- Team brainstorming sessions
Remember, collecting VOB data isn’t about gathering everything possible – it’s about finding the right information that helps you make better decisions. Start with these sources, and you’ll get a clearer picture of where your business needs to go.
Ensuring Business Success through Key Metrics: The Voice of Business
Today, businesses need to focus on key metrics that can help them ensure long-term success and sustainable growth. The following metrics capture the essence of the Voice of Business, providing insights to help decision makers drive efficiency in business, optimize their investments and build long-term customer relationships.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) – This metric emphasizes the long-term financial value each customer brings to an organization and helps decision makers devise strategies to boost retention and deepen engagement.
Revenue Growth – It’s the measurement of the outcome of customer engagement and acquisition efforts, indicating how well the business is meeting and scaling its financial goals.
Return on Investment (ROI) – It helps businesses measure the efficiency of their investments across initiatives, ensuring that resources are allocated to high-impact areas and drive meaningful returns.
Profitability – It’s a key metric for evaluating the overall financial health of the organization, balancing revenue and expenses to understand long-term viability.
Customer Retention Rate – Customer retention rate is an indicator of customer loyalty tracking repeat business and customer longevity, providing insight into satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Market Share: This metric indicates your company’s standing within the industry, allowing you to adjust strategies to enhance your competitive positioning and identify opportunities for growth.
VOB vs VOC
Voice of Business (VOB) refers to a company’s internal perspective, encompassing its goals, strategies, and operational priorities. On the other hand, Voice of Customer (VOC) captures customer feedback and insights.
Both concepts serve distinct purposes but are also interconnected in some way! Let’s explore the differences in more detail:
Voice of Business (VOB) vs Voice of Customer (VOC)
| Feature | Voice of Business (VOB) | Voice of Customer (VOC) |
|---|---|---|
| Focus Area | Business objectives and performance metrics | Customer experiences and satisfaction |
| Data Sources | Internal reports, performance metrics, financial data | Surveys, interviews, social media feedback, reviews |
| Purpose | Aligns business operations with market demands | Enhances customer experience and satisfaction |
| Key Metrics | Revenue growth, operational efficiency, market share | Customer satisfaction score (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS) |
| Decision Influence | Drives strategic planning and resource allocation | Guides product development, marketing strategies, and service improvements |
| Time Frame | Long-term planning and forecasting | Real-time feedback and immediate adjustments |
| Stakeholders | Business leaders, managers, and executives | Customers, user groups, and market research teams |
How to Integrate VOB and VOC for Customer Success?
When VOB and VOC work together, it ensures that your products and services meet internal objectives and address customer needs effectively. Here’s how you can integrate them seamlessly to drive better results.
Step 1: Align Internal Goals with Customer Expectations
To begin, make sure your business objectives (VOB) are in sync with what your customers are asking for (VOC). This means understanding key business priorities while actively listening to customer feedback across all channels. You can now use this data to adjust your product or service to meet both internal targets and customer needs.
Step 2: Create Joint Success Metrics
Build measurements that matter to both your business and your customers. Instead of looking at these separately, combine them to get a fuller picture. For example, if customers want faster service and you need to reduce costs, focus on efficiency improvements that achieve both. Set clear targets and track how these shared goals progress over time.
Step 3: Create Cross-Functional Teams
Get your teams working together to deliver better results. When customer service staff work alongside business analysts, they share valuable insights that might otherwise get missed.
Include product teams in customer feedback sessions and bring sales insights into product planning. This creates a natural flow of information between those who talk to customers and those who shape business strategy.
Step 4: Leverage Technology for Real-Time Integration
Consider using tools that combine customer data with business analytics to make this integration more seamless. For example, Ozonetel’s CX Hub allows your team to track customer feedback (VOC) and ensure it aligns with internal goals (VOB). This helps streamline your operations and ensures you’re constantly improving based on real-time feedback.
Step 5: Use Data to Drive Decisions
Put your insights to work with practical action steps. Look at customer feedback and business metrics side by side to spot opportunities that serve both interests. When you find patterns that affect both areas, you’ve discovered gold – these are your best opportunities for meaningful improvements.
Remember, success comes when your business goals and customer needs work together, not against each other. Start small by picking one area where you can better align these perspectives.
Conclusion
Understanding and acting on VOB insights helps you make smarter decisions that benefit both your business and customers. Whether you’re just starting to collect VOB data or looking to improve your existing process, remember that it’s an ongoing journey of listening, learning, and adapting.
Want to see what Ozonetel can do for your company? Sign up today for a free 7-day trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Customer communication management tool (CCM) helps businesses manage and streamline their interactions with customers across various channels. This software centralizes communication efforts, ensuring consistent and efficient customer engagement.
There are multiple types of customer communication management tools, including client communication platforms for email, social media, and SMS, as well as tools that automate personalized messaging. These solutions often integrate with CRM systems to provide a seamless customer experience.
Common channels for customer communications solutions include email, SMS, social media, and web chat. These platforms allow businesses to interact with customers in real-time and maintain open lines of communication.
Customer communication typically falls into three categories: transactional, marketing, and support. Customer communication software handles transactional notifications, promotional messages, and customer service inquiries.
Effective customer communication management tools improve satisfaction by providing timely and personalized interactions. This boosts overall customer experience, helping businesses retain clients and build stronger relationships.
