Best Practices for Using the Voice of the Customer as a CSM

Imagine knowing exactly what your customers are thinking, what they want, and where they’re struggling – all in real time. 

For most Customer Success Managers (CSMs), that’s the ideal situation, but the reality often looks very different. You have access to endless data, feedback, and surveys, yet figuring out how to translate all of this into meaningful, actionable insights can feel like a constant challenge.

The real question isn’t what voice of the customer (VoC) is – that’s something you’re already familiar with – but how to use it effectively. 

You need to ensure that the feedback you’re collecting actually drives positive change for your customers and helps your team improve their experiences. 

But where do you start? And how can you make sure you’re gathering the right kind of feedback, interpreting it properly, and acting on it quickly enough to make a difference?

In this blog, we’ll walk through practical, no-nonsense best practices for maximizing the impact of VoC initiatives. 

Whether you're just looking to refine your approach or implement more advanced strategies, these insights will help you turn customer feedback into real outcomes. 

Voice of the customer best practices

Whether you’re refining your current approach or looking for fresh ideas, these best practices are designed to keep your customer success efforts on track:

Gathering feedback is key to understanding your customers, but timing is everything. Asking for feedback at critical touchpoints – like right after onboarding, when a customer has had their first major experience with your product, or following an important product update – ensures that the feedback you receive is both relevant and actionable. 

These are the moments when customers are most likely to provide insights that can help you improve their experience.

However, doing this manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. That’s where automation comes in. By automating your feedback collection, you can ensure that no critical touchpoint is missed, and you can consistently gather data at the right moments. 

This not only saves you time but also helps create a steady flow of feedback that can be analyzed and acted upon.

You can streamline this process by using tools like Velaris. Velaris allows you to set up automated surveys for NPS and CSAT and monitoring, both of which can be customized to fit your specific customer journey. 

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Once the responses are in, everything is aggregated in one place, making it easy to analyze trends and pinpoint areas for improvement without digging through scattered data.

Collecting feedback is only the first step. The real value comes when you can sift through that feedback and turn it into actions that benefit your customers. 

But let’s be honest – not all feedback is equal. Some comments may be specific to a feature a small percentage of your customers use, while others could indicate widespread issues that require immediate attention.

One effective way to make sense of this data is to segment it by customer type, usage patterns, or product interactions. This allows you to focus on the feedback that will have the biggest impact. 

For instance, are your high-value customers expressing frustration with a particular service? Is there a pattern in the feedback from new customers versus long-time users? By breaking feedback down into categories, you gain a much clearer picture of what’s really going on.

Once you’ve segmented your feedback, the next step is to analyze it. This is where AI can be a real game-changer. AI-driven tools can analyze customer sentiment and identify trends in real time, helping you prioritize issues that need immediate attention. 

For example, Velaris’ AI-powered sentiment analysis tool can process customer communications – whether that’s emails, tickets, or notes – and pull out key themes. It doesn’t just stop there. The AI also suggests follow-up actions, so you’re not left guessing what to do next.

By using AI to segment and analyze feedback, you not only save time but also ensure that you’re acting on insights that will make the biggest impact on your customers’ experience.

When your customers take the time to provide feedback, they expect to see action. Closing the feedback loop means acknowledging their input and showing them that their voices are being heard. 

It’s one of the most effective ways to build trust and improve customer loyalty, but it hinges on your ability to respond quickly and meaningfully.

The faster you can acknowledge feedback, the more valued your customers will feel. Even a simple message that thanks them for their input and outlines the next steps can make a big difference. 

It’s not just about speed, though – it's about making the response personal and relevant. A well-crafted follow-up message should be tailored to the customer’s experience, addressing their specific concerns or suggestions.

You can streamline this process by using automated emails that are triggered by specific actions, like the submission of a feedback form. Automated sequences allow you to respond instantly, acknowledging the feedback and setting clear expectations for when they can expect further updates.

For example, Velaris’ automated email sequences can help you respond to customer feedback at just the right time, whether it’s based on a specific timeline or triggered by a customer’s action. This ensures your communication is both timely and relevant, helping you maintain trust and engagement with your customers.

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Collecting customer feedback is only one part of the equation – acting on it requires collaboration across different teams. 

Too often, valuable insights from VoC data get stuck in silos, making it difficult for sales, marketing, and product teams to access and use them effectively. For Customer Success Managers, breaking down these silos is key to ensuring that feedback leads to real improvements across the customer experience.

By integrating VoC data into a shared space, your teams can stay aligned and respond to customer needs more efficiently. This way, marketing can fine-tune messaging, sales can better understand pain points, and the product team can prioritize features based on direct customer input. 

When everyone has access to the same insights, decisions are more informed, and the customer benefits from a seamless experience.

You can fix this by connecting data across departments using tools that automatically update and sync customer insights. 

Velaris helps with this by uniting data from your sales, marketing, support, and product teams, ensuring everyone is on the same page. With all teams working from a unified source of truth, it becomes much easier to act on customer feedback quickly and effectively, leading to better results for both your team and your customers.

Collecting feedback is only half the battle – what you do with it is where the real value lies. To make sure the feedback you gather makes a difference, it’s essential to put it into action.

Whether that means improving your product, streamlining support processes, or enhancing customer communication, the goal should always be to use that feedback to directly improve the customer journey.

The key here is to avoid getting stuck in the feedback collection stage. Too often, feedback is collected but then sits idle without leading to any real change. Implementing an effective system to turn that feedback into concrete actions is critical. 

Start by identifying the areas where customers are asking for improvements, and prioritize them based on urgency and impact. Then, ensure those changes are tracked through measurable goals.

One way to ensure you're making meaningful progress is by setting clear success metrics. Whether it’s tracking customer satisfaction post-feedback or monitoring usage of a new feature, having tangible KPIs will help you gauge whether the actions you’ve taken are actually improving the customer experience.

With Velaris, you can simplify this process by mapping out success plans. These plans allow you to set and track KPIs in real time, ensuring that every step taken in response to customer feedback is tied to measurable outcomes. 

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This way, you can see the direct impact your actions are having and continuously adjust to better meet customer needs.

One of the most effective ways to ensure that voice of the customer initiatives actually make an impact is by embedding them into your company’s culture. This isn’t about treating feedback as an isolated event – it’s about making VoC a part of your everyday operations. 

The more your team shares and engages with customer stories and feedback, the easier it becomes to align your efforts around improving the customer experience.

A great way to start is by bringing VoC into regular team meetings and project updates. Discuss the latest feedback with your team, whether it’s positive or points out areas for improvement. By keeping the conversation ongoing, it becomes part of the natural flow of work, helping to foster a customer-first mindset across departments.

You can also encourage collaboration by ensuring that customer feedback is easily accessible to everyone involved in the customer journey. Using a dedicated Customer Success software that centralizes customer insights can make it easier for every team to know what's going on.

When customer support, sales, and product teams can all see and understand customer insights, it leads to more coordinated efforts in addressing customer needs.

Conclusion

Leveraging voice of the customer feedback is one of the most effective ways to retain customers and improve their overall experience. 

By actively listening to what your customers are saying and turning that feedback into actionable insights, you’re not only improving customer relationships but also setting your business up for long-term success.

Implementing these best practices – like embedding feedback into your company culture, analyzing feedback with precision, and responding to customers quickly – ensures that your VoC efforts are impactful and lead to real, positive change. 

This approach helps you stay ahead of customer needs and continuously enhance their experience with your product or service.

Tools like Velaris can help you streamline and automate many of these VoC processes, making it easier to focus on what matters most – building strong, lasting relationships with your customers. 

With features like centralized communication, automated surveys, and real-time feedback analysis, you’ll have everything you need to make the most out of customer insights.

Interested in seeing how Velaris can support your VoC strategy? Book a demo today and discover how it can help you turn customer feedback into lasting improvements.