How Listening To Customers Can Help

Grow Your Child Care Program

Understanding the needs and expectations of parents and families is crucial to running an effective child care program.

But how do you discover these needs and expectations? The answer lies in Voice of Customer research. Voice of Customer research is essentially a fancy way of saying you have to seek out and listen to the opinions of your customers.

In this blog, we’ll break down what Voice of Customer (VoC) research is and some simple methods you can practice at your child care program.

What is Voice of Customer Research?

Voice of Customer research is the process of gathering and analyzing customer feedback through surveys, interviews, social media, online reviews and anywhere else that you interact with families. VoC research helps you understand how families feel about your child care program, and reveals both what you’re doing well and areas for improvement.

How Can Voice of Customer Research Help My Child Care Program?

Create stronger marketing materials

As you gather your VoC research, you’ll start to notice trends in what people say about your program. You’ll start hearing what sets your program apart from others and what makes your program valuable in the eyes of your customer (the parents).

You can then use this information to write stronger marketing messages that actually echo the opinions of your target audience. Incorporating VoC feedback is a great way to strengthen messages in your social media posts, through email, and even on your website.

Build customer loyalty

Actively listening to your customers and taking the time to get their feedback is a great way to show them you value their opinions. Parents want to be heard, and VoC research is one way to ensure that they are. Taking action on parents’ feedback will also build trust and make them more loyal to your program.

Stay on top of changing needs

VoC research helps you stay ahead of ever-changing parent expectations and trends. When you hear expectations from parents first-hand, you can adapt your program to meet these needs. This will help your child care program stay innovative and current, and even help you stand out amongst competitors.

How Can I Conduct VoC Research?

There are many ways to conduct VoC research. Here are a few of the main ones:

Surveys: Surveys are a fantastic way to gather feedback from parents and families. Surveys can be sent out by email and include a mix of open-ended and multiple-choice questions about how happy the parent is with your program and what could be improved.
Read online reviews: Mining online reviews is a great way to gather feedback without having to even ask parents for it. Your online reviews are a treasure trove of customer sentiment that you can swipe and incorporate into future messaging or changes to your program.
Focus groups: You can hold a focus group by gathering a small number of parents and having an open discussion about your program. Encourage parents to share their opinions and ideas and file these away for future use.
Social media: Anything and everything a parent posts on your social media can be used as Voice of Customer research. Active listening on social media is a great way to discover how your target audience naturally speaks in a casual setting.

Get More Marketing Tips

Did you enjoy this blog about gathering Voice of Customer research for your child care program? We’re dedicated to helping providers build successful programs. Check out our Marketing Best Practices Guide for even more tips and tricks.

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