You\u2019ve talked to your customers. You\u2019ve done the work. You have your research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, what are you going to do with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many companies conduct amazing research to understand their customers, but more often than not, this research rarely sees the light of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quantitative and qualitative data from customer survey results, user testing recordings, and interview transcripts can all lead to important learnings for your organization – but all this data can be overwhelming. Without planning and process, good research won\u2019t be used to its full potential to improve the customer journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that there are a few steps you can take to help your future self and your team use the data you collect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first steps of using customer data include creating a home for it, organizing insights, and sharing with others. Create a home for the research by pulling reports in one visible, accessible place. This could include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever you choose, it needs to be something that (a) keeps your research reports in mostly one place and (b) is known by and accessible to the appropriate team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once your research has a home, you\u2019ll want to use some system to keep any observations you pull out of data reports or interview transcripts segmented as well. One easy way to do this is to use tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These tags should highlight key insights and relate to the business goal in your original research plan. Insights could be top objections, new features, search motivations, pain points, customer journey points, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use some sort of system to highlight, grab, or tag parts of your transcripts that fit these bullets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for the perfectionists out there, keep in mind there\u2019s no one right or wrong way to tag your research. A minimal approach may work well for a lean team just starting research, whereas something more extensive may be ideal for a larger team with thousands of inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it\u2019s good for you to be knee-deep in the research, it\u2019s even better for your teammates to jump in there with you, too. Siloed data is debilitated data, so make sure various team leads can access it. (Note: if the research contains any sensitive customer data, be thoughtful about how you secure and distribute this.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, customer experience spans every team and aspect of your company. So, give every team access to what the customer is experiencing so they can contribute ideas for improving the holistic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve organized, tagged, and distributed your research, you\u2019re in a good position to step back and analyze. Researchers sometimes call this finding the \u201carc of the data\u201d \u2014 the overall trends that move like a current through what you\u2019ve collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You likely have some gut ideas based on the research you\u2019ve done. But you mustn\u2019t immediately run with these. For one, that\u2019s a good way to introduce bias. Relying on the gut alone in research (much like in testing) also leads teams on wild goose chases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, take a step back and look for overarching trends like customer segments and potential company improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This leads to the next thing you\u2019ll want to do with your insights: map those observations to areas of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A customer isn\u2019t going to say, \u201cYou know, if you had advertised your fitness gear to me as suiting up for \u2018me time,\u2019 I totally would\u2019ve bought it.\u201d Nope. It\u2019s part of your job to identify insights and then map those insights to potential improvements in your brand. This involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hypothesizing potential improvements: <\/strong>Because you\u2019re talking with customers about their experience and journey, the insights you collect can apply to any area of your business. Hypothesize how you might make improvements based on the feedback from your customers in areas like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prioritizing and testing those improvements: <\/strong>Once you have a handful of hypotheses, you can start crafting experiments and testing improvements. Generative research gives you evidence of what to test and which directions to test in \u2014 but you still need to test for validation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Customer research is essential to creating exceptional customer experiences. And the formula I’ve shared can help you craft just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grow your expertise in customer research. Get access to a one-page research plan, learn how to conduct effective 1:1 interviews, and get inspiration from 6 brands that successfully used customer research to uncover needs and improve their business in our free e-book: How to Conduct Customer Research to Improve Your Customer Experience<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Want to keep learning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n