Listening to the Voice of the Customer

Some of the more common general techniques/methods used to understand what customer's want/need include:

• Interviews
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Kano Model Analysis
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
• RAD/JAD
• Documented Requirements

Other, less common, techniques include:

• Bayesian decision analysis
• Uncertainty methods
• Design of Experiments
• Meta data analysis
• Visualization Methods
• Other statistical Methods

While all of these approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, they each will help give a view of what Customers' expect from products, services and support.

I believe that the best way to find out what Customers' really expect is simply to ask them and listen to what they tell you ... using qualitative information to understand their desires and then using quantitative data to understand how satisfied they they are in meeting those expectations.