This article is based on Rohan’s brilliant talk at our exclusive Product Marketing Misunderstood event. PMA members can enjoy the full recording here.

Hi, and thanks for joining me as I dive into a question that's top of mind for product managers (PMs) and product marketing managers (PMMs) alike: Who’s responsible for being the voice of the customer? 

What is the voice of the customer?

Before we tackle the ‘who’, let's first understand the ‘what.’ What does the ‘voice of the customer’ mean? Is it just about feature requests or pricing inquiries? 

Believe it or not, for many organizations, being the voice of the customer simply means paying attention to the features they’re asking for and passing those requests along to the relevant teams. 

Sounds straightforward, right? But there's more to it than that.

Being the voice of the customer goes beyond just understanding the features customers want and what they hope to achieve with them. It's about understanding why a customer is using a feature. What prompted them to ask for it in the first place? How does that feature solve a pain point or help them meet a specific goal?

Digging into the why

Let me give you an example from my days in the DNS realm. In case you’re not familiar with DNS, it stands for domain name system and is used by both network professionals and security teams. 

I recall a customer, a network admin, who requested a dashboard feature to highlight certain misconfigurations from the past 24 hours. Instead of just adding it to our roadmap, we dug deeper. We asked, “Why do you want this dashboard? How will these specific DNS data points assist you in your decision-making, or help you better grasp your environment?” 

When we probed further, we discovered that our customer was on the lookout for DNS data misconfigurations because he was concerned that a single misconfiguration might knock an entire system offline, or even take out multiple applications, which could mean losing business and damaging his reputation.

But we didn’t stop at just that. We asked him to detail exactly what kinds of misconfigurations he was looking for. He told us he was on the lookout for anomalies, changes that had occurred over the past 24 hours. Was there a spike in the data volume? Had the types of DNS configurations on specific servers shifted?

As we unpacked this, we posed another question: who else uses this data? That’s when he introduced us to his security counterpart. This individual tapped into the DNS data differently, identifying threats like DNS tunneling or data exfiltration through DNS. They were keen to see if anyone within their network had accessed a malicious site, pinpointing potential threats via DNS requests.

Having tuned into the voice of the customer, we had a much clearer idea of what we needed to build. We weren’t just creating a dashboard for misconfigurations. Instead, we were constructing a tool to help users detect data anomalies and address issues both from a networking and security perspective. This enabled us to develop a robust feature set that would truly serve our customers’ needs.

That, to me, is what it means to be the voice of the customer. It's not just about what customers say they want; it’s about discerning their motivations, goals, and the underlying reasons behind their requests.

PMMs’ stake in the voice of the customer

Now, you might be asking, “Aren’t product management responsible for the voice of the customer?” Well, yes, they are, but they’re not the only ones. 

Product managers typically approach the voice of the customer from a product-centric perspective – using it to shape the roadmap, figure out which bug fixes to prioritize, and discern how customers use and benefit from specific features.

So, where does product marketing fit into all this? Let’s take a look at some of our key responsibilities. 

Mapping the buyer journey and understanding different personas’ motivations 

At its core, product marketing revolves around understanding the buyers’ journey – how they discover, evaluate, and eventually purchase a product. 

However, it's crucial to note that buyers aren't a monolithic group. Within the buyer category, you have a range of personas, including influencers, decision-makers, end-users, and even purchasing departments. Each of these personas brings its own motivations and objectives to the table.

So, when we talk about the voice of the customer in product marketing, we're diving deep into the myriad of voices coming from these distinct personas. This understanding is gold for product marketers, enabling them to answer questions like: 

  • What does a potential buyer look for in a product within our category? 
  • On what criteria are they judging solutions? Is it solely on price or core functionalities? 
  • How does the product assist the organization and the individual's day-to-day operations? 
  • After the purchase, how smooth is their onboarding process? 
  • What's their time to value?

Once they’ve grasped these nuances, product marketers can craft compelling materials to engage similar types of buyers and users in their target market.

Let's take the influencer persona as an example. These individuals are generally most interested in whether or not a product solves the problems they’re coming up against today. But what about the future? Will the product be able to accommodate users’ evolving needs and features that will come to fruition in the next few years? 

Considering the rapidly evolving tech landscape, with trends like cloud adoption and now the rise of AI, it’s vital for PMMs to understand how these shifts impact customers – especially when we relate it back to specialized areas, like the DNS space, which I touched on earlier.

Decision-makers bring another perspective. They may juggle budget constraints or have overarching company initiatives guiding their choices. 

And let's not forget the external factors, such as market forces and competitors. Recognizing which competitors resonate with buyers, and why, can yield invaluable insights. Maybe a certain competitor's marketing campaign strikes a chord with a particular segment of buyers. That insight can guide PMMs in refining their strategies and offerings in order to win more deals.

In essence, PMMs act like detectives, gathering insights from various sources to build a comprehensive understanding of the voice of the customer. Whether it's trade shows, conferences, or customer meetings, they're always in search of the nuggets of wisdom that can shape their next big campaign or inform product developments.