What is the process of gathering customer feedback to understand their needs and expectations called?

The process of gathering customer feedback to understand their needs and expectations is known as the Voice of the Customer (VoC). This approach focuses specifically on capturing customers' opinions, preferences, and experiences with a product or service. By systematically collecting feedback through various methods such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, businesses can gain valuable insights into what customers want and need, thereby improving their offerings to better meet those expectations.

VoC is vital for understanding the customer journey and enhancing customer satisfaction, as it enables organizations to align their products and services closely with the desires of their target audience. This alignment often leads to increased loyalty, higher retention rates, and improved overall business performance.

While other choices like market research also involve gathering data about customers, they tend to cover broader aspects such as market trends, competition, and demographic information, rather than focusing solely on the customer's voice. Quality control relates more to ensuring that products meet certain standards, and stakeholder analysis is concerned with identifying and prioritizing the needs of all stakeholders involved, not just customers.