Summary
Shipra Kayan, the former head of insights at Upwork, will present the origin story of Upwork's hugely successful and long-running VoC program. From the moment that triggered the formation of a VoC initiative, the ups, and downs of experimenting with its operating model, to why this program is still going strong 7 years after it was launched. She will field questions like "Who owns the VoC?", "What is its purpose?", and "Will we just create another presentation that won't have any real impact?" - 15 minutes Upwork VoC case study - 15 minutes for Q&A
Key Insights
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Rapid company growth can overwhelm product teams with conflicting customer requests, necessitating a structured VOC program.
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Launching a VOC program without broad consensus often fails, as happened initially when Shippra worked alone.
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A sharp drop in NPS served as a critical trigger to rally executives and teams around customer feedback.
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Focusing on NPS over other metrics like CSAT or revenue helps maintain focus on customer loyalty during VOC efforts.
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Defining the core metric for success as the number of VOC-tagged product issues resolved creates clear impact measurement.
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VOC inputs combine qualitative data from research, social media, and support, with quantitative analytics for comprehensive understanding.
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Evolving tools—from Evernote to spreadsheets, Miro boards, UserVoice, and Idiomatic—enabled scaling VOC data management.
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A coalition model with a dedicated facilitator ensures cross-functional alignment and shared ownership rather than conflict.
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Monthly prioritization meetings balance data-driven analysis with trusting customer-facing team judgment to overcome analysis paralysis.
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VOC programs can expand beyond product changes to impact pricing, legal, and other company areas, reflecting customer experience holistically.
Notable Quotes
"We went from 100 to 200 people but still had the muscle of a 50 person company—it was chaos for product managers."
"Don’t jump to a solution too fast without consensus; I tried to build a VOC system solo and it didn’t catch on."
"Our NPS plummeted after a rebrand and that freaked out executives—it was our fire moment to start VOC."
"We decided to stick with NPS because we had a long history with it and didn’t want to muddy our goals."
"The moment we felt customer feedback worked was when it got incorporated directly into the product roadmap."
"At first, VOC was just me synthesizing, but as the company grew, we needed tools like UserVoice and then Idiomatic."
"UserVoice let us merge similar requests internally, which was crucial before automation."
"We had to push through analysis paralysis and trust our guts on what to prioritize for product changes."
"Ownership of VOC is a hot potato—we decided on a coalition with a facilitator to avoid competition."
"VOC enhances but does not replace user research; it captures the nuggets that would otherwise get lost."
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