VoC Expert Insights: Jil McKinney and Mike McNasby from Descript
At our latest Voice of Customer meetup, Michael our Head of Customer Insights sat down with Jil, the Director of Customer Support, and Mike, Head of Research at Descript, to uncover how they built a systematic approach to Voice of Customer (VoC) and how it fuels their success.
Descript, is an AI-powered platform that simplifies video editing. Their team deeply understands that true customer centricity isn't just a program—it's a system. Mike explained that the biggest challenge he's seen is the lack of systems for gathering and acting on customer feedback. One-off projects and ad-hoc analysis are time-consuming and often lead to decisions based on gut feeling rather than hard evidence.
Descript's solution?
Building systems that empower everyone in the organization to access and utilize customer insights. This collaborative approach ensures that product managers, support teams, and researchers alike are plugged into the VoC loop.
Watch a recording of the full meetup here:
The Power of Speed and Collaboration
Jil emphasized the importance especially with Descript's bi-weekly releases. Having systems in place to quickly gather and disseminate feedback is crucial for responding to rapid changes and understanding customer sentiment. This speed has forced Descript to rethink traditional VoC approaches, moving away from quarterly reports to a more agile, on-demand system.
Mike shared how Descript uses a weekly "Insight Safari" where the entire company is invited to watch recordings of user sessions. This creates a shared understanding of customer struggles and sparks immediate action. Combined with tools like Enterpret, which aggregates feedback from support tickets, surveys, reviews, and research sessions, Descript has created a central hub for all customer data.
This unified system enables Descript to connect the emotional impact of watching a user struggle with hard data, driving faster action and more informed decisions. It also allows them to quickly assess the scope of an issue and prioritize improvements.
The Push and Pull of Insights
Descript balances pushing and pulling information. Support creates monthly "Voice of Customer" reports, including a short, engaging video for all-hands meetings, highlighting key trends. This sparks interest and encourages employees to delve deeper into a Notion database populated with insights from Enterpret.
On the research side, Mike's team uses Enterpret to enrich their findings, triangulating data from various sources. This allows them to quickly understand the scope and pain points of different issues, informing prioritization and roadmap planning.
Building a Dynamic Duo
Descript's collaborative culture is a key ingredient in their VoC success. Jil and Mike’s partnership allows them to combine quantitative and qualitative data, creating a holistic view of the customer experience. They recommend that other leaders looking to build similar programs focus on bringing all customer data into one system from the beginning, rather than starting small and expanding. This avoids missing crucial insights and fosters a more comprehensive understanding of the customer and other teams.
Key Advice from the Descript Team
- Systems over Programs: Focus on building systems for gathering, analyzing, and acting on customer feedback, rather than just implementing a VoC program.
- Timing is Everything: Speed is crucial. Think about how your VoC system can help keep up and support rapid releases and changes.
- Collaboration is Key: Break down silos and empower everyone in the organization to access and utilize customer insights.
- Unify Your Data: Bring all customer feedback into one central system to get a complete picture of the customer experience.
- Balance Push and Pull: Proactively share key insights while also providing easy access to deeper data for those who want to explore further.
Descript's approach to VoC is a testament to the power of systems thinking and collaboration. By prioritizing accessibility, speed, and a holistic view of the customer, they’ve created a truly customer-centric culture.
The Future of VoC is Now
Descript’s journey showcases the shift from VoC as a static program to a dynamic, company-wide system. Instead of playing catch-up with customer insights, they’ve created a culture where VoC is a continuous, real-time loop that informs everything from product decisions to customer support strategies.
A very special thanks to Jil and Mike for sharing their insights!
