One thing to be mindful of is that with AI, data science, and predictive analytics, it is never an "all or nothing" situation. It is always a trade-off. If you aim for perfection, you may never get the insights you need. You need to weigh what your organisation needs, what it can handle, and what will get the job done. Predictions will almost never be 100% correct, but you still get so much value from being able to save some customers from leaving you that the investment pays off.

Our general rule of thumb is that the more data that is put into an AI tool or a data science model, the better the outputs—in terms of accuracy, relevancy, and general quality. Before the start of each project, we typically have a data discovery session where we evaluate the available data the client can provide. Then, during project execution, we always test more than one methodology and model to make sure we are using the right tool and providing the most value to our clients.

Voice of Sales (VOSales) is a crucial component of Customer Experience (CX) programmes. It is essential to capture and analyse this data in conjunction with other Voice of Customer (VoC) data. Without it, you risk overlooking a significant source of valuable information. 

Sales teams are ideally positioned to provide this feedback. They engage in ongoing dialogues with prospects, existing customers, and lapsed customers. They have the opportunity to hear about the challenges that organisations face, understand their objectives and goals, and even gather information about competitors. It's important to remember that your sales team may have better opportunities to communicate with individuals who never respond to surveys or other types of research. This makes VOSales a strategically important part of the programme. 

However, data collection may not always be structured or organised. To address this, ensure there is a system in place for uploading notes from meetings. Ideally, you should have a customer relationship management (CRM) system, and all notes should be added alongside the respondent’s profile. The same applies to emails where products, challenges, and KPIs may be discussed.

Once you have the data, ensure it is analysed and included in the overall reporting. If you have a business intelligence (BI) or CXM platform that provides text analytics, ensure this information is analysed in conjunction with the rest of the feedback. However, ensure you can filter it out and compare the differences between survey and non-survey responses. If possible, create customer profiles (based on organisation or account) where you can quickly identify the most important areas for satisfaction or dissatisfaction, as well as key pain points and ways to overcome them. 

Lastly, ensure this analysis is shared with the sales teams. You can equip them with actionable intelligence before strategic meetings, provide them with bulletproof facts when renegotiating contracts, and most importantly, keep them engaged and part of the process.

1. NPS/CSAT data – at least 300 unique cases, customers, accounts that goes back at least 1-2 years depending on survey frequency
2. Additional Data points – at least 10 CRM/operational variables and 2 time-specific behavioural variables (e.g. help call, cases, issue, usage, etc.) 

When faced with the challenge of accessing the necessary data to demonstrate ROI, we recommend taking a multifaceted approach. Firstly, we should recognise that financial data, being up-to-date and readily available, can be a valuable resource. Building strong relationships with the finance department is essential, explaining how this data is crucial for enhancing customer experiences and driving revenue growth. It's important to focus on what matters to different departments and translate the significance of customer experience into numbers.

Moreover, as customer experience professionals, we can act as business translators across various departments, bridging the gap between metrics and relationship-building. In addition to ROI data, consider looking at efficiency metrics, such as reduced inbound calls, fewer raised cases, and improved cross- and upsell rates. This presents a different angle for conveying our story to the board. 

Furthermore, in the context of ongoing B2B relationships, we can leverage historical data to track trends and understand the impact of customer experience efforts. By examining how customer satisfaction scores correlate with renewals and spending patterns, we can provide valuable insights to support our case.

Lastly, when data seems elusive within the organisation, we should explore collaborative opportunities with other departments, such as technology and IT teams. Often, they possess data that, while initially designed for different purposes, can offer valuable insights into customer behaviors. By repurposing existing data in innovative ways, we can uncover valuable information that helps us better understand and improve the customer experience.

The accuracy of Predictive NPS full rollouts is higher (usually above 80%) since it is based on higher quality and quantity of data as inputs for the model.

In addressing the challenge of achieving statistical significance in B2B surveys with low response volumes, we advise against waiting for perfection and instead recommend taking action with the data we have on hand. To enhance our dataset, we can diversify inputs by seeking feedback from various stakeholders beyond just decision-makers, and we should harness the power of storytelling to connect individual experiences with financial impacts.

Furthermore, integrating operational feedback alongside our customer surveys is a key strategy to consider. We must ensure that our feedback collection is timely and convenient, aligning it with recent interactions to yield more insightful responses. Identifying key influencers in the decision-making process and exploring alternative data sources like social media polls can provide us with valuable insights and open doors for meaningful conversations with our customers. In summary, our recommendation is to proactively gather and leverage available data, recognising that while achieving statistical significance may be challenging, a multifaceted approach allows us to derive meaningful insights and take action.

In advising B2B strategies to expand beyond traditional survey programmes, we believe it's crucial to take a comprehensive approach that considers both customer feedback and behavioural insights. Firstly, we should focus on what customers are telling us, whether it's through solicited or unsolicited feedback. This information provides valuable insights into customer sentiments and concerns.

Moreover, looking at customer behaviour is equally important. Analysing operational factors such as sales trends, contract renewals, and wins and losses can offer a deeper understanding of the customer experience. It allows us to connect the dots between what customers are saying and how they are acting, leading to more informed decisions.

Furthermore, involving account teams and sales practices is a key step in this journey. Account managers should be equipped with access to customer feedback to tailor their approaches and pitches accordingly. Solicited surveys along the customer journey can provide critical data, and creating a system where account managers can share customer insights can enrich the overall understanding of client needs.

Additionally, we recommend leveraging social media and platforms like LinkedIn to tap into the wealth of information customers openly share about their experiences. This often-overlooked source of feedback can be invaluable, especially as younger generations become more influential in the B2B landscape.

In summary, our recommendation is to embrace a holistic approach that combines customer feedback, behavioural data, insights from account teams, and external sources like social media to gain a comprehensive view of the customer experience in B2B. Given that people are the primary drivers of B2B interactions, we must take into account both the formal and informal channels through which they express their opinions and experiences.