In the world of customer service, every company claims to deliver the best, having a strong pulse on the desires of the customer base. This would imply, of course, that the company gathers consistent and valuable feedback from that client base on a regular basis. For many, however, it simply means that they studied their target market and think they know what they want.

This arrogant approach to customer care is unfortunately more common than we’d want to believe. Who hasn’t called a contact center, received the message that the call would be recorded for quality assurance purposes, only to receive substandard service from the agent on the other end of the line? In this case, that quality assurance obviously has nothing to do with the customer experience.

For the call center, the main purpose is to deliver that customer experience and represent the brand in a way that is consistent with customer expectations. But, if those expectations aren’t fully understood, the organization may spend too much time chasing something that doesn’t matter to the customer or miss a key point altogether.

This challenge is one reason why companies on the right track toward quality customer service are employing Customer Experience Management (CEM) programs. Such programs are designed to specifically gather customer feedback to be used to improve the customer engagement experience. Information gathered can also be turned into business intelligence, enabling an organization to improve a product or service for deeper market penetration.

Feedback gathered for the call center on demand can also be used for innovation. This process of creating new customer value in the marketplace can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. According to a Brain Zooming post, there are three phases involved: identify, innovate and implement.

The identify phase is the most important of these three phases. The challenge for most companies, however, is finding the right way to gather this information and use it to develop workable solutions. Too often, companies get too excited, don’t focus on the right tools or just assume they already know what customers want. If this were true, more than 80 percent of new products would not have failed last year.

Companies are missing a key point – the only reason customers do business with them is because they meet a need. If the company doesn’t fully understand that need, or other needs that could be met among the customer base, success from additional products or services could easily be elusive. It is a classic case of failing to use an existing – or nonexistent – CEM program.

Yes, customers are tired of surveys and they aren’t likely to complete one if extra effort is involved. But gathering answers to a few key questions during a standard customer interaction could make all the difference.

To truly drive innovation in customer feedback for the call center, gather that important information, group this feedback into needs-based themes, and prioritize next steps in the innovation process based on the opportunities identified here. Only when these needs are fully understood can a business hope to realize its full potential in the market.