Customer Understanding
Customer understanding reveals why your customers choose you specifically.
Leadership usually has a strong view on this. In our experience, customers tell an outside interviewer things they wouldn’t tell a salesperson. That’s why we interview your business or consumer customers — including those who chose someone else.
- You’ll know what matters to your customers and what creates value for them.
- You’ll see what kind of solutions they want from you, and what it takes for a supplier to become a strategic partner.
Does this sound familiar?
Customers are satisfied and recommend you. Yet growth has stalled.
A fresh satisfaction survey with a good NPS score sits on the leadership team’s table. The question is what to do with the number.
The survey shows what respondents feel. It doesn’t show why a customer chose you, what they’d pay more for, or what would make them switch.
of companies believe they offer their customers a superior experience. Customers agree — but only 8% of them.
Source: Bain & Company 2005, survey of 362 companies- You’re losing bids, but the reason isn’t clear.
- Customers are satisfied, but buying less than before.
- Sales aren’t closing the way they should in stores or with partners.
- You’re planning a new product and want to know if the market will buy it.
Kysely on lämpömittari, syvähaastattelu on diagnoosi. Kumpaakin tarvitaan, mutta vain toinen kertoo, mitä tehdä.
What is customer understanding?
Customer understanding is built by listening to leadership, the team, and your customers.
Customer understanding means knowing why a customer buys, what creates value for them, and what they expect from you in the future. Building customer understanding starts with you. Once leadership’s and the team’s views are gathered, we know the right questions to ask customers.
Leadership sets the direction
We go through the current state, ambitions, strategy, and strengths with leadership. We hear what leadership believes creates value for customers, where you've succeeded, and where there's room for improvement.
The team describes everyday reality
Sales, experts, and customer service interact with customers daily. We hear from them what everyday reality looks like and where the biggest challenges and opportunities lie.
Customers share how they see you
We bring leadership's and the team's views together into a single picture and ask your customers whether it holds true. We hear what creates value for them and what they want from you in the future.
Findings become action
We turn findings into proposals: what to change in sales, service, and your offering, and in what order. You decide where to start. We stay involved until the change shows up in everyday work.
Mystery Shopping and Commercialization follow the same approach: first leadership’s and the team’s view, then the store or market.
Customer Understanding Services
We start with the question that's on your table right now.
The services differ in who we ask: current and lost customers, customers’ perspective within your sales channel, or future buyers of a new product.
Purchase Reason Analysis
Purchase Reason Analysis uncovers why a deal is won and why it is lost. Won and lost customers explain in interviews what decided their choice. Suitable for both B2B and B2C customers.
- A kickoff meeting where we agree on the goal and interviewees
- Leadership and team insights before customer interviews
- In-depth interviews with won, lost, and current customers
- A debrief where we go through the findings and you decide where to start
Mystery Shopping
Mystery Shopping shows what customers are actually told in-store, by a partner, or in customer service. We act as a regular customer would. Observations are compared against what the customer should experience.
Read more about Mystery Shopping →
- Leadership's and the team's view on what the customer should experience
- Test visits and contacts to stores, partners, or customer service
- Observations on where deals are won and where they're lost
- A debrief for leadership and partners where needed, plus refinements to training and materials
Commercialization
Commercialization succeeds when you know, before making a big investment, whether the market will buy. We interview future buyers and decision-makers to find out which value proposition resonates. A survey shows how many are interested. An interview shows why they'd buy.
- Leadership's and the team's assumptions about the product, target group, and value proposition
- Interviews with future buyers and decision-makers
- Value proposition testing: which message resonates and which doesn't
- A debrief where you decide whether to enter the market, who to sell to first, and with what message
Together with you, we choose who to interview, how many, and in what language. We put together the scope based on your situation and needs.
What our customers say
Our customers describe what the collaboration led to.
An NPS of 100 shows that our customers recommend us. The number doesn’t say why, so we let customers tell you themselves.
NPS 100 · Our customers recommend usTrustmary customer survey 2026
"The customer interviews conducted by Voitto Group provided us with concrete and actionable data. We were able to react immediately: we offered additional services to our current customers and re-contacted selected companies with a more clearly targeted message."
Juha OravalaD-Fence Oy
"Our needs and wishes were listened to well, and they were successfully crystallized into clear objectives and actions."
Tapani KorhonenSuomen Biovoima Oy · Development Director · Trustmary
You can try it yourself
Five customers and one question.
If you'd like to try it yourself, ask five customers one thing: why they chose you. If the answers match your sales pitch, you're in good shape. If the answers surprise you, that's worth discussing.
Frequently asked questions
What do people ask about customer understanding?
Why shouldn't we interview our customers ourselves?
You certainly can. However, the dynamic itself guides the conversation: a customer often tells their own contact person what they think they want to hear. A salesperson, in turn, easily asks what they hope to hear. As an outside party, we combine leadership's long-term vision and the daily reality of sales into a single picture, bringing solutions from outside your own industry as well. This leaves your salespeople with more time for selling.
Do customers tell the truth to an outside interviewer?
In our experience, they do. The interviewer is not part of the customer relationship, so the customer doesn't need to watch their words. They often speak more directly than they would to their own salesperson.
We already measure NPS. Isn't that enough?
NPS is a good indicator of whether customers recommend you and which way the number is moving. It doesn't tell you why. An interview reveals what's behind the recommendation, what the customer compares you to, and what they want next. The metric and the interviews complement each other. NPS shows the direction; interviews tell you what's worth doing about it.
What is the difference between customer understanding and customer experience?
Customer experience tells you how it felt to do business with you. Customer understanding tells you why the customer chooses you, what creates value for them, and what they want next. Experience is often measured with a survey. Understanding is born from in-depth interviews.
Who do you interview first?
First, the management and those who work with customers daily. Once their views are gathered, we interview the customers. This way, we know how to ask the customers the right questions.
How many interviews are needed?
Usually 10–20 interviews are enough to make decisions based on a reliable picture. The number is based on statistical principles and our experience. It depends on the breadth of the customer base and whether business or consumer customers are being interviewed. We will agree on the number with you before starting.
How are lost customers contacted?
We agree with you on who will be interviewed and how they will be approached.
Is this suitable for a consumer brand?
Yes. We also interview consumer customers. Mystery Shopping tests stores, partners, and customer service just like a regular customer would.
Who conducts the interviews?
The founders conduct the interviews themselves. The same person interviews, analyzes, and stays involved as findings are put into practice.
Authors
Who you'll meet when you get in touch.
Tomi Tapper
eMBA · Aiemmin toimitusjohtaja, Kiva
Taustaa: Dustin Group, Fox Racing, Arwidson
+358 400 797 300
tomi.tapper@voittogroup.com
Mikko Fransila
BSc · Aiemmin johtaja, PwC
Taustaa: Deloitte, EY, Nokia
+358 50 567 6088
mikko.fransila@voittogroup.com
Markku Larkio
MSc · Aiemmin toimitusjohtaja, Chilitaito
Taustaa: Lidl, Microsoft, FootBalance
+358 50 409 4142
markku.larkio@voittogroup.com
Contact us
What would you like to hear from your customers?
A few sentences in your own words is enough. We’ll respond within one business day and tell you directly if we can help and where we would start. If the matter can be handled without us, we’ll tell you that too.
Would you rather talk?
A 45-minute conversation with one of us can also be booked directly from the calendar.
45 min · Teams or Google Meet · No sales pitch
Or by email: hello@voittogroup.com