Marketing Smarts episode guest Nate Brown says a voice-of-customer initiative is the "capability that we have to go where our customers are and to listen to them and absorb their feedback in structured and unstructured ways."

Nate shares with host George B. Thomas some best-practices for crafting a voice-of-customer engine:

• The process of listening to customers should be habit-forming, not something you do once in a while.
• Even negative feedback can be spun into something motivating and inspiring.
• And please don't take only the feedback that conveniently supports what you're already doing.

Plus, he emphasizes how important it is to involve your internal teams in the process of customer feedback and problem-solving: Brands need internal advocates, as well as ways to connect customer stories to company policies.

"That's your job as a CX professional, as a marketing professional—to help tell that story and bring the reality of the customer into the everyday lives of the business operators," he says.

Nate also tells stories of his past mistakes and drops wisdom on customer journey maps.