Customer Discovery Processes

The most underrated skill in Customer Success? Discovery. EVERYTHING starts there. 🎯 Defining goals 🚩 Uncovering risks 📊 Understanding strategy 💡 Identifying opportunities ♥️ Building a strong relationship All of it hinges on the quality of discovery. And yet... most companies never teach their CSMs how to truly master it. People throw around generic advice like: → ask open-ended questions → listen deeply → be curious Sure. That’s the basics. But the real magic happens when CSMs know how to: ✅ Engage the right stakeholders ✅ Ask meaningful questions ✅ Get to the core of something ✅ Deeply understand what’s said ✅ Challenge customer assumptions There's a BIG difference between ok discovery and great discovery. 👍🏻 Ok discovery: → What goals is your team hoping to achieve? → How do you measure them? 👌🏻 Great discovery: → Why are these goals important? → How do they tie into the company’s broader strategy? → Who owns these outcomes? → What happens if they’re missed? → How high a priority are they, really? → What internal blockers might slow this down? → What processes are in place today, and what’s broken? Ok discovery ticks boxes. Great discovery builds trust, earns influence, and drives action. Because once you go that deep, you’re no longer just another vendor having a shallow conversation, about something you half understand... You're consulting. You can tailor your advice, challenge their thinking, and ultimately hold customers accountable to their own goals. That’s where real value-based relationships are built. If I were a new CSM? I’d forget everything else until I nailed this skill. ⬇️ Need help sharpening your discovery questions? ⬇️ Comment “Send me the prompt” and I’ll DM you the doc I use with every CSM I coach. #CSM #CX #CustomerSuccess #Coaching #discovery

[🚩 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁… Diving into Paweł's "The Product Compass," I've come to realize a vital, yet often underestimated part in product management is: 👉 Product Discovery 👈 As product managers, we often have a laser focus on solutions, sometimes so much in love with our creations that we lose sight of the bigger picture. We get caught up in the excitement of delivery mode, adding feature after feature, aiming to delight our customers. The intentions? Always noble. Yet, product discovery isn't just about identifying what to build. It’s about testing risky assumptions before we even start building. A common misconception is that product discovery is a one-time exercise, first we discover something and then we start implementing a solution, but discovery is a continuous process that never stops. Because guess what, markets evolve, customers always seek better ways to get their job done. The world is not static. So nor is your product. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆? ① Defining objectives and outcomes you want to achieve ② Identifying opportunities in order to move the dial on outcomes ③ Brainstorming different solutions on how to address the opportunity ④ Formulating testable assumptions ⑤ Conducting experiments to learn what moves the needle Product Discovery is about prioritizing and addressing high-risk assumptions first. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? I am particularly fond of Strategyzer’s approach. Here are some key questions to consider: 👉 Start by exploring market risks (desirability): Are we solving the right customer problem? Is our solution the most effective for this problem? Are we targeting the appropriate market segments? Are these segments large enough? Is our value proposition unique enough? Do we have effective channels for customer acquisition? 👉 Then, assess technology and resource risks (feasibility): Do we have the necessary technology and resources? Can we establish the required partnerships? 👉 Next, explore financial risks (viability): Are customers willing to pay for this solution? Can we generate sufficient revenue? What's the optimal pricing for our market? 👉Finally, consider adaptability: Are we prepared for external threats like competition, technological changes, or regulations? Product Discovery is a continuous journey, an essential piece of the product management puzzle that demands our constant attention and effort. As we navigate through evolving markets and shifting customer needs, it's crucial to remember that our work is never truly 'finished.' This iterative process keeps our products relevant, competitive, and aligned with our users' ever-changing demands. I'm curious about your strategies and insights. What risk do you prioritize and mitigate first in your process? #ProductManagement #ProductDiscovery

Last week, another startup founder landed his first 10 B2B SaaS sales with our 9-step customer discovery playbook. I've battle-tested these steps across 70+ startups raising over $20M. They combine distilled wisdom from 'The Lean Startup', 'The Mom Test', and 20 other books on the topic. I suggest you get a coffee or whatever beverage you like before reading on. Let the 9 steps sink in: Stage 1: From customer prospects to solvable problems. a. Find your target customers on LinkedIn. Don't cast a wide net. Use specific filters to identify decision-makers in your niche. b. Connect authentically. Forget cold pitches. Lead with curiosity about their challenges. c. Discover their problems. Listen more than you talk. Your goal is to uncover their most pressing issues. Stage 2: From problems to B2B SaaS pilots. a. Validate your value proposition. Test multiple versions. Let data guide your direction. b. Create a pilot offer. Start manual. Prove value before building complex systems. c. Convert to a signed pilot. Be flexible, but don't compromise on learning opportunities. Stage 3: From product pilots to jumpstarting the SaaS business. a. Deliver value. This is your chance to deeply understand their workflow. b. Iterate based on feedback. Destroy what doesn't work. Double down on what does. c. Scale strategically. Only after validating with real, paying customers. This process isn't about shortcuts. It's about simplifying complexity through first principles. When you focus on customer discovery before product development, you don't just make sales. You build the right foundation for product-market fit. NOTE —> In your first round (give or take your first year), you're not YET selling a product. You're selling a vision and a solution to a hair-on-fire problem.

Customer discovery isn’t about hearing "yes” 🙉 It’s about uncovering the real problems worth solving. 1.     Start with Questions, Not Assumptions 👉🏽 Frame open-ended questions that encourage your audience to share their experiences and challenges without leading them to your solution.  ↳ Instead of asking, “Would you use a product that does X?” ask, “Can you tell me about a time when you faced challenges with [problem]?” How have you tried to solve that problem in the past? 2.     Listen (Really Listen) 👉🏽 The goal is to understand, not validate. Let your customers do most of the talking and resist the urge to jump in with your ideas. Insights often emerge from what they say...and don’t say. 3.     Diversify Your Audience 👉🏽 Talk to people outside of your initial target demographic. Hearing varied perspectives can expose blind spots and help you test whether your assumptions hold across different customer segments. 4.     Capture Verbatim Feedback 👉🏽 Take detailed notes or record conversations (with permission!) to ensure you're capturing their actual words and not your interpretation of their words. Later, review for patterns rather than cherry-picking responses that confirm your beliefs. 5.     Test Hypotheses with Data 👉🏽 Turn qualitative insights into actionable hypotheses, then test them with experiments —e.g., landing pages, prototypes, surveys. The results will help validate (or invalidate) your assumptions objectively. And yes, customer discovery is encouraged with a professional services business too. My experience with Liles Law: Instead of saying, "Let me know if you or anybody you know needs a business attorney!"... 🎯 I ran a poll to discover the top reasons business owners don't hire an attorney right away. ↳ Turns out it has more to do with unknown cost and not knowing who to go to. So I've been actively working on transparent pricing and making my name known as a business attorney in the startup community. This post is an example of the latter. (So meta 🤯) 🎯 I did another survey to understand the top qualities business owners look for in an attorney: expertise, responsiveness, and clear communication. ↳ Education was much lower on the list. After sobbing over the amount spent on student loans for my prestigious law degree (💰), I've shifted my approach to focusing on my expertise after practicing corporate law for 14 years and focusing specifically on #entrepreneurs with my own practice for the last 8. 🎯 When clients come to me after working with a different business attorney, I ask them about their experience to understand why they decided to make the switch. ↳ That informs not only my future interactions with them (e.g., they like to err on the side of more communication) but it also impacts the copy on my website and LinkedIn posts. I've learned so much from my clients. And you can too. #founders, did I miss any strategies for avoiding bias during customer discovery? 

Most sales are made during discovery, NOT at the closing stage of a sales cycle. So rather than pitching your product or scheduling a demo early on, pitch your discovery process first. When a prospect agrees to let you into their world and show you how they are doing things today, they expect you to come back to show them a better way. The key components of a discovery process include: 1. From start to finish, how do they do it today? 2. What systems and processes are used? 3. Who are the people involved? 4. What are the exact steps from start to finish? 5. How much time does it take? 6. What are the challenges of doing it this way? 7. What’s the impact of those challenges? Most importantly, if you are positioning discovery to a Senior Executive, get them to introduce you to somebody on their team who can get you everything needed for discovery. Once discovery is complete, come back to them and show them a better way and the business value of making that change. If you can’t improve their situation, walk away.

A rep called me frustrated. "I ask all the right questions, but they clam up after 10 minutes. Discovery feels like pulling teeth." I listened to her last call. She was doing everything "right" according to most sales training. Except for one thing. She was treating discovery like an interrogation instead of a conversation. Here's what I told her: Stop trying to get everything in 30 minutes. You're not a police detective gathering evidence. Instead, go deep on what matters most → their pain. Three questions that changed her entire approach: "What's driving this to be a priority right now?" "What happens if you don't solve this in the next 6 months?" "How is this impacting you personally?" Notice something? No questions about budget. No stakeholder mapping. No buying process. Just pain. Deep, emotional, get-them-talking pain. Here's what happened on next call: Prospect spent 20 minutes explaining their challenges. Shared things she never heard before. Got emotional about the daily frustration. Old Rep would've panicked: "I didn't get the buying process info!" New Rep said: "Based on everything you've shared, this sounds complex. Let's schedule another call to walk through how companies typically solve this." Prospect immediately agreed. Why? Because she proved she understood their world. The follow up call? Prospect brought their boss. Shared budget range. Outlined their evaluation timeline. All because the first call was about them, not about her information gathering checklist. Look, I get it. Sales methodology says you need certain data points. But prospects don't care about your methodology. They care about feeling understood. When you nail the pain, everything else flows naturally. The reps's close rate went from 18% to 29% just by changing her discovery approach. Same questions. Same product. Different mindset. Sales VPs: teach your reps to be consultants, not interrogators. The reps who master this thinking close bigger deals because they uncover the real emotional drivers behind every purchase decision. Ever noticed how your best discovery calls feel more like therapy sessions than sales calls? Strange, isn’t it? 😎 — How 700+ clients closed $950 million using THIS 6 step demo script: https://lnkd.in/eVb32BUx

I hired a sales coach last month. First session, he asked to observe my discovery call. I was confident: - I had my 27 discovery questions ready - My demo was perfectly polished - My objection-handling guide was open The call started well. But 10 minutes in, the coach passed me a note: "STOP TALKING." I was confused, but I paused. The prospect filled the silence: "Actually, what I'm really struggling with is getting various stakeholders aligned. We keep having the same conversations over and over." This wasn't on my script. After the call, the coach explained: "Your discovery process is all about YOU getting information. Not about helping THEM discover their own problems." This hit me hard. I had been: - Asking questions to fill MY knowledge gaps - Taking notes to build MY sales strategy - Following MY playbook regardless of their responses The next discovery call, I tried something different: Instead of firing questions, I created a collaborative digital space where the prospect could: - Map out their own buying committee - Prioritize their challenges visually - Document their questions in real-time - Outline what success would look like to each stakeholder The call took half the time. The prospect did most of the talking. And they left with clarity they didn't have before. They signed 3 weeks later. What changed? Old discovery: Interrogation disguised as conversation New discovery: Collaborative problem-solving Your prospects don't need your questions. They need clarity. And often, they'll sell themselves if you just create the right space. Agree?

I’ve joined 100s of discovery calls as a buyer—only 1 in 10 was run to help me vs the AE. Most companies treat discovery as just a stage and rely on weak BANT. That’s why AEs get stuck at ‘Level 1’ thinking Disco = Qualification and NEVER win 6-figure deals. Here’s my breakdown of Discovery Levels 1–3 (and the exact steps to finally break free): LEVEL 1 - Thinks: “Discovery is for me—are they worth my time?” - Uses BANT as box ☑ qualification (and to get managers off their backs).  - Asks a few surface questions (“Why are we here?”, “Do you have budget?”). - Disco isn’t leveraged throughout the sales process; it sits in call-1 notes. - If it is used, it’s only for ‘guilt-trip’ moves—“I guess solving X is not a priority?”. - Deals lost/stall/heavily discounted; disco never influenced the buying process. LEVEL 2 - Thinks: “Discovery is for prospects; to help THEM see why they should buy”. - Levels up from BANT to *real* disco using GAP Selling, MEDDIC, SPICED, etc. - Dives deeper than Need—to Impact, Priorities, and Rout Causes of Problems. - Disco is leveraged to tailor demos—give problem-solving tours vs generic tour. - Deals close at OK win rate. Buyers feel understood and see high $$$ problems. LEVEL 3 - Thinks: “Discovery IS the sales process—shaping buying and sales decisions”. - Framework agnostic; digs deep, letters only used for consistency & forecast. - Every call is about shaping the ultimate buying moment—the Business Case. - Every call gets documented; discovery continuously builds their Account Plan. - Doesn’t use a bank of questions; but prepares points to explore (e.g. urgency). - Leverage MAPs to discover & align on how to best run the process—together. - Disco drives unstoppable business case narratives that unlock $6-7 fig budgets. —— Stop treating discovery like just another task. Turn it into your entire selling strategy. Business Case > BANT Qualification. Mutual Plan > “What’s your Timeline?” Discovery as a Service. That’s how you go from chasing… To being a partner that gets trusted with 6-7-figure budgets. Always be discovering.

Your Product Managers are talking to customers. So why isn’t your product getting better? A few years ago, I was on a team where our boss had a rule: 🗣️ “Everyone must talk to at least one customer each week.” So we did. Calls were scheduled. Conversations happened. Boxes were checked. But nothing changed. No real insights. No real impact. Because talking to customers isn’t the goal. Learning the right things is. When discovery lacks purpose, it leads to wasted effort, misaligned strategy, and poor business decisions: ❌ Features get built that no one actually needs. ❌ Roadmaps get shaped by the loudest voices, not the right customers. ❌ Teams collect insights… but fail to act on them. How Do You Fix It? ✅ Talk to the Right People Not every customer insight is useful. Prioritize: -> Decision-makers AND end-users – You need both perspectives. -> Customers who represent your core market – Not just the loudest complainers. -> Direct conversations – Avoid proxy insights that create blind spots. 👉 Actionable Step: Before each interview, ask: “Is this customer representative of the next 100 we want to win?” If not, rethink who you’re talking to. ✅ Ask the Right Questions A great question challenges assumptions. A bad one reinforces them. -> Stop asking: “Would you use this?” -> Start asking: “How do you solve this today?” -> Show AI prototypes and iterate in real-time – Faster than long discovery cycles. -> If shipping something is faster than researching it—just build it. 👉 Actionable Step: Replace one of your upcoming interview questions with: “What workarounds have you created to solve this problem?” This reveals real pain points. ✅ Don’t Let Insights Die in a Doc Discovery isn’t about collecting insights. It’s about acting on them. -> Validate across multiple customers before making decisions. -> Share findings with your team—don’t keep them locked in Notion. -> Close the loop—show customers how their feedback shaped the product. 👉 Actionable Step: Every two weeks, review customer insights with your team to decipher key patterns and identify what changes should be applied. If there’s no clear action, you’re just collecting data—not driving change. Final Thought Great discovery doesn’t just inform product decisions—it shapes business strategy. Done right, it helps teams build what matters, align with real customer needs, and drive meaningful outcomes. 👉 Be honest—are your customer conversations actually making a difference? If not, what’s missing? -- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership + strategy.

CSMs, your job is not to talk your customers into buying renewals, expansions, and upsells. It's to deliver so much value that growing demand is the logical consequence. New customers buy based on the expected value and existing ones based on the value they have already received. Want to grow the value of your customer portfolio intentionally? Build a repeatable process from discovering to monetizing customer value. Here’s the one I’m using: 1. Customer Discovery ✅ Identify customer goals and how they are measured ✅ Understand what keeps your customers from accomplishing their goals ✅ Qualify their skills and knowledge to determine their education and training needs 2. Success Planning ✅ Build a dedicated roadmap that outlines the steps customers need to take ✅ Break it down to the inputs you need to provide to your customers ✅ Segment customers by the successful journey they have ahead 3. Customer Enablement ✅ Give customers quick wins at the onboarding to get their buy-in ✅ Build an outcome-focused education and training program ✅ Measure its effectiveness by the rate of successful implementations 4. Measuring Customer Value ✅ Track progress with the metrics your customers care about ✅ Follow up frequently to prevent customers from getting stuck ✅ Start countermeasures immediately if required 5. Demonstrating Customer Value ✅ Benchmark actual vs projected results ✅ Highlight how your customers’ business changed in the process ✅ Outline the personal outcomes stakeholders have accomplished 6. Monetizing Customer Value ✅ Identify customer growth opportunities ✅ Create business cases outlining their potential gains ✅ Connect them with resources, features, or products This is Customer Value-Led Growth. PS: Join 8.3k+ CS professionals and sign up for my newsletter if you like this post --> https://lnkd.in/dtC7MEjP