EP41: The hidden patterns in customer research
In this episode of In Demand, we explore how to transform customer insights into actionable growth strategies, and discuss why the difference between management and leadership matters for SaaS founders.
Seeing what others miss: The pattern recognition advantage in customer research
As growth consultants for SaaS companies, we know there is a big difference between simply listening to our client’s customers and truly recognizing meaningful patterns that can drive business decisions. This is why we love when we get to do a research sprint with our SaaS clients, during which we talk face to face with 10-15 of our client’s best customers so we can identify patterns and draw various insights that will drive messaging, positioning, product and more.
This pattern recognition manifests in a few ways:
- Identifying what customers actually value versus what they say they value
- Spotting competitive comparison patterns across different customer segments
- Recognizing implicit value themes that customers may not explicitly mention
The reality is that customer research isn’t just about collecting feedback—it’s about developing the ability to see patterns that lie under the surface and turning those insights into strategic action.
The key difference is in how you process the information you’re hearing:
- Surface listening: Hearing only what customers explicitly say
- Pattern recognition: Connecting dots across multiple interviews to identify underlying trends
- Strategic translation: Converting those patterns into concrete action items
Where many founders get stuck is in the translation phase—understanding what patterns mean for their business and how to prioritize the resulting opportunities.
What happens during customer research
During our latest customer research sprint, Kim noticed something interesting about Asia’s approach – she’s able to listen to customer interviews and draw interesting insights and conclusions on the fly.
As Asia explains: “Every new thing that I’m hearing, I’m checking against every other single interview that we’ve done. I’m checking the box of is this new? Or have I heard this? Whether I’ve heard it before or if it’s new, it either builds the algorithm in my head or it’s breaking it.”
This constant pattern-matching creates a mental model that reveals:
- Value disconnects: What customers say they value versus what they actually spend time discussing
- Competitive blind spots: How different customer segments compare your solution to alternatives
- Hidden opportunities: Areas where customers are getting value that you aren’t explicitly promoting
The customer comparison pattern: A case study
One of the most valuable patterns we identified in recent research was how customer perceptions varied based on their previous solution:
“There was a clear pattern in what the context of that person had before they actually got into our solution. If they came from one of the big 800-pound gorilla solutions, they would look at us like, ‘Oh, this is awesome. It’s great value.’ But if they came from something fringe… they actually would look at our solution and think, ‘It’s nice, it’s helping us in some ways, but not in others.'”
This insight revealed a critical messaging gap: “We spend all of our time competing against these major players, but there are people comparing us against these smaller solutions, and they are not nearly the solution that we are, but we don’t have messaging that speaks to them.”
Without pattern recognition across multiple interviews, this opportunity would have remained invisible.
Turning patterns into action: The execution challenge
Once you’ve identified patterns, how do you translate them into growth strategies that actually get implemented? This is where the distinction between leadership and management becomes crucial.
“There is a very big difference between being a good manager versus being a good leader,” Asia explains. “And I think if you are in any executive or leadership position, you probably are going to have to do some mixture of both.”
The difference breaks down like this:
Leadership is about vision and direction:
- This is what the world should look like. Follow me along to go and make this world a reality.
- I have this vision of what marketing should look like at this company. I now have to share that vision with my team.
- Leaders focus on transformation and the big picture.
Management is about execution and operations:
- It’s far more concerned with the output and the outcome.
- It’s asking “is this effective, efficient, and operationally sound?”
- Managers create the work paths and ensure the vision becomes reality.
Most SaaS growth challenges require both capabilities. You need the vision to recognize what patterns mean for your business, and the operational skill to turn that vision into action.
The execution misconception: What really blocks progress
Here’s a counterintuitive truth we’ve discovered: For most SaaS founders, especially technical ones, execution is not the real blocker.
“I do think especially for technical founders, this is kind of where folks get stuck because there might be a little bit of overthinking about the execution side,” Asia observes. “Actually, maybe we’re a little better off if we under-think this a little bit because what matters is actually just doing it.”
The actual bottlenecks are:
- Unclear priorities: Not knowing which patterns matter most
- Undefined work paths: Not making it clear who needs to do what and when
- Process paralysis: Creating unnecessary complexity around execution
As Asia puts it: “Operations and process and creating work paths to execute shouldn’t be the problem. It’s actually too easy to execute these days.”
The CUES Framework: A better way to prioritize
To determine which newly discovered opportunities deserve immediate action, we recommend the CUES framework instead of the common ICE (Impact, Confidence, Ease) approach:
- C – Confidence: How confident are you that this will make a meaningful difference?
- U – Understanding: How well do you understand what you’re trying to do?
- E – Ease: How difficult will this be to implement?
- S – Speed: How quickly can you get this done?
The Understanding component is particularly valuable because it forces you to admit knowledge gaps before diving into implementation. If your understanding is low, that’s a signal to learn more before proceeding.
Creating artifacts: The bridge between insights and action
One practical way we’ve found to bridge the gap between customer research insights and execution is creating clear artifacts that make action inevitable.
This means creating:
- Research summaries: Documentation of the key patterns you’ve identified
- Prioritized opportunities: Clear ranking of which opportunities to address first
- Project briefs: Comprehensive plans that remove execution guesswork
These artifacts create what Asia calls “clear work paths” that make execution straightforward.
The orchestra conductor approach
A metaphor that captures the balance between leadership and management is the orchestra conductor:
A conductor doesn’t have to manage. Their orchestra is a team of experienced musicians, but the conductor is the only one who knows the sound we need to hear when we play.
This approach means:
- Setting the overall vision
- Recognizing which sections need attention
- Making real-time adjustments
- Creating harmony between different functions
Conclusion: Pattern recognition as competitive advantage
The companies that grow fastest aren’t necessarily those with better products or bigger budgets—they’re the ones that recognize patterns others miss and know how to turn those patterns into action.
As our research consistently shows:
- Customer research is valuable only if you can identify meaningful patterns
- Patterns create opportunity only if you can translate them into priorities
- Priorities drive growth only if you can execute them efficiently
The gap between insight and action isn’t as wide as most founders believe. With the right balance of leadership and management, and by creating clear artifacts that bridge vision and execution, you can turn customer research patterns into sustainable growth.
If you’re looking to unlock the hidden patterns in your customer research, contact us for a free 45-minute growth audit today.