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B2B customer research

Find out what your buyers actually think.

Senior journalist interviewers. C-suite buyer access. The data your dashboards cannot show you. Delivered with Critical Deal, our research arm.

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Our research armCritical Deal.Decision-grade B2B research: buyer interviews, win-loss, voice of customer and market sizing.Visit criticaldeal.com →

Start with the guide

Want it on paper first?

The one document the C-suite actually reads. Turn customer research into a decision the board signs. ~20 pages.

Start with the guide

How to write an executive summary. Free.

The diagnosis

You have never met your real buyer.

Sales and marketing disagree about buyers. Each team has a theory. Neither has the call recording. The board wants to know why churn is up. You have the number but not the why. Not the real one.

You are launching a category that may or may not exist in the buyer's head. You speak to users and champions. The actual signer has been a name on a contract. A new product is about to launch. Engineering is ready. The market is a guess. Eight interviews would change the brief.

We run those interviews. Senior journalists, not researchers. We follow the contradictions to where the truth lives.

What sets us apart

Buyer access and journalist interviewers.

C-suite buyer access. Senior B2B buyer network across banking, tech and professional services. Or we work from your customer list.
Senior journalist interviewers. 45-minute interviews conducted by senior journalists, not researchers. We follow the contradictions to where the truth lives.
Insights, opportunities and red flags. Data your dashboards cannot show you. Opportunities your team has missed. Red flags before the board sees them.

Walk away with

The data your board will reference for two years.

The actual words your buyers use. And the patterns under them.
Five themes written like an FT feature. Not a research deck.
Positioning and messaging implications. Translated directly.
A buyer truth deck for the board. The readout your leadership team will quote.
Ammunition for two years of decisions. Positioning, messaging, product and pitch.

Who it is for

B2B companies that need to know what their buyers actually think before they spend on positioning, messaging or product.

Pre-launch, post-acquisition, before the next round or when churn goes up and nobody knows why.

Who it is not for

One group should look elsewhere.

Companies wanting a survey with satisfaction scores. This is qualitative, senior buyer research. It gives you truth, not NPS.

Format

Four to eight weeks. Eight to fifteen buyers. End to end.

Duration

4--8 weeks

Interviews

8--15 buyers

Interviewers

Senior journalists

Output

Board-ready report

From the work

"My sales and client relationship teams were underperforming. Poorly written proposals, poorly prepared teams, inadequate understanding of client requirements -- all culminating in losing business. Dan and the team used simple techniques focused on the client first to hold the mirror up to us. Has it worked? You bet. Win rates are up."

Christine Wyatt · General Manager, GBS, IBM

Common questions

Questions people ask before they start.

What is the Customer Research service?

Qualitative B2B buyer research that shows you what your buyers actually think before you spend on positioning, messaging or product. It surfaces the data your dashboards cannot show you.

Who conducts the interviews?

Senior journalist interviewers with C-suite buyer access, delivered with Critical Deal, the research arm.

How long does it take and what do I get?

Four to eight weeks, eight to fifteen buyer interviews, end to end, delivered as a board-ready report your board will reference for years.

Who is it for?

B2B companies that need to know what their buyers actually believe before they invest in positioning, messaging or product.

How do I start?

Book a call. Thirty minutes to talk through what you need to learn and from whom.

Start here

One call. Thirty minutes.

Tell us the decision you are trying to make. We will tell you whether research is the right answer and what it would take. Replies within 24 hours.