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Discover · Add-on

Involve customers and sales in discovery

Business products have buyers, users and sales teams with different views. Involve them in discovery without letting the loudest customer set the roadmap.

About 5-10 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026

Who this applies to

Skills it builds
Discovery and researchCommercial and business sense
PM types
All
Product types
Business software (B2B / SaaS)
Starting points
All
Ways of working
All
Experience
All
Size of organisation
All

Steps, by experience

Beginner (under 1 year)

  1. Talk to sales and customer success about what they hear.
  2. Interview users and buyers at several customers, not just one.
  3. Separate what customers ask for from the problem behind it.
  4. Check how many customers share each problem.
  5. Share what you learned with sales.

Intermediate (1 to 4 years)

  1. Research across several customers and roles.
  2. Separate requests from needs.
  3. Size problems across the customer base.

Experienced (5+ years)

  1. Run a customer advisory group.
  2. Balance key accounts with the wider market.
  3. Use win and loss analysis to shape strategy.

Who can do this

Owner: Product manager

Can be delegated to

  • User Researcher: Interview users and buyers
  • Business Analyst: Analyse requests and themes

Reviewed by: User Researcher

Tool examples

Notion
Keep a customer request database linked to problems.
Miro
Map needs by customer and role.

Definition of done

  • Several customers and roles interviewed
  • Requests linked to problems
  • Problems sized

Common pitfalls

  • Building for one big customer
  • Only talking to buyers
  • Treating sales requests as requirements

If you lead the team

What good looks like: Discovery includes buyers, users and the sales team, without letting the loudest customer set the roadmap.

Ask your PM

  • Which customers did we learn from, and how representative are they?
  • How are we separating one customer's request from a pattern?

Warning signs

  • The roadmap is a list of deals sales is chasing.
  • Product hasn't spoken to end users, only buyers.

Do these first

Sources