Launching experiments without prior customer interviews or market analysis is a waste of resources. The most effective experiments are designed to answer specific questions that arise from a solid research foundation, not to substitute for it.

To get unbiased user feedback, avoid asking leading questions like "What are your main problems?" Instead, prompt users to walk you through their typical workflow. In describing their process, they will naturally reveal the genuine friction points and hacks they use, providing much richer insight than direct questioning.

When starting a new role, adopt a "ninja mode" for customer research. Go beyond surveys by analyzing support tickets, diving into Reddit threads, and reading online reviews. Most importantly, get on the phone and talk directly to humans to uncover their true pain points.

Many marketers equate CRO with just A/B testing. However, a successful program is built on two pillars: research (gathering quantitative and qualitative data) and testing (experimentation). Overlooking the research phase leads to uninformed tests and poor results, as it provides the necessary insights for what to test.

To truly understand customers, go to their natural environment—their home or shop. Observing their context reveals far more than sterile office interviews. This practice, internally branded "Listen or Die," ensures the entire team stays connected to the user's reality.

Don't roll out new positioning on your website first. Craft a sales pitch and have reps test it in live calls. This provides immediate, high-fidelity feedback on what resonates, what's confusing, and which comparisons customers make—insights you can't get from web analytics.

The only reliable way to understand a customer is to "forward deploy"—work alongside them in their actual environment. This direct experience of their job closes the context gap that interviews can't bridge, revealing unspoken needs and frustrations.

To simplify CX, gather teams from marketing, support, and finance to map a high-volume journey. For each step, ask why it exists and what happens if it's removed. This 'friction audit' exposes that processes are often designed for the brand's internal convenience, not customer outcomes.

Traditional journey mapping is flawed because it focuses on company processes. A more powerful approach, exemplified by Progressive Insurance's on-scene response, is to map the customer's mind to identify vulnerable moments and unconscious needs that occur even before they engage with the brand.