To get unbiased feedback, don't mention your product. Instead, ask prospects about their #1 challenge. If they organically bring up the problem your product solves, you've found a real pain point and strong market pull.

A potential customer can logically agree with your framing of their problem yet have no intent to buy. True demand isn't intellectual agreement; it's a palpable force. You must sense the pressure of them actively pushing against a wall. A customer leaning back and nodding is a red flag.

True product intuition isn't just from standard discovery calls. It's forged by directly engaging with customers' most urgent problems on escalation calls. This unfiltered feedback provides conviction and data-backed confidence for decision-making.

Most problems customers describe are "pain points" they won't act on. You can't distinguish these from real, actionable demand ("pull") through interviews alone. The only true test is presenting a viable solution and attempting to sell it. Their reaction—whether they try to pull it from you—is the only reliable signal.

The ultimate signal of product-market fit is when your go-to-market strategy simplifies to 'get a customer in a room with a prospect.' When customers become your most effective sales channel, you have found it, and your team can 'walk away'.

Buyers often volunteer the exact details of their problem—their project, its urgency, and their frustration with current options. However, traditional sales training teaches founders to ignore these cues, interrupt the customer, and pivot to pitching their solution, thereby missing critical information.

Founders mistakenly believe sales proficiency is paramount. In reality, sales skill is a downstream concern. If you identify a customer with immense "pull"—someone so stuck they'd do anything for a solution—even a terrible sales call will succeed. The priority is finding that desperate customer, not perfecting the pitch.

After experiencing numerous lukewarm responses to failed ideas, the intense, urgent demand from a customer for a successful product becomes an undeniable signal. The contrast between a polite 'maybe later' and a frantic 'how do I get this now?' makes true product-market fit impossible to miss.

Instead of focusing on tactical issues, ask potential customers what they would wish for if they had a magic wand. This prompts them to describe their ideal, transformative solution, revealing the deeper, more valuable problem you should be solving.