Voice of the Customer · For investors and technology leaders
Most customer research tells you what people said. A good one tells you why the business is losing them.
Voice of the Customer is one of the most commoditised services in the adviser market, and most leadership teams who have run it once will not run it again.
We built ours differently. Thirty-minute interviews run by partners, covering six commercial dimensions: value drivers, churn risk, expansion appetite, competitive position, pricing sensitivity, and roadmap signal.
The output is not a transcript bank. It is a root-cause map that ties what your customers are telling you to the specific lever inside the business that would move the signal.
WHAT IS VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER
Customer evidence, structured so it tells you what to do.
Voice of the Customer (VoC) research is a structured process of conducting one-to-one interviews with a company's customers to capture their real motivations, priorities, and concerns - beyond what shows up in CRM data, NPS scores, or sales feedback.
For B2B technology businesses, a rigorous VoC programme answers the questions that matter most to leadership: What drives renewal and expansion? Where is churn risk hiding? How do customers compare you to alternatives? And critically - what should you do about it?
At Lighthouse Advisory, our VoC programme is used in three primary contexts: sharpening growth strategy, preparing evidence packs for fundraising and investor reporting, and validating commercial theses during M&A and commercial due diligence.
WHERE IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
Three situations where VoC pays for itself
Your retention story is softening
NRR is drifting and the board wants to know whether it is product, segment, pricing, or onboarding. VoC tells you which lever to pull, where, and in what order.
Fundraising & Board Reporting
Investors will diligence your customer base. Walk in with structured retention evidence, real customer quotes, and a churn-risk taxonomy your board has already seen.
M&A & Commercial Due Diligence
The seller's churn narrative does not feel right. Targeted customer interviews validate the thesis, surface hidden churn risk, and clarify post-close priorities before you commit capital.
THE PROCESS
From brief to board-ready in three weeks
A structured four-stage process, run entirely by senior advisers. Your team's involvement is approximately 90 minutes total.
1-3 days
Scoping
We align on your commercial objectives, define the customer segments to target, and design an interview framework that focuses on your most important value and churn drivers.
4 - 14 days
Customer Interviews
Senior advisers - not junior researchers - conduct 15-30 structured 30-minute interviews with your customers. We handle all scheduling, outreach consent, and logistics.
15-18 days
Analysis & Synthesis
We code and analyse each interview for patterns, segment differences, and commercial themes - quantifying what matters most and translating feedback into prioritised findings.
19 - 21 days
Readout & Recommendations
You receive a board-ready executive report with clear recommendations and a 90-day action plan, followed by a live readout with the advisers who ran the interviews.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Three weeks later, you have answers.
Every project ships with three things: a board-ready report, a live readout with the partners who ran the interviews, and a fully transcribed quote pack. Together they answer the strategic question, give your board a defensible position, and equip every function that touches the customer.
— CLARITY
- Top loyalty drivers and satisfaction themes by customer segment
- Friction points that are suppressing NRR and expansion revenue
- Clear prioritisation for product, Customer Success, and service investment
- Quote pack for board decks, investor materials, and internal comms
— CHURN INTELLIGENCE
- Early-warning indicators and clearly identified at-risk customer cohorts
- Renewal-probability snapshot with estimated revenue at risk
- Named save-plays with suggested owners and timescales
- Portfolio-level synthesis for PE owners tracking themes across opcos
— GROWTH SIGNALS
- Competitors your customers mention — and the specific angles that matter
- Pricing and packaging friction points, with cues on willingness to pay
- Specific expansion opportunities: upsell, cross-sell, and new segment needs
- Emerging trends to sharpen your roadmap and go-to-market strategy
DELIVERABLES
Everything included. Nothing left to interpret.
Executive Report
A concise, board-ready report. Retention themes, value drivers, and a churn-risk taxonomy prioritised by commercial impact, with segment cuts where required. Includes a 90-day action plan and an optional five-slide appendix for your next investor or board meeting.
Live Readout & Q&A
A 60-minute working session with the partners who ran the interviews. Walk through the findings, stress-test the conclusions with your leadership team, and agree the actions before the report leaves the room. Replays and follow-up notes included.
Transcripts & Quote Pack
Anonymised transcripts and a curated quote bank organised by theme, segment, and commercial driver. Drop-in quotes for board decks, investor materials, internal comms, and product councils. Source-tagged, fully cited, ready to use.
PRICING
Flexible programmes, fixed deliverables
VoC Sprint
ONE-OFF-
15 - 30 Interviews
-
Full executive report & NPS
-
Live readout & Q&A
-
Transcript & quote pack
-
90-day action plan
Customer Pulse
BIANNUAL-
Two interview waves per year
-
15–30 interviews per wave
-
Full report & NPS each wave
-
Progress tracker between waves
-
Follow-up readout each wave
Portfolio Program
PORTFOLIO / MULTI BU-
All core deliverables included
-
Multiple opcos / product lines
-
Portfolio-level synthesis readout
-
Pooled credit model
-
Quarterly or annual cadences
COMMON QUESTIONS
What you need to know. Before you commit.
Is 15 interviews statistically valid?
For a single customer segment or persona, qualitative research reliably reaches thematic saturation at 12–15 interviews. We increase to 20–30 when the brief requires cuts by segment, region, or persona, or when initial interviews reveal high variance in experience. We will advise on the right sample at scoping.
How long does the programme take end-to-end?
2–3 weeks end-to-end: scoping (Days 0–3), interviews (Days 4–14), analysis (Days 15–18), and readout (Days 19–21). Customer availability is the only external variable. A rush option in 10 business days is available subject to adviser availability.
Will this disrupt our customers or internal team?
No. Interviews are 30 minutes, scheduled around your customers. Your internal team's total involvement is approximately 60–90 minutes across the scoping call and the readout. We handle outreach, consent, scheduling, and logistics. For B2B executives, a respectful, well-positioned ask and a tight 30-minute slot typically achieves strong participation rates without incentives.
Who actually runs the interviews?
All interviews are conducted by senior Lighthouse advisers with strategy and M&A backgrounds — not junior researchers or outsourced staff. This means conversations focus on commercial value drivers, renewal decisions, and competitive dynamics rather than scripted survey completion.
How do you choose which of our customers to interview?
We agree the sample with you at scoping. The default mix is renewed accounts, churned accounts, expansion accounts, and at-risk accounts in proportions matched to your strategic question. We never contact customers without your written approval, and we never use customer data outside the engagement.
Will you share the raw transcripts with us?
Yes. Full anonymised transcripts and a tagged quote bank are part of every project. We retain only what you authorise us to retain, and on the cadence you set.
How does VoC complement surveys and analytics?
They answer different questions. Analytics tells you what customers do. Surveys tell you how many feel a certain way. Interviews tell you why - and, crucially, what to do about it. NPS/loyalty pulse scoring is included as standard in every project. We can add a follow-on survey to track themes quantitatively over time.
What sectors do you work in?
Best fit is B2B SaaS, technology, and tech-enabled services where renewals and NRR genuinely matter. We also have strong experience in PE/VC portfolio work and multi-product organisations. For very high-volume transactional businesses, a different methodology may serve you better — we will advise honestly at the outset.
Can this support M&A and commercial due diligence?
Yes - this is one of the strongest use cases. VoC interviews with a target's customers during commercial due diligence validate the investment thesis directly, surface hidden churn risk before you sign, and give you a clear view of post-close priorities. This work is often delivered as a standalone strand within a broader CDD engagement.
Can you turn this around in under two weeks?
A rush option is available in 10 business days, subject to adviser availability. Speed depends heavily on your readiness — how quickly you can share a contact list, approve outreach, and brief us on context. If you can move fast on those elements, we can match you.
How is this different from a big-four advisory or a specialist VoC firm?
Three differences. Interviews are run by Lighthouse partners with strategy and M&A backgrounds, not delivery analysts. The output is a commercial action map, not a research artefact. And the cost typically lands at a fraction of a comparable big-four scoping for the same number of interviews.
Ready to replace anecdote with evidence?
Book a 30-minute call with a Lighthouse partner. We'll map where a VoC sprint would de-risk your plans, and show you what a project would look like for your business — no commitment required.