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Let's play...customer says! 🙆🏽‍♀️

How to collect and use customer snippets so you can answer your questions in minutes 😮

Author

Sophia O'Neal
March 06, 2025

i get asked a lot of questions.

Most commonly it’s some version of “how do we do marketing?!”

And there’s a germ-x level chance (99.99%) that my answer is the same:
“Have you talked to your users lately? What did they say?”

The response is usually something along the lines of… “i mean, i have a rough approximation from the 50 customer emails i replied to in the last 2 weeks but nothing concrete.”

They know, but they don’t know.

You know?

You are probably talking to your customers all the time in support emails and comment replies.

They’re not formal interviews, but they’re often incredibly useful when you need to make a customer-data-backed marketing decision (that would be all of them).

but those useful one-liner (or lifestory) emails usually go….nowhere

— echos into the void —

Today, we’re going to fill that void with a spreadsheet.

a What the Customer Said spreadsheet.

note: If you’re in a larger org or have a flexible CRM, you’re much better adding a notes field specifically for these tidbits instead of using a spreadsheet.

Then creating a What the Customer Said view with the below columns visible so you’re not worrying about data duplication (Quelle horreur!)

Those columns are:

  • Date

  • Source (email, linkedin DM, etc?)

  • Company

  • Industry

  • How are they using the product (use case)

  • Contact

  • Contact number (if phone numbers are a thing for you

  • Marketing copy (Is it a good fit → Y or N?)

  • What the customer said (verbatim)

  • Tags (these can be completely flexible to your needs)

  • Features Mentioned (opt, i find that Command + F works just as well)

How to make it useful

When a customer replies to you with a unique line or phrase (or one you hear from everyone it seems) copy+paste it into this spreadsheet and fill out the fields.

Or add that line to the “What the customer said” custom field in your CRM.

that’s…it.

Now, here’s how to use it when you need to know What the Customer Said.

When you have a question about how a customer group (by product purchased, industry, etc) talks or thinks, add some filters and look straight at their words

Ex: What are the favorite features of a stationery company’s customers who bought corporate gifting supplies?

  1. click on the filter and choose “corporate gifting”

  2. and command F for feature

(or just read through)

bet you’ll have an answer right quick.

it’s that easy.

And If you’re prepping to write copy, than you can also use this messaging matrix template once you’re filtered down.

Here it is in Notion, and in Docs (go to file → make a copy).

There you go. one of your most important resources for your company.

Takes <5min a day to do.

Can be started today when you duplicate that sheet.

Is free.99

Will serve you forever.

Taaaadaaaaaa 🥳 

This spreadsheet was inspired by Kristen, the Customer Says Spreadsheet Queen who graciously let me use her company Cubit as the live example for a workshop i gave in November on how to choose between your target audiences.

My analysis and recommendation to choosing was based on a combo of sales data, customer research and

….drumroll please….

What her customers said.

bet you didn’t see that coming.

Kristen is an environmental engineer by trade, so her having a relieving simple and easy to use table for customer notes was a no-brainer.

After jerry rigging systems to try to get similar (but instead disappointing and confusing) results I was left sophia is shocked with her method and knew I HAD to create one for clients and SOP’s.

Thank you Kristen!

if you’ve missed past issues in this foundations series, here they live:

There’s just one foundation left - Brand Kit! - which we’ll cover in the next 2 weeks while we also do a shiny reveal of our own! 🖼️ 

Then we’re going to dive into

  • optimization to those foundations that just takes a few tweaks,

  • analytics that are actually readable,

  • brand personality how-to’s,

  • and so much more.

Squeals with giddy marketing glee

It’s gonna be great!

If you liked this issue, loved it, had to have it, and want to support, please:

  • Refer us to a friend who doesn’t want to do marketing. we’re taking new clients for April for Customer Research, Websites, and Marketing Strategy!

    • A DM with “I heard you were looking for help with [blank], consider hiring Sophia” is highest praise!

  • Forward this newsletter over to someone who is crying over their marketing task list

  • Join the convo on LinkedIn (This comment section is a lot of fun!)

Any of this would make Aelia and I jointly squee on a call in the near future and is much appreciated. 💃🏽

I’ll see you in your inbox next week. Cheers!

Sophia ⚡👩🏽‍💻 with help from Aelia 🪄🧕🏽

Powered by…honestly this one was on JIT shipping 😆

Pssssst. I’m launching a second newsletter (I know, can’t stop won’t stop!) that will come out sporadically on Tuesdays called You’ve Been Forked 🍴, 

Where a smart friend and I break down how to make decisions when you hit a fork in the road or the code.

It’s launching with my friend Aaron Wolpoff from big-co-get-unstuck- marketing agency Double Zebra đŸŚ“ where we recommend how to outmaneuver the competition.

You’ll get a whole email about it in the very near future, but giving you a heads up that it’s coming! You can signup here.

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