Context First: Beyond Secondhand Insights: The Customer Conversation Compass Framework

Most product teams believe they’re listening to customers. But in reality, many teams rely on summaries, support tickets, stakeholder interpretations, and secondhand feedback that’s been filtered several times before it reaches the people building the product.

In this session, Jake McKee introduces the Customer Conversation Compass, a practical framework designed to help product teams improve how they talk with customers, how they listen, and how they turn conversations into better product decisions.

Drawing on decades of experience helping organizations build stronger customer engagement practices, Jake will explore why many teams struggle to get honest, meaningful insight from customers, what “Conversation Debt” looks like inside an organization, and how teams can make customer conversation a real part of their product process instead of an occasional research exercise.

You’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of:

Why customer feedback and customer conversation are not the same thing

How Conversation Debt builds up and affects product decisions

The five pillars of the Customer Conversation Compass

Why teams often get polite answers instead of honest insight

Practical ways to build better customer conversations into everyday product work

Whether you work in product, community, research, customer success, or leadership, this conversation will offer practical ways to strengthen how your team understands the people you’re building for.

Before and after the event: