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You’re marketing a product, but you’re not sure if your messaging resonates. Your homepage uses words like “innovative” and “streamlined.” Your target customers use words like “this is broken” and “I’m drowning in spreadsheets.” The disconnect: Marketing speaks marketing. Customers speak human. Your job is to translate. This guide shows you how to listen to 10-20 customer conversations and rewrite your messaging using their actual language—in 1 week.

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The Marketing Problem

You’re writing in a vacuum:
  • 🎭 Guessing at pain points (not hearing them)
  • 📝 Using industry jargon (customers don’t understand)
  • 🎯 Targeting “everyone” (because you’re not sure who cares most)
  • 💬 Value props that sound good in meetings (but don’t convert)
  • 🤷 No idea which features to highlight (or in what order)
The reality: Your sales team talks to customers every day. They know what works. Marketing never hears those conversations.

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What You’ll Achieve

In your first week with BuildBetter:
  • ✅ Hear 10-20 real customer conversations (not surveys)
  • ✅ Extract actual customer language for pain points
  • ✅ Identify who your ICP actually is (based on data, not guesses)
  • ✅ Rewrite homepage copy using customer words
  • ✅ Create content pipeline from customer stories
  • ✅ Align with sales on messaging that converts
Time investment: 3 hours Week 1 for setup and analysis. Then 30 mins/week ongoing. Result: 20-40% improvement in conversion rates.

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Prerequisites

BuildBetter account (buildbetter.ai)
Access to sales or customer success team (to get recordings)
Willingness to kill your darlings (some marketing copy won’t survive contact with customers)

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Day 1: Get Access to Customer Conversations (30 minutes)

Marketing’s biggest mistake: Creating content without listening to customers. Fix that today.
1

Talk to Your Sales Team

What to ask:“Hey [Sales Leader], I’m trying to improve our messaging by understanding how customers actually talk about their problems. Could I get access to some recent sales calls?”What you need:
  • 10-15 discovery calls or demos
  • Mix of won and lost deals (if possible)
  • Variety of customer types/segments
Pitch to sales: “This will help me create content that makes YOUR job easier. Better leads, more qualified, already speaking our language.”Sales will say yes when they see the benefit.
2

Options for Getting Recordings

Option A: Sales uses BuildBetter already
  • Get added to their workspace
  • Get access to “Sales Calls” collection
  • Start listening immediately
Option B: Sales has recordings elsewhere (Gong, Chorus, etc.)
  • Export 10-15 call recordings
  • Upload to your BuildBetter workspace
  • BuildBetter will process them
Option C: Sales doesn’t record
  • Set up BuildBetter for sales team (see Sales Recording Guide)
  • OR: Sit in on next 5-10 calls as silent observer
  • OR: Interview the sales team about common pain points (not ideal, but better than nothing)
[screenshot: Upload interface for importing sales call recordings]
3

Upload to BuildBetter

  1. Click Upload in BuildBetter
  2. Drag and drop call recordings
  3. Tag each upload:
    • “Sales - Won Deal”
    • “Sales - Lost Deal”
    • “Sales - In Progress”
    • “Discovery Call”
    • “Demo Call”
[screenshot: Bulk upload with tags applied]
Processing takes 10-30 minutes per hour-long recording. Start the upload and come back later.

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Day 2: Listen to Your Customers (2 hours)

Time to hear what they ACTUALLY say.
1

Pick 3-5 Calls to Listen To

Start with successful calls (won deals or happy customers):
  1. Go to Calls & Recordings
  2. Filter by tag: “Sales - Won Deal”
  3. Pick 3 calls from different customer types/sizes
[screenshot: Calls list filtered to won deals]
2

Listen with a Marketing Lens

As you listen, note:Pain Point Language:
  • What words do THEY use to describe their problem?
  • What emotion comes through? (frustration, desperation, hope)
  • What’s the trigger that made them look for a solution?
Value Perception:
  • Which features made them excited?
  • What outcome do they want? (not features, outcomes)
  • What alternatives did they consider?
  • Why did they choose you?
Their World:
  • What’s their role/title?
  • What’s their day-to-day like?
  • Who else is involved in the decision?
  • What does “success” look like to them?
[screenshot: Call playback with transcript showing customer language]
Don’t take notes manually. BuildBetter’s signals already extracted the key points. Just listen for tone, emotion, and exact phrasing.
3

Review Auto-Extracted Signals

After listening, check what BuildBetter found:
  1. Open each call
  2. Scroll to Signals section
  3. Filter for:
    • Type: “Problem” (their pain points)
    • Type: “Need” (what they’re trying to accomplish)
    • Type: “Praise” (what they loved)
    • Type: “Objection” (concerns they had)
[screenshot: Call signals showing problems and needs extracted]BuildBetter already pulled out the key quotes. You’re looking for patterns.

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Day 3: Extract Customer Language (1 hour)

Turn listening into actionable insights.
1

Find Pain Point Patterns

  1. Go to Signals
  2. Filter: Signal Type = “Problem”
  3. Read through them all
[screenshot: All problem signals from customer calls]Look for:
  • Same problem mentioned by 3+ customers (using different words)
  • Emotional intensity (😣 = strong pain)
  • Urgency markers (“we need this now”, “killing us”)
Create document: Open notepad and copy the TOP 3 most-mentioned problems with exact customer quotes.
2

Ask Chat to Analyze Language

Use AI to find patterns you might miss:Query: “Based on all these sales calls, how do customers describe their pain points? Give me their exact language, not summarized.”[screenshot: Chat response with customer pain point language]The AI will show:
  • Common phrases customers use
  • Emotional language
  • Specific words that appear repeatedly
  • How THEY describe the problem (not how you describe it)
Example output:
Top 3 Pain Point Descriptions (Customer Language):

1. "Drowning in spreadsheets" (5 mentions)
   - "Everything is in a million spreadsheets"
   - "I spend 10 hours a week copying data between sheets"
   - "Spreadsheets are killing our team"

2. "No single source of truth" (4 mentions)
   - "Everyone has their own version"
   - "We can't trust the data"
   - "Don't know what's real anymore"

3. "Manual work that shouldn't exist" (3 mentions)
   - "This should be automated"
   - "Why are we doing this by hand in 2024?"
   - "Wasting time on mindless tasks"
3

Identify Your True ICP

Query: “Who are our most successful customers based on these calls? What do they have in common?”[screenshot: Chat analyzing customer commonalities]Look for patterns in:
  • Company size: “5-50 employees” (not 1-1000)
  • Industry: “B2B SaaS” (not “all companies”)
  • Role: “Operations Manager” (not “anyone”)
  • Tech stack: “Uses Salesforce, no data warehouse” (specific)
  • Trigger event: “Just raised funding and scaling” (timing)
ICP Signal: If 70%+ of your best customers share 3+ characteristics, that’s your ICP. Not the broad persona you made up.
4

Create Customer Quote Library

  1. Go to Signals
  2. Filter: Signal Type = “Praise” AND Sentiment = Positive
  3. Click Export → CSV
[screenshot: Export signals to CSV]You now have a library of customer quotes for:
  • Testimonials
  • Case studies
  • Website copy
  • Sales decks
  • Social proof
All from real customers, real language.

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Day 4: Rewrite Your Messaging (2 hours)

Use customer language to rewrite marketing copy.
1

Homepage Hero Section (Before & After)

❌ Before (Marketing speak):
"Streamline your workflow with our innovative platform"
Why this fails: Vague, jargon, everyone says this.✅ After (Customer language):
"Stop drowning in spreadsheets. One place for all your data."
Why this works: Used their exact words. Specific pain point. Clear outcome.[screenshot: Homepage hero comparison showing before/after]How to rewrite:
  1. Pull up top pain points from Day 3
  2. Use their words for the problem
  3. Use their words for the outcome they want
  4. Drop the jargon
2

Value Props (Use Their Outcomes)

❌ Before:
✓ Real-time synchronization
✓ Advanced analytics
✓ Enterprise-grade security
Why this fails: Features, not outcomes. Tech specs don’t sell.✅ After (From customer conversations):
✓ "One source of truth your whole team can trust"
✓ "Stop wasting 10 hours/week copying data"
✓ "Know your data is safe when you scale"
Why this works: Outcomes they mentioned. Their timeframes. Their fears.How to extract:
  • Query Chat: “What outcomes did customers want from our product?”
  • Use their language
  • Include specifics (timeframes, numbers)
3

Feature Descriptions (Lead with 'Why')

❌ Before:
"Automated data pipelines"
✅ After:
"Automated data pipelines
So you can stop copying data between spreadsheets and get back to real work."
Pattern: [Feature] + “So you can [outcome from customer conversations]”
4

Customer Persona Section

Use your ICP findings from Day 3:❌ Before:
"For growing companies"
Too vague. That’s everyone.✅ After:
"Built for Operations teams at 10-100 person B2B companies
who are scaling fast and drowning in manual data work"
Specific = converts better. Broad = converts worse.

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Day 5: Create Content Pipeline (1 hour)

Turn customer conversations into content ideas.
1

Generate Blog Topics from Pain Points

Query Chat: “Based on customer conversations, what are 10 blog topics that would resonate with our ICP?”[screenshot: Chat generating blog topic ideas]Example output:
Blog Topics (from customer pain points):

1. "5 Signs You've Outgrown Spreadsheets (and what to do about it)"
   - Based on: 7 customers mentioned spreadsheet chaos

2. "How [Customer Company] Saved 15 Hours/Week on Data Entry"
   - Based on: Specific customer success story

3. "Why Your Team Can't Trust Your Data (And How to Fix It)"
   - Based on: "No single source of truth" pain point

4. "The Hidden Cost of Manual Data Work in 2024"
   - Based on: Multiple customers calculating time wasted
Every topic comes from REAL customer problems. No guessing.
2

Find Case Study Candidates

Filter signals:
  • Type: “Praise”
  • Sentiment: Very Positive
  • Contains: Specific outcomes, numbers, ROI
[screenshot: Filtered signals showing success stories]Look for quotes like:
  • “This saved us 20 hours a week”
  • “We went from X to Y in Z days”
  • “Best decision we made this year”
  • “Already paid for itself”
These are your case studies. Email these customers for permission to feature them.
3

Create Social Media Content

Pull customer quotes and turn them into social posts:Example:
From signals: "Why are we doing this by hand in 2024?"
- Customer quote about manual work

Social post:
---
Still copying data between spreadsheets in 2024?

You're not alone. We talked to 50+ Ops teams.

On average, they spend 12 hours/week on manual data work.

That's 624 hours per year.

Per person.

[Learn how to get those hours back] → [link]
---
Authentic. Data-backed. From real customers.
4

Build Objection-Handling Content

Filter signals: Type = “Objection”[screenshot: Common objections from sales calls]Common objections become FAQ content:Objection: “Too expensive” Content: “ROI Calculator: How Much Is Manual Data Work Costing You?”Objection: “We already have [competitor]” Content: “Why Teams Switch from [Competitor] to [You]” (use actual reasons from calls)Objection: “Seems complicated” Content: “5-Minute Setup: How [Customer] Got Started in One Afternoon”

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Day 6-7: Align with Sales & Test (Ongoing)

Make sure your new messaging actually works.
1

Share Findings with Sales Team

Create summary document:Ask Chat: “Generate a summary of customer pain points, outcomes, and language we should use in messaging. Format it for the sales team.”[screenshot: Generated sales enablement document]Share in Slack or email:
Hey Sales Team 👋

I analyzed 20 of your customer calls. Here's what I learned:

🎯 Our ICP (based on who converts best):
[Your findings]

💬 How customers describe their pain points:
[Top 3 with quotes]

✅ What outcomes they care about most:
[Top 3 outcomes]

I'm updating our website and content to match this language.

Let me know if you see better results!
2

A/B Test New Messaging

Homepage test:
  • Variant A: Old messaging
  • Variant B: Customer language messaging
Hypothesis: Customer language will convert 20-40% betterTrack:
  • Click-through rate on CTA
  • Sign-ups
  • Demo requests
  • Time on page
[screenshot: A/B test setup example]
3

Monitor Sales Calls for Messaging Validation

Ask sales team:“When prospects visit our site now, do they seem more qualified? Are they using our language?”Good signs:
  • Prospects mention pain points you highlight
  • Less time explaining what you do
  • Better questions (they already get it)
  • Shorter sales cycles
4

Keep Learning (Ongoing)

Weekly routine (30 mins):
  1. Review 2-3 new sales calls
  2. Check for new language/pain points
  3. Update your customer quote library
  4. Adjust messaging quarterly based on trends
[screenshot: Weekly chat query for new insights]Ask Chat weekly: “What new pain points or language emerged in this week’s sales calls?”

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Real Example: Sarah’s Messaging Transformation

Background: Sarah is Head of Marketing at a B2B SaaS company. Homepage conversion: 2.1%. Content engagement: Low. Sales kept saying “leads don’t get it.” Week 1: Analysis
  • Got access to 25 sales calls
  • Uploaded to BuildBetter
  • Listened to 5 deeply, Chat summarized the rest
Key finding: Marketing said “project management platform.” Customers said “stop having stuff fall through the cracks.” Week 2: Rewrite Before (Homepage hero): 
"Collaborative project management for modern teams"
Generic. Boring. Conversion: 2.1% After (Using customer language): 
"Nothing Falls Through the Cracks
The only project tracker where you can actually see what's happening—and what's not."
Before (Feature list): 
✓ Task management
✓ Team collaboration
✓ File sharing
✓ Time tracking
After (Customer outcomes): 
✓ See all your projects in one place (not 5 tools)
✓ Know what's stuck before it becomes a crisis
✓ Stop asking "what's the status?" in Slack 20 times a day
✓ Actually hit your deadlines
Results after 30 days:
  • Homepage conversion: 2.1% → 3.8% (+81%)
  • Demo requests: +67%
  • Sales team: “These leads are WAY more qualified”
  • Common feedback: “Your website described our exact problem”
Best comment from Sales: “It’s like marketing is finally in the same sales calls we’re in.” Sarah’s quote: “I spent 6 months guessing at messaging. 1 week listening to customers completely changed everything. I’ll never write copy without hearing customers first again.”

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Common Marketing Questions

Try these approaches:
  1. Start small: “Can I listen to just 5 calls? I want to improve our content.”
  2. Offer value: “I’ll create a competitive battle card from what I learn”
  3. Get executive support: Have VP Marketing talk to VP Sales
  4. Alternative: Sit in on calls as silent observer (less ideal, but works)
If all else fails: Interview CS team, survey customers, check review sites (G2, etc.). Not as good as hearing real calls, but better than nothing.
Minimum: 10 calls
  • Small patterns emerge
Better: 20-30 calls
  • Strong patterns emerge
  • Statistically significant
Best: 50+ calls
  • Segment by customer type
  • Compare won vs lost
  • Very confident in findings
Rule: Stop when you hear the same things repeatedly with no new insights.
Analyze both!Won deals show:
  • What messaging worked
  • Which pain points were strongest
  • What convinced them
Lost deals show:
  • What objections you didn’t overcome
  • What competitors emphasized
  • What value they didn’t see
Both are valuable for different reasons.
Simple email:
Hi [Customer],

On our recent call, you mentioned [quote]. Would you be okay with us using that quote on our website/case study? We'd credit it to [Name, Title, Company] or keep it anonymous—your choice.

Let me know!
Success rate: 80%+ say yes when quote is positive.Tip: Ask for permission right after a successful call or win. They’re happiest then.
Keep the meaning, polish the language:Customer said: “This shit is broken” Website copy: “Our current process is broken”Customer said: “I’m drowning in a million spreadsheets” Website copy: “Too many spreadsheets, zero visibility”Keep the emotion and specificity, remove profanity if needed. But don’t corporate-ify it so much you lose the authenticity.

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Your 7-Day Marketing Transformation Checklist

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Day 1: Access

Talk to Sales about getting call recordings
Get 10-20 sales/customer calls
Upload to BuildBetter
Tag calls (won/lost/discovery/demo)

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Day 2: Listen

Listen to 3-5 calls deeply
Note customer language, pain points, outcomes
Review auto-extracted signals

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Day 3: Analyze

Find pain point patterns across calls
Use Chat to analyze customer language
Identify true ICP characteristics
Export customer quotes for library

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Day 4: Rewrite

Rewrite homepage hero using customer language
Update value props with customer outcomes
Reframe features with “why” statements
Tighten customer persona to real ICP

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Day 5: Content

Generate blog topics from pain points
Identify case study candidates
Create social media content from quotes
Build objection-handling content

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Day 6-7: Align & Test

Share findings with Sales team
Set up A/B test for new messaging
Get customer permission for quotes
Establish weekly learning routine

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What’s Next?

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After Your First Week

Messaging & Positioning

Deep dive into comprehensive messaging strategy

Content Generation at Scale

Build entire content calendar from customer insights

Competitive Intelligence

Track how customers talk about competitors

Customer Story Library

Build library of testimonials and case studies

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Make It a Habit

Weekly (30 mins):
  • Listen to 2-3 new sales calls
  • Note new language or pain points
  • Update customer quote library
  • Generate 1-2 content ideas
Monthly (2 hours):
  • Deep analysis of 10-20 calls
  • Update messaging if patterns shift
  • Refresh content calendar
  • Report on messaging performance
Quarterly (Half day):
  • Comprehensive ICP review
  • Full messaging audit
  • Content strategy refresh
  • Share insights with entire company
The best marketing teams never stop listening to customers. Make customer call analysis part of your weekly routine, not a one-time project.

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Resources

Watch: Marketing from Calls

See this workflow in action (7 min)

Template: Messaging Framework

Template for organizing customer language

Book: Strategy Session

Get help analyzing your first calls (free)

Community: GTM Leaders

Join marketers using BuildBetter
Stop guessing. Start listening. Let customers write your marketing.
The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing—it feels like someone finally understands your problem. That only happens when you use customer language, not marketing speak.
Based on analysis from 500+ B2B marketing teams. Customer-language messaging converts 20-60% better than traditional marketing copy. The data is clear: listen to customers, use their words.