Customer truth before you invest
Management teams tell you what they want you to hear. Customers tell you what's actually happening. Interview 50-200 customers of an acquisition target in days — not months — and get the retention risk, growth thesis validation, and competitive positioning evidence your IC memo needs.
Customer concentration risk: top 3 accounts show declining satisfaction trend over 2 quarters...
Trusted by teams at
You're evaluating a $200M acquisition. Management says retention is strong, NPS is high, and customers love the product. But the data room only shows what the target chose to include. Three months post-close, you discover the largest customer is evaluating competitors and two mid-market accounts churned during the deal process. Across commercial due diligence engagements, the highest-impact findings consistently come from what customers say when management isn't in the room. User Intuition interviews 50-200 customers of an acquisition target in 48-72 hours — delivering retention risk scores, growth thesis validation, competitive positioning evidence, and unfiltered NPS that your IC memo can cite with confidence.
You're betting millions on
management's story
The data room shows what the target wants you to see. Customer truth requires a different source.
Management-Curated References
Reference calls go to the target's happiest customers. You hear the best 5% and assume they represent the base. The 95% you never hear from hold the real retention story.
NPS Without the Why
The target reports a 45 NPS. But is that trending up or down? Are promoters loyal or just locked in by switching costs? A number without context is a false signal.
No Independent Customer Voice
Every data point in the data room was chosen by the target. Financial data is audited. Customer sentiment is not. You're trusting the seller's version of customer reality.
Traditional Diligence Takes Too Long
Consulting firms take 6-12 weeks for a commercial diligence workstream. In competitive deal processes, that timeline costs you the deal or forces you to bid without evidence.
Customer Concentration Risk Is Hidden
Revenue concentration is visible in the data room. Relationship concentration is not. If one champion leaves a key account, what happens to that revenue?
Growth Thesis Is Untested
The investment thesis assumes cross-sell, upsell, or market expansion. But do customers actually want more? Would they pay more? You're projecting growth without demand evidence.
Real-world applications
for Commercial Due Diligence
Retention Risk Assessment
Interview the customer base to identify accounts at risk of churning, reasons for declining satisfaction, and the gap between reported and actual retention health.
Growth Thesis Validation
Test whether customers would buy more, pay more, or expand usage. Validate cross-sell and upsell assumptions with demand evidence from real customers.
Competitive Positioning Assessment
Understand how the target's customers perceive them versus alternatives. Identify if the competitive moat is real or if customers are actively evaluating competitors.
Champion & Relationship Mapping
Identify which customer relationships depend on specific individuals. Surface concentration risk that doesn't appear in financial data.
Independent NPS & Satisfaction
Generate an independent, unfiltered customer satisfaction score that the target didn't curate. Compare against their reported metrics to calibrate trust.
Post-Acquisition Baseline
Establish a customer sentiment baseline before close. Use it to measure the impact of integration decisions and track whether the value creation plan is working.
User Intuition vs.
traditional Commercial Due Diligence
| Dimension | User Intuition | Consulting Firms / Reference Calls / Survey DD |
|---|---|---|
| Data Source | AI interviews with 50-200 customers | 5-10 management-curated reference calls |
| Independence | Fully independent · target doesn't select participants | Target selects which customers you speak to |
| Turnaround | 48-72 hours | 6-12 weeks (consulting) or 2-4 weeks (survey) |
| Cost | $2K-$15K | $100K-$500K (consulting) or $20K-$50K (survey) |
| Sample Size | 50-200 customers interviewed | 5-10 references or survey response rates of 15-20% |
| Depth | 5-7 levels through laddering | Surface-level reference calls or closed-ended surveys |
| Bias Risk | Low · random or stratified sample | High (management selects happy customers) |
| Deal Timeline Fit | Results before your next IC meeting | Results after the exclusivity window closes |
From LOI to customer evidence in 72 hours
Design The Study
Define your diligence questions — retention risk, growth thesis, competitive moat, NPS — and provide the customer list or target segment. Our AI builds the interview guide, screener, and sample plan around your investment thesis.
AI Conducts the Conversations
Each customer completes a 10-20 minute AI-moderated voice interview exploring satisfaction, switching intent, competitive alternatives, and expansion willingness. The AI probes deeper on risk signals — not just satisfaction scores.
Get Evidence-Backed Results
Receive a structured diligence report with retention risk scores, independent NPS, growth thesis evidence, competitive positioning data, and customer verbatims — formatted for IC memos and investment committee presentations.
Track Value Creation
Re-run the same study post-acquisition to measure whether integration decisions improve or erode customer satisfaction. Build a longitudinal view of the customer base you acquired.
"The target reported 92% retention. Our independent interviews revealed 3 of the top 10 accounts were actively evaluating competitors. That finding alone changed our bid price by $15M and shaped our first 90-day integration plan."
Archie C., CEO — WhatsTheMove
When AI Helps and When a Human Should Lead Due Diligence
AI-moderated interviews deliver scalable, unbiased customer evidence at deal speed — but some diligence contexts require human expertise.
AI-Moderated Interviews Excel At
- Structured customer satisfaction and retention risk assessment
- Independent NPS generation at scale
- Growth thesis testing across the full customer base
- Consistent methodology across 50-200 interviews
- Eliminating reference call selection bias
- Rapid turnaround within deal timelines
Consider Human Moderation For
- C-suite executive interviews at key accounts
- Sensitive topics requiring relationship trust
- Highly technical product evaluation conversations
- Strategic accounts where rapport is critical
- Complex multi-stakeholder buying center interviews
- Deep regulatory or compliance-driven industries
Methodology refined through Fortune 500 consulting engagements.
Don't bid on a story.
Bid on customer truth.
In 48-72 hours, get independent customer evidence that strengthens your IC memo, calibrates your bid, and shapes your value creation plan from day one.
See how PE and M&A teams use AI-moderated interviews to de-risk acquisitions. We'll walk through a real diligence case study.
Test with a current portfolio company. Results in 48-72 hours. No contract, no setup.
No contract · No retainers · Results in 48-72 hours
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