Does Your Program Sound Like Everyone Else’s? Use Your Buyers’ Words

These posts are my working notes, drafted with AI and edited by me so I can share them quickly. My client work gets far more hands-on attention. If you want that, here’s how I work with clients.

Voice of customer research means collecting the exact words your buyers use to describe their problem, what they’ve tried and what they want instead. When your messaging uses those words, prospects recognize themselves in it, and your program stops sounding like every other one.

That research is the starting point for the customer intel behind my client work.

Why do so many programs sound the same?

Most programs describe themselves in the expert’s vocabulary. Words like “holistic,” “root cause” and “transform” appear on page after page, because they’re how practitioners talk about their work. Buyers rarely use them.

Here’s a line from a real buyer of mind-body health programs, quoted from public comments, typos included:

“How do you remove doubt when you have been disappointed SO many times and are also financially drained and can’t keep spending money on program after program, doctor after doctor, supplement after supplement?”

Compare that with a typical program page promising “a holistic, root-cause approach to lasting wellness.” The buyer’s line names the exact frustration your program has to answer. The marketing line could belong to anyone.

Where do your buyers’ words show up?

You probably have more of this material than you think:

Application and intake form answers
Discovery call and sales call notes
Testimonials and check-in messages from current clients
DMs, comments and email replies
Reviews of competing programs, books and podcasts in your niche

Start with the sources closest to a buying decision. An application answer written the day someone decided to apply tells you more than a comment on a general post.

What should you look for?

Read for patterns, not single quotes. Look for:

Phrases that repeat across different people
The moment someone decided to look for help
What they tried before, and why it didn’t work
What almost stopped them from buying
The words they use for the result they want

Then sort what you find into frustrations, desired outcomes, objections and buying triggers. Patterns show up quickly once the material sits side by side.

What turns buyer words into messaging that sells?

Collecting buyer language is the first step. The harder part is deciding which words drive the decision to enroll, which ones answer an objection, and which ones are interesting but don’t move anyone to buy.

That judgment is what turns a folder of quotes into a messaging strategy. It decides what your sales page leads with, what your emails answer and what you leave out.

Frequently asked questions

What is voice of customer research?

It’s the practice of collecting how buyers describe their problems, goals and doubts in their own words, from sources like applications, sales calls, testimonials and reviews.

How many buyer conversations do I need?

Start with what you have. Repeated phrases usually appear quickly, and every new application or testimonial adds to the picture.

Can AI do voice of customer research?

AI can summarize conversations and spot recurring themes. It can’t reliably judge which insights drive a purchase, so a person still needs to make those calls.

Should I quote buyers word for word?

In your research, yes, including typos, because the exact phrasing is the point. In public marketing, get permission before quoting anyone by name.

Want more enrollments from the same traffic?

I find what drives your buyers to enroll, then build your signature program’s messaging around it.

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