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
Across commercial due diligence engagements, the highest-impact findings consistently come from what customers say when management isn’t in the room. User Intuition runs confidential AI-moderated interviews with the target’s customers, partners, and churned accounts — delivering structured findings within the deal timeline. Each interview probes 5–7 levels deep into satisfaction, switching risk, competitive alternatives, and willingness to renew at approximately $20 per conversation. Results include customer sentiment scoring, renewal risk analysis, and competitive threat assessment with verbatim evidence trails that investment committees can review directly. The platform delivers a complete customer diligence report in 48–72 hours — replacing the 4–6 week timelines of traditional reference calls and customer surveys. Every finding is searchable, so deal teams can revisit customer voice during integration planning and post-acquisition monitoring.
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.
How Does User Intuition Compare to Reference Calls and Consultant Panels for Due Diligence?
| Dimension | User Intuition | Management Reference Calls | Consultant Panels (GLG / AlphaSights) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objectivity | Fully independent — target doesn't select participants; random or stratified sampling | Management curates which customers you speak to; inherent selection bias | Experts selected for domain knowledge, not customer relationship; indirect signal |
| Depth | 5–7 levels of structured laddering into satisfaction, switching risk, and competitive alternatives | 15–30 min unstructured calls; depth depends entirely on the caller's skill | 60-min expert calls; deep on market context but indirect on customer sentiment |
| Speed | 48–72 hours — results before your next IC meeting | 1–2 weeks to schedule and complete 5–10 calls | 3–5 days per expert; 2–4 weeks for a full panel |
| Cost | From $200 for 20 interviews; $2K–$15K for full customer diligence | Free but low sample; opportunity cost of deal team time is high | $1K–$3K per expert hour; a 10-expert panel runs $15K–$30K |
| Scale | 50–200 customer interviews — statistically meaningful sample | 5–10 hand-picked references; not representative of the full base | 5–15 experts; market perspective, not direct customer evidence |
| Confidentiality | AI-moderated — no human interviewer to identify; participants speak more candidly | Customers know they're talking to the acquirer; social desirability bias | Experts bound by NDAs but may have competing advisory relationships |
| Evidence Trail | Full transcripts, sentiment scoring, and verbatim evidence trails for IC memos | Handwritten notes from deal team; no standardized evidence format | Expert call notes; typically summarized, not verbatim |
| Reusability Post-Close | Searchable intelligence hub — re-run identical studies during integration to track changes | One-time calls; no longitudinal capability | One-time engagements; must re-engage for post-close monitoring |
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 Should You Use AI-Moderated Interviews for Due Diligence — and When Shouldn't You?
AI-moderated interviews excel at independent, scalable customer evidence collection within deal timelines — interviewing 50–200 customers in 48–72 hours without management selection bias. But they're not the right tool for C-suite relationship interviews, highly technical product evaluations, or regulatory diligence requiring specialized domain expertise.
AI-Moderated Interviews Are Best For
- Independent customer satisfaction and retention risk assessment
- Growth thesis validation across the full customer base
- Competitive threat assessment from the customer's perspective
- Independent NPS generation without management influence
- Post-close integration monitoring and value creation tracking
- Rapid turnaround within deal exclusivity windows
Consider Other Methods When
- C-suite executives at key accounts require personal relationship
- Highly technical product evaluation needs domain-specific probing
- Strategic accounts where rapport and trust are critical to candor
- Complex multi-stakeholder buying centers need facilitated discussion
- Regulatory or compliance diligence requires specialized expertise
- The goal is relationship building, not independent evidence collection
Methodology refined through Fortune 500 consulting engagements. Most PE and M&A teams use AI interviews for broad customer evidence and reserve human calls for the top 5–10 strategic accounts.
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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