I’ve interviewed over a dozen enterprise businesses, from Argentina to Singapore.

Great conversations. Brilliant quotes. Genuinely happy customers. The problem? Almost no numbers.

No hours saved. No costs cut. Nada. And that’s on me.

Claims Are Cheap. Proof Wins Every Time.

Every SaaS website says it’s powerful. Easy to use. Supercharges this, streamlines that. And let’s not forget, every SaaS business is “trusted by teams worldwide.”

Buyers have heard it a thousand times. To most prospects, it’s just noise.

What they do trust is someone like them, with the same challenges, saying “this worked.”

A great case study has momentum. It moves from your champion to their boss to finance. But without numbers, a case study is just a nice story.

So I went after that proof. Twelve-plus calls across six countries, from engineering to accounting firms. Innovation leaders, PMOs, and transformation managers.

What I Got Right: The Ingredients Are in the Conversation

Let’s start with the good news, shall we?

Happy customers love talking about what’s working.

Conversation flows, quotes surface, and the story pieces itself together.

I’d go in with a set of questions, planned an hour before. Each one shaped around the customer’s industry, their goals, and the features they loved most.

And it worked. It really worked.

Marketing got quotes they could plug from page to page, channel to channel.

Sales got evidence that stood up to objections and prospect concerns.

Customer success got clear next steps to boost engagement and reduce churn.

And then there’s the bonus nobody talks about: product feedback.

I’d hear things in 60 minutes that developers spend months trying to understand: features customers want, and technical frustrations they’re facing. Then, I’d pass them to the CTO, CEO, and Head of Success the very same day.

See, these conversations aren’t just “here’s why we love your features.” There’s something every department can learn from. Stronger sales. Stronger marketing. A stronger product.

But the questions were built for stories, not numbers.

What I Got Wrong: Asking How Customers Feel, Not What Changed

I’d hang up all excited. Then I’d open my notes.

• “Game-changer.”
• “So much easier now.”
• “Loved by everyone in our team.”

But not a single number to be seen.

It turns out questions like “How has it helped your team?” and “What’s your most-used feature?” are great for stories, but useless for hard-hitting stats.

I’d spend an hour planning each call. Their industry. Their goals. Their favourite features. Everything was in place, except the one thing that mattered. The numbers.

Here’s the lesson I learned the hard way:

• “We love the features” gets a nod from prospects.
• “We save 10 hours a week” gets a budget.

So here’s what I’d ask instead…

The Questions I’d Ask Now

Every question is designed with one thing in mind: get a number, not just a feeling.

Time

“Before [your product], how long did [task] take each week? And now?”

This is a classic. Hours saved is the number that speaks to every buyer.

“How long did it take to get a decision or approval before? And now?”

It’s all about speed here. “Three weeks to two days” is a killer headline.

People

“How many people were involved in that process? How many now?”

Fewer people mean time and cost saved, without asking about money directly.

Scale

“Roughly how many ideas or projects were you managing then? And now?”

Volume shows impact. “From 40 ideas a year to 300” sells itself.

Money

“What tools or spreadsheets did this replace?”

A leaner tech stack means costs saved. Plus, you get a clear old-versus-new story.

“What would it cost you to go back to the old way?”

It’s often easier to picture losing something than to measure what you’ve gained.

Leadership

“What did your boss or board notice first?”

It gets you the leadership view, often with the numbers they care about most.

Pro tip: If they don’t have numbers to hand, ask for a rough guess. What’s the worst that can happen? Most of the time, you’ll get a number.

How to Actually Get the Numbers

Customer success often knows the numbers before you do. Start there. Ask for usage data, customer tenure, early results, anything they’ve got.

It’s the difference between being informed and shooting in the dark.

Before the call, I recommend sending your customer two or three number-focused questions. Nobody remembers “hours saved per week” mid-conversation. Give them time to dig.

If you’re promised stats post-call, they rarely arrive. I’ve been on the receiving end of this promise far too many times. But I don’t blame them. They’re busy.

So make their lives (and yours) easier. Send questions in advance.

And check who’s joining. The person who loves your product isn’t always the one with the data. Ask if someone from operations can join, or send figures beforehand.

On the call, listen for things like “It’s much faster” and “It’s easier to find things now.”

That’s a feeling. Ask one more question: “Faster how? Days? Hours?” And you’ll likely hear something like “From days to hours.” Voilà, you have your headline in the making.

Then follow up. Follow up. Follow up.

“You mentioned it saved the team time. Could you put a rough figure on it?”

One email. Easy to answer. Often worth it.

Don’t settle for a fluffy story when the evidence is a gentle push away.

Tell the Story. Then Prove It.

Twelve-plus case study interviews have taught me one thing. The conversations were never the problem. The questions were.

Happy customers will give you the quotes. Sometimes you just have to ask for the numbers. So next time, plan for proof. Look beyond the praise, and ask yourself: “If I were a prospect, what would I actually care about?”

Planning case studies for your SaaS team? Let’s connect. I’m always up for a chat about ideas and challenges.