Communication inside GTM teams often feels like a game of telephone. An AE hears one version of a prospect’s need, the SE hears another, and by the time it’s relayed to product, the details are fuzzy or contradictory. Even strong verbal communicators lose precision over time, and few people write everything down in full detail. The result? The original customer message is shortened, altered, and interpreted differently by each person who touches it.
This happens constantly in GTM teams and it leads to messy pipelines, roadmap debates driven by anecdotes, and missed opportunities to double down on what customers actually want.
Stop Playing Telephone
Start with Meeting Recorders
Meeting recorders are one of the most important GTM innovations of the last five years. They let everyone focus on the conversation instead of scribbling notes (though note-taking still has its benefits as an active listening exercise).
The real value comes after the fact. A recording provides a direct record of what was said so the team can go back to the source. But raw recordings create a new problem: too much information. No one wants to replay hours of calls across dozens of opportunities.
Using GenAI to Build a Common Understanding
This is where GenAI tools like ChatGPT bridge the gap between filtered information (that gets distorted as it moves between people) and raw information (that’s overwhelming to process).
GenAI can distill full conversations into a structured format the whole team understands and acts on.
Capturing Use Cases
This is one of my favorite—and most practical—applications in GTM. At its core, our job is to help customers solve specific problems. When we can do that consistently, customers land, renew, and expand naturally.
The Framework: From Transcript → Use Case
Record every meeting
Most people don’t even notice when a meeting recorder joins an online call. Always respect prospects who don’t want recordings, but you’ll usually be able to capture at least 80% of meetings. Even in-person conversations are often recorded when paired with presentations.
(If you can’t record a meeting, take detailed notes and use those raw notes later in lieu of a transcript.)
Capture Use Case(s) from an Initial Meeting
Here is a prompt I like to use to capture use case(s) with prospects. It’s relatively generic so you’d probably want to modify it to best fit your product or service.
Analyze the transcript of a first call with a prospect and clearly capture the use case(s) they describe.
• Treat one use case as the high-level business problem or outcome they are trying to solve.
• If the prospect mentions smaller frustrations, features, or process gaps that all relate to the same high-level goal, roll them up under that single use case rather than breaking them out separately.
• Only create multiple use cases if the prospect is discussing entirely different business problems or initiatives.
For each use case, provide:
Use Case Summary – A concise, plain-English description of the overall problem they want to solve.
Current State (if mentioned) – A paragraph on how the process works today. If not discussed, write “Not mentioned.”
Pain / Trigger – A paragraph on what’s broken or motivating change. If unclear, write “Not mentioned.”
Desired Outcome / Success – What “good” looks like in their words. If not described, write “Not mentioned.”
Keep the writing in paragraph form, and use examples when possible. Do not split out sub-issues like integrations, templates, or executive summaries as their own use cases unless they represent separate, unrelated initiatives.
Update Use Case(s) from Subsequent Meetings
Each subsequent meeting can provide more details. Maybe it’s additional context, expansion of scope, or removal of irrelevant use cases. You want an updated picture but also a record of what’s changed.
Analyze the meeting transcript and compare it against the current master list of active use cases.
Steps:
1. Identify any new use cases introduced.
2. Identify any changes to existing use cases (expanded scope, clarified inputs, deprioritized, etc.).
3. Identify any use cases removed or deprioritized.
4. Summarize these as the “Deltas from Prior List.”
5. Update the Master List of Active Use Cases in full detail. For each use case include:
• Use Case Summary (plain-English problem to solve).
• Current State (how it’s done today).
• Pain / Trigger (what’s broken or motivating change).
• Desired Outcome / Success (what good looks like).
6. Show the priority order of the use cases.
Important Instructions:
• Do not lose or strip out detail from prior versions of the use case summaries if it is still relevant. Each use case should carry forward all previously captured context, plus any new updates or clarifications.
• If a workflow is discussed in detail (e.g., Paid Search Automation), elevate it into its own use case instead of nesting it under a broader one.
• If an item is clearly about evaluation (pricing, SLA, credits, onboarding logistics), do not treat it as a use case.
• Use simple, clear language so that someone with no context from prior meetings can understand the use case fully.
•Keep the writing in paragraph form, and use examples when possible. Do not split out sub-issues like integrations, templates, or executive summaries as their own use cases unless they represent separate, unrelated initiatives.
Turn Use Cases into Alignment & Trust
Great - you’ve captured the use cases. Now what?
Collaborate internally
If the AE ran the first call, they can share the structured use cases with the SE to prep for solutioning. Product and engineering can also use the same format to understand what the customer is really asking for, without relying on second-hand summaries.
Collaborate with the prospects
This is where it gets powerful. Start follow-up meetings by restating the use cases as you understand them. Prospects can clarify, downplay brainstorms, or confirm priorities. This shows you listened and gives everyone a structured baseline for problem-solving.
Once the use cases are aligned, selling becomes straightforward: if your product solves their problem at a price justified by the value, you’ll likely win the customer.
Closing Reflection
When you consistently capture, refine, and validate customer use cases, selling stops being guesswork. It becomes about aligning your product to the problems customers care most about.
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And if you’d like tailored help applying this at your company, let’s talk.