The Customer Discovery Playbook: How Buzz Solutions Interviewed 35 Utilities to Find Product-Market Fit

Interviewing 35 utilities might seem excessive, but for Buzz Solutions, it revealed a universal pain point that shaped their entire business. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, CEO Kaitlyn Albertoli shared how their methodical approach to customer discovery led to product-market fit in the utility sector.

Understanding the Market Context The utility industry was facing multiple pressures simultaneously. “Many utility companies were facing the pressures of aging grid infrastructure, of the need to electrify, and of many renewables coming onto the grid, as well as climatic impacts that have caused greater stress and strain on the grid,” Kaitlyn explains.

The Interview Process Their customer discovery process revealed a consistent narrative. “We ended up interviewing 35 different power utilities who all had the exact same narrative. They said they were collecting so much more data of their infrastructure and didn’t have a seamless way to analyze it,” Kaitlyn shares. This unanimous feedback validated their market opportunity.

Identifying the Workforce Challenge Beyond the data analysis problem, they uncovered a critical workforce issue. “These Lyman field technicians don’t need to be sitting behind a desk analyzing data. These are very highly skilled, highly trained individuals that need to be out in the fields conducting this maintenance,” Kaitlyn notes.

Building the Solution Understanding these challenges led to their plug-and-play approach. “We show up with pre-trained algorithms that can start working on day one, can start analyzing data on day one, and can plug in directly into the existing workflow,” Kaitlyn describes. This solution directly addressed the pain points revealed in their interviews.

Evolving with the Market Their research also helped them anticipate market changes. “We are seeing that the utility sales cycle is actually shortening. And a big part of that is the driving factors that are requiring faster utility adoption of new technologies,” Kaitlyn observes.

The Results Their thorough customer discovery process has paid off. The company now works with major players like the New York Power Authority and has partnerships with the Electric Power Research Institute. Their solution addresses both immediate operational needs and broader industry challenges.

For B2B founders, Buzz Solutions’ approach offers valuable lessons in customer discovery:

• Interview enough customers to identify clear patterns
• Listen for both explicit and implicit pain points
• Understand the broader industry context
• Design solutions that integrate with existing workflows
• Build for both current and emerging needs

Their success stems from turning customer insights into actionable product decisions. As Kaitlyn emphasizes in their vision, “We want to safeguard the world’s energy infrastructure,” showing how thorough customer discovery can lead to solutions that address both immediate needs and long-term industry goals.

For founders conducting customer discovery, the key takeaway is clear: go beyond surface-level problems to understand the broader context and constraints that shape your customers’ decisions. This deeper understanding enables you to build solutions that not only solve immediate problems but also align with long-term industry transformation.