Podcast Summary: Insights Unlocked – “Measuring the ROI of Customer Insights”

Episode Date: March 16, 2026
Host: Nathan Isaacs (UserTesting)
Guest: Dave Carey, Global Value Engineering Director (UserTesting)
Duration: ~30 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode explores the persistent challenge of measuring and demonstrating the business impact (ROI) of customer insights. Nathan Isaacs and guest Dave Carey discuss why organizations struggle to prove the value of research, strategic ways to communicate insights to the C-suite, and practical frameworks for connecting customer-centric work to real business results. The episode offers actionable methods for product, marketing, CX, and UX leaders to quantify and advocate for the value their teams deliver.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “PR Problem” of Customer Insights (01:47–04:01)

• Dave Carey reveals that most companies don’t measure the ROI of their insights work, resulting in a perception problem for research and insights teams.
• Researchers often struggle with:
  • Not having enough time/resources to do research.
  • Their recommendations not being included or implemented.
  • Being left out of key business conversations.

“You have executives... really mandating and pushing their teams to be more customer centric... And on the other side, you have folks in the space who are really struggling... because they don't have time... and they're often left out of the conversation. So there's this huge gap. And again, it's somewhat of a PR problem...”
— Dave Carey, 01:47

2. The Four Key Value Drivers (04:01–06:26)

Dave introduces four core “value drivers” for measuring the impact of customer insights:

1. Business growth
2. Faster innovation
3. Reduced operational costs
4. Risk mitigation

Practical Example:

• In banking, improved digital experiences (e.g., online signup) can decrease physical branch visits, saving costs and enhancing CX.

“For every additional prospect or potential customer that we can have sign up through their app... that's maybe one less person that has to come into a branch... So that's directly affecting cost, that's directly affecting experience.”
— Dave Carey, 04:01

3. Translating Internal Work to Executive Language (08:01–09:29)

• Teams should approach leadership with the same empathy they use to understand customers.
• Use enterprise value maps to show how work in insights links to business outcomes (e.g., better experiences → more account openings → higher revenues).

“My recommendation... is approaching their leadership with the same kind of empathy... what their leaders and executives ultimately care about, what they're trying to achieve, and then tying that back to the work that they're doing.”
— Dave Carey, 08:01

4. “What Makes a Great Day?” – KPI Mindset Shift (10:01–12:33)

• Ask your manager/senior leadership: “What makes a great day for you?” to uncover key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter.
• Helps reframe internal research in language that resonates with decision makers.

“It sounds like a bit of a throwaway, but it's actually a really good starting point to understand for somebody in a role maybe you don't fully understand well, what makes a great day for them. And you'll often get answers like... a positive bit of customer feedback, when we're able to ship a new product...”
— Dave Carey, 10:01

5. Addressing Organizational Politics with ROI (13:31–15:59)

• Politics often stem from resource competition and lack of prioritization.
• Applying an ROI framework objectifies prioritization, providing clarity and fairness when allocating resources and pursuing initiatives.

“At the end of the day, it's what's going to generate the best returns, the best revenue or cost savings for the business. And the kind of frame or lens that we look at that through is return on investment, ROI.”
— Dave Carey, 13:31

6. Universality of ROI Mindset Across Industries (15:59–16:38)

• These approaches are not industry-specific. All organizations can benefit from tying their work to business impact.

“I think anybody in any organization... can look to put their work through the lens of business impact, of financial results and ultimately of ROI.”
— Dave Carey, 15:59

7. Making Value Explicit: Journey Maps and Quantifying Friction (16:38–18:55)

• Encourage journey mapping and quantifying friction points (e.g., site drop-offs, failed transactions).
• Example: Improving an online parking ticket payment system can reduce support center costs, increase revenue, and save resources on rework.

“If you think about the cost of that phone call, if you think about the lost payments or the folks who maybe don't ever make that payment, you're looking at now different buckets that you can put that in.”
— Dave Carey, 17:27

8. Importance of “Shifting Left” (20:00–21:31)

• Moving customer insights upstream in the development process (shifting left) leads to less rework, better products, and more efficient use of resources.
• However, getting buy-in for early-stage research requires clear communication of potential ROI.

“If you're not working on the right things and you're not pointed in the right direction, that really means you're only failing faster... we recommend trying to get further left and further upstream...”
— Dave Carey, 20:00

9. Building Your Own ROI Model (22:31–25:46)

• Start simple: Track your work and generate supporting data, even if only volumes at first.
• Partner cross-functionally to map how insights drive outcomes.
• State your assumptions transparently; this invites input and course correction and frames ROI as a living model.

“From the onset, really important to just track your work, generate data behind the types of work that you're doing over time so that you can show... volumes are increasing, workload is extending...”
— Dave Carey, 22:31

“State your assumptions. Go out there and... put together your own value driver tree... you could be wrong, but they will correct you...”
— Nathan Isaacs, 23:48

10. Key Takeaway: Executive Empathy & Framing Your Work (26:10–27:00)

• Apply executive empathy: Think about whose goals your work is supporting and frame your communications accordingly.

“We've talked a lot about this method or executive empathy. How do you know your boss is having a great day? How do you know his boss is having a great day?... maybe how you communicate that and articulate that so that it's going to resonate and ultimately have, have a broader impact.”
— Dave Carey, 26:26

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you're not working on the right things and you're not pointed in the right direction, that really means you're only failing faster.”
  Dave Carey, 20:00

• “Politics often stem from resource competition and... lack of prioritization. Return on investment, ROI... is how management is thinking about a business.”
  Dave Carey, 13:31

• “What makes a great day for your boss? It's a simple question, but it starts connecting your work to their goals.”
  Dave Carey, 10:01

• On starting ROI measurement:
  “It’s not going to be perfect, doesn’t need to be bulletproof. But really with that hypothesis, mindset can... give some flexibility.”
  Dave Carey, 25:46

• Practical Reading Suggestion:

  • The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto, for structuring communication in a business context (27:48)

Actionable Steps & Tools (Timestamps)

• 00:00–14:00: Understand the organization’s value drivers and learn to speak the language of business outcomes.
• 10:01–12:33: Use the “great day” question to reframe your KPIs.
• 13:31–15:59: Apply ROI framing to align and prioritize cross-team work.
• 16:38–18:55: Utilize journey mapping to identify and quantify the financial value of customer experience improvements.
• 22:31–25:46: Start tracking and stating your assumptions for ROI — even imperfect models provide a basis for improvement.
• 27:48–28:39: Leverage structured communication (Pyramid Principle) to get buy-in.

Useful Resources Referenced

• Book: The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto – recommended for structuring business communications and storytelling (27:48)
• UserTesting Account Teams: Tools and support for building value engineering and ROI models

Final Takeaway

To start demonstrating ROI this week:
Apply “executive empathy” by identifying what makes a great day for your boss and framing your work in terms of the outcomes and KPIs they care about. Simple reframing can make your insights more visible, valued, and impactful across the organization.

[For more resources and show notes, visit usertesting.com/podcast.]