Running customer-led calls

Most customer calls follow the same script. You agree to topics in advance, audit the account, prepare a demo, then spend the call walking the customer through what you prepared. It works, but it puts you in front of the customer instead of beside them, and it caps a call at the two or three things you had time to prepare for.

This page describes a different way to run the call, where the customer does most of the talking and most of the demoing, and the detailed answers come afterwards. It has worked well enough that we recommend it as the default.

The old way

Agree topics with the customer ahead of time.
Audit the account and prepare demos for those topics.
On the call, set the agenda and demo what you prepared.

The problem is not the prep, it is the assumptions. You audit what you guess matters, you demo what you guess helps, and the customer spends the call watching. If they think of something new halfway through, there is no room for it.

The customer-led way

Still agree topics ahead of time. The customer should know what the call is for.
Set the agenda at the start, and make it explicit that this call is theirs. Tell them you want them to walk you through how they use PostHog, where they hit bottlenecks, what they have already tried, what questions they have, and what would move the needle most for them.
Ask about goals first. What are they trying to achieve, which metrics matter, and what do they care about most right now. Everything else on the call gets weighed against this.
Have them demo to you. Screen share on their side, not yours. Watch how they actually use the product, what they click, where they hesitate, and what they work around. See what is confusing.
Tell them up front that you will follow up in writing with specifics for everything covered. Notes, screenshots, click-by-click walkthroughs, and Loom videos where they help. They should leave the call knowing they do not need to remember anything.
Recap before you end. Repeat back everything you heard and get them to confirm each point, so you know exactly what they need before you start working on it.

After the call, do the audit. Now it is driven by what they told you rather than what you guessed, and each follow-up can go as deep as it needs to.

Why it works

The customer talks, you learn. You see their real constraints, their real workflow, and the things they have already tried. That is information you cannot get from just an account audit.
You come back with more. A prepared demo covers two or three pain points. Letting the customer go deep routinely surfaces significantly more, because people think of more as they talk.
The follow-up is better than a live demo. Each item gets polished instructions, screenshots, or a short video, delivered so they can work through it at their own pace. They learn how to do it themselves, not just how to solve today's problem.
It takes the pressure off. You do not need every answer on the call, you do not need to rush through a list, and you rarely need a second call because time ran out.
It removes prep based on guesswork. The audit happens after the call and targets exactly what they raised.

When to use it

Use this as the default for check-ins, health calls, and any call where the customer has brought their own list. It is especially useful if you tend to feel nervous going into calls or feel like you are racing the clock, because the structure gives the customer the floor and gives you the room to answer properly afterwards. Defer to the follow-up if needed.

Keep the old approach for calls that are genuinely about showing something new, like a product launch walkthrough or a training session the customer asked for - make sure the customer knows what to expect before the call if this is the approach you're taking.

Helpful sample checklist

Before the call

Topics agreed with the customer
Agenda ready, framed around them walking you through their setup

On the call

Ask about goals, metrics, and what matters most
Customer shares their screen and demos
Capture bottlenecks, things tried, questions, and what would move the needle
Say that everything will be followed up in writing
Recap and confirm each point

After the call

Audit the account against what they raised
Send the follow-up with notes, screenshots, walkthroughs, and videos per item
Log the outcomes in the account notes