Those who listen, learn.

And learning quickly is one of the most important things you can do when you onboard to a new role.

In last week’s edition, we covered some incredible advice from Campers on how to onboard fast. One of the recurring suggestions was “speak to stakeholders”.

But, I received a ton of follow-up emails asking what specifically you should be asking their new coworkers. And, it’s true — the quality of your questions will directly influence the quality of the conversations.

For this week’s edition, I’m sharing the 6 questions I used when I onboarded to my last role at Kajabi. Borrow them, adjust them, share them…they’re all yours now!

Here we go.

The Listening Tour

When I joined Kajabi as the VP of Product Marketing in 2021, I knew I wanted to approach onboarding on a more holistic level. While I drafted some team-specific questions for each new stakeholder, I also asked the same 6 questions to every person I met.

Here’s the exact questions I used to onboard to my role, and why I think they work.

Why did you join this company? What keeps you here?

Why it works: This is a great opening question that helps you understand the motivations and values of your coworker. Plus, you may uncover potential company benefits, competitive advantages and areas of interests you might not have known about otherwise. Everyone has a unique reason for joining an org, and it is probably different than yours.

Which types of customers are best for our product? Which types of customers should not use our product?

Why it works: This question has two benefits. First, the obvious — it helps you gain a better understanding of your company’s ICP. But, more importantly, it lets you identify how aligned (or misaligned) your company is on the target market. Many times, you’ll start to hear 10 different answers from 10 different stakeholders. This is a good sign that you’ll need to prioritize customer alignment early in your role.

How would you describe our product to someone who has never heard of it before?

Why it works: I love this question because it helps me see how clear, and tight, the product’s positioning is. I’m looking to assess how consistent this messaging is across stakeholders and understand how well different teams understand the product’s value and features. It also uncovers any discrepancies or gaps that I may need to address ASAP.

What keeps you up at night?

Why it works: This is the fastest way to dig into the real challenges, problems and opportunities within the organization. It’s often the big, meaty things that keep people up at night. I’m also looking to identify trends in how various stakeholders answer this question — usually one or two key themes bubble up.

What is your team accountable here? How do you measure success?

Why it works: Framing this through the lens of accountability rather than responsibility leads to a more focused conversation. When you ask what someone’s team does, they often share a laundry list of tasks. When you ask for the one thing they are fully accountable for, you get to the heart of the answer. I like to follow this up by asking how they measure the success of that accountability. Again I’m looking for the one or two KPIs they own, not every KPI they touch. Once you know how they measure success, you’ll understand how to connect future initiatives back to metrics that matter most to them.

What’s the #1 area you need product marketing’s support in the next 90 days?

Why it works: This question helps prioritize immediate needs and expectations from the product marketing team and identify areas for collaboration and support. Again, instead of asking for a long list of all possible requests, I have them focus in on the most important and urgent item. It’s important not to over-promise that you’ll provide this support — let them know you’re collecting data from many stakeholders, you’ll bring it back to the team, and then you’ll circle back around soon.

What are your go-to questions for onboarding to a new role?

CAMPER ESSENTIALS

🗓️ Events: You’re invited to summer camp, product marketing style — for free! 1 topic. 4 speakers. 1 strategy. Walk away with a step-by-step guide to identifying your ICP and building a holistic marketing plan. Register for free.

🎧 Playlist: My friend Phill Agnew just dropped a particularly timely episode on his podcast Nudge — it’s all about how to give an election winning speech.

Until next week,