Building LevelUp With Founding Members—Not for Them
The best product ideas rarely begin with a product meeting. More often, they begin with a conversation.
One Tuesday afternoon, a group of Delco business owners gathered for what was supposed to be a book discussion.
The book was Thomas Erikson's Surrounded by Idiots.
Some people came because they were curious about communication.
Others simply wanted an excuse to spend an evening with fellow business owners and “network”. I didn't realize that a conversation about a book would eventually influence how we redesigned one of LevelUp's core experiences.
That's become one of our favorite stories because it perfectly captures what the Service Biz Movement is all about.
The best ideas don't always come from software companies.
Sometimes they come from the people using the software.
It Started With a Question
As we talked about the book, one conversation kept returning.
Why do some sales conversations feel effortless while others seem to go nowhere?
Everyone around the table had experienced it.
The same estimate.
The same pricing.
The same company.
Yet two customers could respond completely differently.
One wanted every detail.
Another just wanted the bottom line.
One wanted reassurance.
Another wanted confidence.
One wanted to build a relationship.
Another wanted to make a decision and move on.
The discussion wasn't about changing who customers are.
It was about changing how we communicate.
Several owners made the same observation.
“We spend a lot of time trying to explain things our way instead of discovering how someone else prefers to receive information.”
That sentence stayed with us.
From Book Club to Product Design
As we drove home that evening, our team realized something.
LevelUp already included communication prompts for following up with leads and customers.
But those prompts assumed every conversation should sound the same.
What if they shouldn't?
Instead of rewriting scripts, we decided to rethink the entire experience.
Inspired by the communication framework discussed in Surrounded by Idiots, we redesigned our conversation cards around four communication styles.
Not to label people.
Not to place anyone into a rigid category.
But to encourage something much more valuable.
Curiosity.
“Get Curious”
Today, one of our favorite prompts inside LevelUp isn't a feature.
It's a question.
“Get curious.”
Before suggesting how to communicate, we encourage users to slow down and observe.
How is this person asking questions?
What details matter to them?
Are they focused on relationships?
Results?
Process?
Reassurance?
Instead of assuming we know, the software encourages owners to learn.
That small shift completely changes the interaction.
The goal isn't to guess someone's “color.”
The goal is to understand the human being sitting across from you.
The Cards Changed, Too
As our founding members experimented with the idea, they asked for more than theory.
They wanted practical help.
So together, we redesigned the conversation cards.
Each card now offers conversation starters, follow-up questions, and communication suggestions inspired by different communication preferences.
Instead of saying:
“Here's the perfect sales script.”
The cards ask:
“What question might help you better understand this person's priorities?”
Instead of encouraging people to memorize responses, they encourage better listening.
That distinction matters.
Because authentic conversations aren't built from scripts.
They're built from curiosity.
Learning Should Be Enjoyable, Too
One unexpected thing happened as owners began using the cards together.
People smiled.
They laughed.
They debated.
They challenged each other.
Stories filled the room.
Owners compared experiences.
Office managers shared examples.
Technicians described memorable customer interactions.
What began as a communication exercise quickly became a collaborative learning experience.
It reminded us of something we've come to believe deeply.
Professional development doesn't have to feel like homework.
The best learning often happens when people are engaged, curious, and enjoying themselves.
That's one of the reasons gamification has become an important part of our thinking.
Not because we want to turn business into a game.
But because games create something many training programs struggle to achieve.
Participation.
When people are engaged, they experiment.
When they experiment, they learn.
When they learn together, communities grow stronger.
For us, gamification isn't about points or badges.
It's about designing experiences that make learning, communication, and collaboration more enjoyable.
Every Feature Has a Story
That evening reminded us of something important.
Features shouldn't appear because someone thought they would look impressive in a product announcement.
Features should have a story.
A conversation.
A reason for existing.
The communication cards weren't born from market research reports.
They grew out of a dinner table conversation.
They were refined through Plates & Updates lunches.
They improved because owners kept challenging our assumptions.
That's exactly how we hope every meaningful part of LevelUp will evolve.
Building With Founding Members
When people ask us who LevelUp is built for, we've started answering differently.
It isn't simply built for service businesses.
It's being built with service businesses.
Every Plates & Updates lunch.
Every founder conversation.
Every survey response.
Every roundtable.
Every prototype.
Every piece of feedback.
They're all shaping the product.
Our roadmap isn't created in isolation.
It's created through relationships.
We believe that produces better software.
More importantly, we believe it produces software that feels like it belongs to the people who helped create it.
An Invitation to Help Build What's Next
This story isn't really about communication cards.
It's about collaboration.
Today it's a better way to approach lead conversations.
Tomorrow it might be dispatching.
Scheduling.
Hiring.
Customer communication.
Training.
Artificial intelligence.
Whatever comes next, we want it to emerge from the same place this idea did.
Real conversations with real business owners.
That's why the Service Biz Movement exists.
We're not looking for customers to validate finished ideas.
We're looking for founding members willing to help shape better ones.
If you're willing to share what's working, what's frustrating, and what you wish existed, we'd love to hear from you.
Pull up a chair.
Join a Plates & Updates lunch.
Bring your stories.
Challenge our assumptions.
Help us build technology that reflects the realities of running a service business—not just the theories.
Because the future of LevelUp won't be written by Cog Mission alone.
It will be written by the community that chooses to build it together.
And we think that's something worth believing in.