When tactics arrive before strategy
DISTIL is the discovery stage in our customer experience framework.
DISTIL™ Methodology
Insight led strategy for organisations ready to do the deeper work.
Most businesses start with tactics. The ones that scale start here. DISTIL™ is a proprietary methodology developed by Liz Pinfold Reed, originally created for Distil Insights (UK) and now owned by Good CX Ltd. Six stages. One flywheel. Beginning where most consultancies skip: with Discovery.
The SME problem
Here is a pattern you might recognise. Your business has been growing. The team is busy. Marketing is running campaigns. Sales is closing deals. Operations is shipping. Everyone is doing things.
However, the question nobody has paused to ask is whether the things being done are the right things.
Why businesses skip insight and discovery
In SME-based economies, scaling is done on the fly. As a result, performance culture trains leaders to think in quick wins. If your business was originally built on a strategy set overseas, the local team may have inherited the execution playbook. Consequently, they got the tactics but never saw the thinking behind them.
This is not a failure of effort. It is a failure of sequence.
The cost of strategy without insight
When organisations skip Discovery, Insight, and Strategy, everything downstream sits on untested assumptions. Therefore, the campaign does not convert. The product does not land. The team cannot articulate why the business exists. In other words, the cost stays invisible until it is not.
DISTIL™ exists to fix the sequence.
”The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust
How DISTIL™ works: six stages, one flywheel
DISTIL™ is a cycle, not a checklist. The Learning stage feeds back into Discovery because every growth phase changes the soil.
How insight-led strategy is measured: the AFAR™ framework
How do you know the strategy is actually working? DISTIL™ uses the AFAR™ framework as its measurement layer. Four customer signals (Allocentric Affinity, Felt Frequency, Attuned Advocacy, Regulated Recency) each paired with the brand condition that generated it. Together they tell you whether the work is compounding or losing its grip.
For what the discipline asks of senior leaders standing in the structural gap between functions, see scaling leadership lessons from ‘The Bear’
For DISTIL applied to a journey that crosses into a new market, see customer journey mapping for export markets – how the Discovery and Insight stages shift when the customer’s culture, channels and trust signals all change at the border.
Not sure where to start? Discovery is always the right first step.
DISTIL™ methodology FAQs
What is the DISTIL™ methodology?
DISTIL™ is a six-stage insight led strategy framework: Discovery, Insight, Strategy, Tactics, Iteration, and Learning. It was developed by Liz Pinfold Reed and is owned by Good CX Ltd. The methodology is a flywheel, not a linear process. As a result, Learning feeds back into Discovery for continuous refinement.
How is DISTIL™ different from design thinking?
Design thinking focuses on ideation and prototyping. However, DISTIL™ starts earlier. It surfaces the qualitative signal, often surfaced through a voice of customer programme that tells you whether you are solving the right problem. Consequently, many businesses arrive at design thinking with the wrong brief because they skipped Discovery.
What is the SME problem?
The SME problem is the pattern where businesses jump straight to Tactics. In other words, they skip Discovery, Insight, and Strategy. It is especially common in SME-based economies where scaling happens on the fly and performance marketing culture rewards quick wins over strategic depth.
Can our team run the Tactics stage internally?
Yes, and this is by design. Once Discovery, Insight, and Strategy are done properly, the playbook travels. Your team executes Tactics, Iteration, and Learning with the strategy as their guide. In short, Good CX builds the map. Your team drives the route.
What is the AFAR measurement framework?
AFAR stands for Affinity, Frequency, Advocacy, and Recency. It measures whether an insight led strategy is translating into real outcomes across both customer and employee experience. Affinity tracks alignment between intent and response. Frequency tracks repeat engagement. Advocacy tracks organic recommendation. Recency is the early warning system. If Recency is dropping, it is time to return to Discovery.
How long does a DISTIL™ engagement take?
A focused Discovery and Insight engagement typically runs four to six weeks. A full DISTIL™ cycle can run three to six months. We confirm timing in the first conversation once we understand the scope.
Who is DISTIL™ designed for?
Founders and senior leaders at organisations between thirty and two thousand people. Particularly those at a tipping point: scaling, repositioning, or recognising that the current strategy is no longer landing.
How does DISTIL™ connect to the OPEN Method©?
DISTIL™ diagnoses what needs to change. The OPEN Method© then creates the team conditions to act on it. If Discovery surfaces that the team is not in a mobilised state, an OPEN Innovation Lab is often the next step before moving to Strategy.
Is DISTIL™ trademarked?
DISTIL™ is a proprietary methodology owned by Good CX Ltd, originally developed by Liz Pinfold Reed for Distil Insights (UK). The framework and methodology name are the intellectual property of Good CX.
Ready to find out what Discovery would surface for your business?
We will not pitch you a six-month programme. Instead, we will start with one conversation. We will ask the questions most consultancies skip. And we will confirm whether DISTIL™ is the right framework for what you are facing. If it is not, we will tell you.