What Is The Jobs-to-be-done Methodology?
July 12, 2022
When a customer purchases a car, they pay to full fill their need to travel. When a customer purchases a burger at McDonald’s, they pay to satiate their hunger. Whenever a customer makes a purchase, they do so to full fill specific needs and get specific jobs done. This is what the jobs-to-be-done methodology is all about.
What Exactly Is The Jobs-to-be-done Methodology?
As the name suggests, the jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) methodology is a specific take on customer actions based on the notion that customers make purchases to get doing specific jobs. According to this methodology, while products may come and do, the “jobs to be done” remain. Different products can be used for performing these jobs and it is these needs that the methodology tells marketers to focus on.
Companies often try to provide better services to their customers by innovating their products and enhancing their features. While it is important to do so, the JTBD approach does not give importance to enhancing the products. Instead, it gives importance to helping customers get their respective “jobs done” in better ways to enhance their offering.
The JTBD approach asks marketers to focus on the jobs their customers are willing to get done instead of the products they are selling. While product innovation and enhancement may overlap with the need to get these jobs done, the methodology encourages the focus to be on finding better ways full fill the needs of the customers.
The jobs-to-be-done methodology, like most modern marketing approaches, is customer-centric and gives customer needs more importance than the products sold to them. It asks brands to steer away from studying their products and make the job to be done by their customers a unit of assessment to get good traction and grow their businesses.
How Does The Jobs-to-be-done Methodology Work In Practice?
The JTBD methodology revolves around the manner in which customers measure value. It can be used by companies to create products that get the jobs done and marketers to promote them accordingly. It is a systematic approach to understanding the customers’ needs and giving them what they are looking for.
It all starts with a need analysis. Businesses need to conduct thorough research to understand all the needs of their customers and identify the ones that are unmet. These are the jobs that need to be done and the gaps to be filled by brands with their products. Whenever a customer executes a job, they have specific metrics in mind for defining its ideal execution. Businesses are required to understand these metrics to provide them with the solution they are looking for.
These metrics allow businesses to come up with multiple need statements that provide them with a better understanding of the jobs to be done by the customers. Based on these statements, brands can create, enhance, or revamp their products to help the aforementioned jobs get done. The same statements can be used by marketers to position a brand and promote its offerings to the customers.
Key Features Of The Jobs-to-be-done Methodology
The JTBD methodology makes a lot of points regarding the aspects to consider while catering to your customers. These points can be better understood by having a look at some of the key features of the methodology:
It Allows You To Define The Markets Around The Jobs To Be Done
Businesses often define their markets on the basis of the products sold, technologies used, or the solutions offered to the customers. The JTBD methodology allows businesses to define their markets based on the jobs that need to be done by their customers.
Here, the market is defined as specific job executors and the jobs they are trying to execute. For instance, an individual (the executor) willing to travel in luxury (the job to be done) is a market that is catered to by high-end automobile companies. Defining markets this way allows businesses to focus on the needs of their customers instead of their products.
In the example discussed here, the focus of an automobile company while doing market research would be to help its customers travel in luxury instead of adding new features to its cars. Once the specific job is taken care of, product enhancements will follow.
It Helps Customers Get The Job Done With A Single Product
The jobs-to-be-done methodology revolves around preventing customers from getting their respective jobs done by accumulating multiple products. It recommends the creation of use of a single product for a customer to get their job done. The methodology recommends businesses to obtain a holistic view of their customers’ needs and provide them with a single product that acts as a focal point of fulfillment.
It Allows Your Customers To Get More Jobs Done
JTBD is an ongoing approach and does not end once a single job is successfully performed by the customers. It encourages businesses to grow and diversify in the future, allowing their customers to get more jobs done. Whether it is a single product or a range of different products getting multiple jobs done, the methodology advocates an ongoing process of innovation and diversification.
For example, a company producing smartphones allows its customers to get multiple jobs done although the primary job is to make and receive calls. As technology evolves and digital transformation takes place, the same company can allow its customers to get even more jobs done through its mobile phones.
It Makes You Design Your Business Around The Jobs To Be Done
Instead of designing your business around a specific product or service offered by your company, the JTBD methodology makes you design your venture around the jobs your customers need to get done. This allows your company to stay focused on the issues you have set out to resolve and find the best possible solutions to help your customers get their jobs done.
Moreover, products are fairly short-lived as compared to the jobs they help get done. This way, designing your business around these jobs would provide your company with longevity and keep you on the right track for years to come. Even if one of your products fails, you can always come up with a new offering to get the same job done without hampering the goings-on of your business.
It Believes In Targeting Customers Who Get The Job Done Best By Paying The Most
The JTBD approach is targeted toward prioritizing customers who are capable of getting their jobs done best by paying the most. This leads to a win-win situation it allows you to earn more profits and helps the customers get their jobs done in the best way possible.
The JTBD methodology encourages marketers to adopt an outcome-based segmentation approach to discover where the maximum outcome is possible. Especially in the case of underserved markets, this approach allows a business to create its own niche by providing it with immense growth opportunities. Once you find underserved customers who are willing to pay more to get their jobs done better, you can earn optimum revenue and get a decent ROI for your business.
It Focuses On Extensive Research And Development
The job-to-be-done methodology involves a lot of research and development to identify the needs of the customers that are yet to be met. Instead of spending a fortune making R&D efforts for product enhancement, the JTBD approach encourages businesses to do the same for understanding the jobs that need to be done.
Fruitful research and development within the right section of the market allow businesses to find the most suitable ways of meeting the demands of their customers based on the jobs that need to be done.
It Takes The Future Into Consideration
The JTBD methodology does not end with the concerned jobs getting done. It constantly enables businesses and marketers to improve their offerings and find better ways of getting the same job done in the future. Instead of making improvements in the products, this approach helps marketers anticipate the needs of their customers in the future based on the ongoing trends.
This way, businesses can equip themselves with the right resources and technologies to help their customers get their jobs done in a faster and more effective way in the future.
It Matches What You Create With What Your Customers Want
Businesses often fail to strike a chord with their customers because their products, despite possessing high quality, fail to meet the specific needs of the end-users. The JTBD approach helps you resolve this issue by matching what you create with what your customers want.
When you shift your focus from the kind of product you want to create to the kind of job you need to get done, there is no way you can fail in fulfilling the needs of your customers. This helps you align your organizational objectives with the inherent needs of your customers.
The Final Word
These were the most important aspects to be considered about the jobs-to-be-done methodology. This approach to sustainable marketing focuses on the needs of your customers instead of the offerings you provide, helping you grow your business while building healthy relations with your customers.
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