Things are tough at the moment, for every industry, and we’ve been talking about how in times like this when budgets are being scrutinised, or are harder to unlock, it’s important to think about how your product or service is seen as an absolute necessity, as opposed to a nice to have.

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This is another time when using the jobs to be done (JTBD) framework comes in handy. You’ve probably heard us talk about this before (we’re big fans!), it’s all about understanding the underlying motivations that drive customer behaviour.

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It’s based on the principle that:

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“People don’t simply buy a product or service, they hire them to make progress”.

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Thinking in this way can help us move away from talking about the product or service we’re selling, and talk about the progress our customers are trying to make.

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• People don’t want a bank with instant payments. They want to live better with money.
• People don’t want an ad platform (META) that allows them to quickly iterate on creative. They want to find new customers quickly.
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So, here’s a quick guide to uncovering your customers' jobs to be done.

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Get out there and talk to your customers

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There’s no better way to learn more about your customers than talking to them directly. One-to-one Interviews allow you to capture the actual language your audience uses to describe what progress they are trying to make. Understanding exactly how they express their goals and struggles is absolutely key when it comes to writing messaging that will instantly resonate with what’s going on in their minds.

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Ideally you want to speak with customers who are actively engaged with your product or service, but new enough to remember why they chose you over others.

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Here are some questions you should be asking to uncover their jobs to be done:

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• How long have you been using X [product/service]
• What has it allowed you to achieve? Why is that important to you?
• When did you first realise you needed it?
• What were you trying to accomplish?
• How do you know if using something is helping you with this?
• Were you using something else to do this before? What did you like about it? Where did it fall short?
• What other options did you consider? Why? Why didn’t you go with them?
• Where did you look for solutions / a way to solve the problem?
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Try and let them do all the talking! And try not to put words in their mouths - let them use their own (and don’t be afraid of an awkward silence whilst they’re looking for the words, that’s the gold dust we’re after!).

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Keep asking WHY WHY WHY - digging for facts and emotions behind their answers - use phrases like - “Tell me more about that?”, “How did it make you feel?”.

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Once you’ve got a sufficient number of responses (6-10 should be enough initially), you should have started to build a list of people’s goals and struggles. Look for common themes in these responses and turn them into messages / headlines you can test.

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Do your desk research…

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There are plenty of other places you can look for useful insights too.

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First up: Customer reviews, both your own and that of your competitors, are really useful sources. Seeing how people articulate the impact a product or service has had on their lives is really powerful.

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Secondly: Google trends. When we’re looking for a solution to a problem, we tend to turn to Google, so looking at what people are looking for can also offer some interesting insight. By examining keywords and phrases related to your industry you can get a good idea of what jobs people are looking for help with, as well as how many people are looking for help.

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If you plan on using any of these research methods, we’d love to know how you get on! And we’re always happy to chat if we can be of help.

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Lucy 👋

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PS: We’ve also got a more detailed report on this subject here which includes an in-depth look at some of the frameworks you can use to get a better understanding of your audience, and define a clear niche for you to focus on if you’d like to get into this topic in more detail!

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