Job to be done, how to recognize it, what you need to know!

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Do you need to know the job to be done or the work your customers are trying to do with your service or product?

Then, don’t worry!

Because in this installment you will learn how to identify the job to be done, or the work that people are trying to do and for which they hire your product or service; so you can adjust it to their needs.

And what will result from this?

Well, sales will increase and with it your company’s performance.

So, if you are interested, do not hesitate to follow this post, where you will learn an excellent lesson through the following content:

What is the job to be done?
Tool to identify the job to be done: “The interview”.
The forces at work in your customers’ purchases.

Are you ready to know these “knowledge pills” that will make your sales a success?

Then, without further ado, let’s get started!

What is the job to be done?

First of all, the job to be done represents the work that your product and/or service is trying to do, for which customers hire it.

To illustrate this concept, in an easy way, I will give you an example: McDonald’s milkshakes…

In this case, the company realized that the job that the milkshake is trying to do in the mornings, for which the customers buy it, was: “to achieve a pleasant commute to their jobs”.

And this is because the shake was of a dense consistency, added with flavored nuggets, which served the function of entertaining while commuting to work.

In addition, it staved off hunger until lunchtime.

Do you understand what is meant by the job that people are trying to do for which they are hiring a service and/or product?

That is, the job to be done.

Therefore, you must identify what customers are trying to do when they purchase your product or service, this will help you improve your sales.

Is that clear?

Now, I want to invite you to learn more with the following video, where I explain all the details of the content of this installment and you can learn about other outstanding cases.

Take advantage of this opportunity!

Identify what customers are trying to do.

Continuing with the topic, we will see another relevant item…

Pay attention!

Cross-sector competition

In the following, I will show you with a simple and easy to understand case this notion of cross-sector competition.

For example, in the morning you could do the following, if you want to clear your head, take a look!

Enjoy a good coffee.
Exercise with a stretching routine.
Do yoga and meditate.
Or, jog in your Nyke running shoes.

Now, I ask you:

Of these 4 options, which one do you like to do to relax?

Now, the coffee, the exercises, the yoga mat and the Nyke compete with each other to get the same job done.

So, this concept is known as “cross-sector competition”.

In short, “cross-sector competition” refers to those products or services that compete in different sectors.

Remember, if you know which products and/or services you are competing against in different sectors, you will be able to develop new tactics to be successful and be a winner.

Let’s keep moving forward with our topic!

Tool for recognizing the job to be done: the interview

First of all, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

The starting point is how do we detect what we are trying to do?
Or, what are people trying to do for which they consume your product or service?

And, to find out, the tool that will allow you to identify this work that people are trying to do is “the interview”.

The interview for the job to be done

Next, to illustrate this tool, I will present you the example of QuickBooks.

Are you aware of it?

I tell you, it is the most used accounting software in the United States.

At the beginning, the company exhibited ideas where they included several functions for customers to execute all the accounting.

However, they started with interviews and saw that the work that people were trying to do with this software was:

“Calculate taxes quickly.”

So they tailored the software to do this job.

And what was the result?

Well, they succeeded!

How can you apply the interview to detect the work people are trying to do?

Take a look! In the following image…

Aspects you should identify in “the interview”.

1. The first idea.

At this point, people usually have a first idea about the work they want to do or the product they want to buy.

You can ask yourself the following questions:

What is my product or service trying to do for the consumer?
How does my product meet the customer’s needs?
How can my product or service help customers?
What is the customer’s job that I am solving?

2. The event that produces the intentional search for the product and/or service.

That is, the exploration of the product, or when part of that first search is made to see the options that exist.

In this sense, it is relevant that you ask yourself some questions that help you deduce what problem or need led the person to make the purchase.

Take a look!

What event and when did the need arise?
To satisfy that need or solve the problem, what did you do?
What data did you explore about possible solutions?
Where did you look for information about those possible solutions?
What words did you use to search for the data?

3. The purchase of the product.

At this point, you should ask about the motivation, and as much as possible, inquire into the details of the purchase; for example:

This purchase, why did you decide to make it?
How was the purchase made?
Did anyone mediate the purchase decision?
What do you want to achieve with the purchase of this product?

4. Consumption of the product and/or service.

Now you should focus on obtaining information about the product and/or service. For example, you could ask the following questions:

Is it easy to use the product and/or service?
How long did you use it?
Does the product and/or service have features that stand out?
Which ones were not useful?
Do you think any other features need to be added to the product and/or service?

These are the four important aspects that you should pay attention to when you are going to apply “the interview” to detect the work that customers are trying to do.

Now, I give you the following example:

If you own a house with a garden, you may have thought of acquiring a barbecue, with the purpose of having a sharing with family and friends.

In this regard, you start searching on your cell phone, in a first survey, the options available on the market.

However, you are still hesitant to make the purchase of the barbecue.

But then you make up your mind…

Just at that moment you buy the barbecue, that is to say, you buy it!

And, of course, when the time comes, you use the product.

What can you do to detect what I have just explained?

An easy way to do this is to apply “the interview”.

In fact, you should ask the customer from the moment he had that first idea.

In this case you could apply something like this:

When was the first time you thought about buying a barbecue?

What’s more, take the opportunity to delve into the details.

And, until you get to the moment when you decided to purchase the product and consume it.

Certainly, this way you will be able to “detect” what the customer was trying to do.

And you’ll realize that maybe what he was trying to do was to socialize with the neighbors and not just have a barbecue.

Get the picture?

Now, on another note…

What work does a product do?

In this sense, a product or service can fulfill three functions.

These are:

Social.
Emotional.
And functional.

We will continue with the case of the barbecue to explain this aspect.

Take a look!

What is the work that the barbecue does?

Clearly, in the example of the barbecue, what predominates is “social work”.

Why?

Because, it was detected that the client wanted to have a family reunion with his family and friends; this according to the interview applied to the client.

Do you remember?

Therefore, it is the reason why the customer bought the barbecue.

Similarly, would one have emotional labor?

You might!

Suppose you, without the support of your wife, manage to prepare a delicious dish with the barbecue.

In this case, it would give you confidence.

It could make you feel spectacular and you could say to your wife, look, I put it together!

What do you think about it?

The next point is “functional work”.

Specifically, it represents the work that the product does.

So what is the function of the barbecue?

To grill the food.

In short, products manage to perform these three dimensions of work.

Some will have only one component difference, others two or even all three, but there is always some role for all of them.

And you must reflect, for which work you want to develop your product or service.

Let’s get started!

The forces at work in your customers’ purchases

In this section I will tell you about the four “forces of progress”.

Pay attention to the following image!

Now, let’s see it with a practical case…

If you sell barbecues and, your customer has moved into a new house and wants to socialize with the neighbors.

What do you do?

Let’s start by looking at the first force: The “situation that drives” the purchase.

The customer wants to “socialize with his new neighbors”.

Then the second force: the “offer that attracts you”.

It’s the barbecue.

Now, in opposition you have the “habits of the past”. In this case, it could be that the customer is embarrassed to engage in conversation with people.

Plus, “anxiety” which is personified by the client’s fear of socializing with neighbors.

Therefore, you have to eliminate these two negative forces, past habits and anxieties.

How do you do this?

You can tell your client the following:

So that you make a team with your neighbors and chat while you enjoy preparing the meat and sausages; I have a super barbecue with 4 panels, for you!

And between all of you you can prepare a delicious delicacy!

Other customers who have bought it, have made an extraordinary team with their neighbors.

So this barbecue is for you….

What’s more, you eliminate the anxieties and habits of the past.

As a result, the customer will buy your product.

I assure you!

How about the forces of progress, you got it?

Conclusion

In this article you learned what is the jobs to be done, or the work that customers are trying to do and how to recognize it.

To identify it you must apply “the interview” to your customers or consumers.

This tool allows you to detect the reason why the customer is consuming your product or service.

You could appreciate it with the example of the barbecue, which is huge.

In addition, you learned about the three jobs that products or services can do: emotional, social and functional.

And finally, we studied another interesting point with examples: the 4 forces of progress.

I will summarize them for you:

First, you have to detect the work that your customers want to do with your product or service, for this you apply the interview and follow the steps I explained.
Then, you identify if the work your product does is emotional, social or functional, or if it fulfills two or all of them.

So, it will allow you to adjust your sales strategies to capture the attention of your customers.

Finally, eliminate anxieties and habits of the past, so that you drive your customers’ buying decisions toward change.

You’ll see success!

To close this installment and reinforce your knowledge, I invite you to read our post: Consumer Behavior… Why do we buy? Don’t miss it!

Thank you very much for reading it.

See you next time!