Product for hire: customer research rooted in the jobs-to-be-done framework

Solving the same job with different solutions

What do breath mints, mint chewing gum and mouthwash have in common? They both do the job of quickly freshening your breath. But when you think about these products from a sales and marketing perspective, you may not immediately consider them as competitors.

This is where the framework of jobs-to-be-done comes in. The general idea is to figure out what job your product or service is being “hired” by your customer to do.

Considering that a job can be done by a variety of products and services, this framework forces you to think about your product in the way that customers do. After all, products may change, but the underlying job doesn’t go away.

That’s why identifying your customer’s job-to-be done as you develop your offering is crucial. Because while demographic data and customer pain points are valuable to know, sales ultimately come down to whether your offer achieves the outcome, or job, your customer is trying to accomplish.

Job-oriented sales and marketing

Understanding your customer's job-to-be-done shifts the focus from generic product promotion to authentic product messaging. So how do you go about discovering the job to be done? Ian Efford says to stop creating your product and start talking to customers. Or don’t talk to customers and instead, stand back and carefully observe.

That’s what the late Clayton Christensen did when he was tasked with figuring out the job of a milkshake. This YouTube video shares the story, but the key takeaway was that a banana, a donut, a snickers bar could all be hired to do the same job as a milkshake: solving their hunger on their morning commute.

If you’ve ever had a failed product launch or experienced disappointing sales, then it’s likely you missed the mark on what your customer actually needs to get done.

The jobs-to-be-done framework is powerful because it identifies multiple scenarios surrounding why a customer makes a particular purchase. With an understanding of the underlying outcome your customer wants, you can create marketing that aims for an instant level of understanding. No gimmicks or over explaining necessary to make the sale. Customers can easily see how your product or service will help them get a specific job done.

Jobs-to-be-done have their pitfalls

While the jobs-to-be-done framework is a powerful tool for understanding customer needs, it’s not without its challenges. There are situations where demographic insights can still provide valuable context.

For instance, understanding the age group or cultural background of your customers might reveal important nuances in how they perceive or approach the same job.

Another pitfall is oversimplifying by focusing too narrowly on the functional aspect of the job-to-be-done while ignoring emotional or social dimensions of the job.

It’s not just about what customers need to get done. Knowing how they want to feel and how they want to be perceived by others while doing it, is just as important. For example, purchasing a high-end coffee maker isn't just about brewing coffee, it’s also about the experience and the status it symbolizes.

Ignoring these non-functional aspects can lead to a product that meets the technical needs but fails to resonate emotionally with customers.

Productboard’s guide to aligning product fit with product discovery touches on the necessity of exploring jobs-to-be-done in a way that can support current and future customer needs. In today’s competitive landscape, this approach isn’t just powerful—it’s essential for both your product and sales strategy.