A framework to optimize go-to-market strategy by analyzing the “jobs” that prospective customers need to do (fulfill a certain need, perform a certain task, reach certain objectives, etc) and which drive their decision to buy a product
JTBD can help you identify why customers buy certain products or experiences.
The JTBD premise is that people don’t buy products — they “hire” them to do a job.
It is advisable to identify three to five JTBDs for your customers.
JBTD is a somehow controversial topic with two schools of though almost at war with one another (see below).
Bob Moesta defines a Job-to-be-Done as “a need that your customers are trying to fulfill”.
Moesta puts strong emphadsis on context and desired outcome, rather than on the specific actions part of a job.
Tony Ulwick defines a Job-to-be-Done as “a statement that describes, with precision, what a group of people are trying to achieve or accomplish in a given situation. A job-to-be-done could be a task that people are trying to accomplish, a goal or objective they are trying to achieve, a problem they are trying to resolve, something they are trying to avoid, or anything else they are trying to accomplish.”
For example, pass on life lessons to children, repair a torn rotator cuff and prevent a shooter from entering a school, are all jobs-to-be-done.
Tony Ulwick also writes that “to gain a deep understanding of the customer’s job-to-be-done, a company must be able to discover the customer’s “needs” associated with getting that job done”.