Since marketing has existed, it has transformed, evolved, and adapted. This is normal, our consumption methods are also changing, constantly. Marketers and scientists analyze our every move, our consumption habits and business trends, going from hypothesis to hypothesis to try to find THE recipe that best suits today's markets.
What is the Job to be Done?
In all my reading on digital marketing, and of all the podcasts, videos, and trainings I have seen, few have made me so excited about what seems to work. Whether we are talking about B2B or B2C or B2B2C or whatever letters around the 2, every time the same thing happens. The customer, the company, or whatever you call the buyer of your products and services, has a job to do. Those who understand this concept are more successful in asserting their value proposition than those who do not!
This work must be done at all costs. This is the “Job-to-be-done Theory”, initiated by Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School at Harvard University..
In Digital Marketing, Prioritize the Why Before the What
In a sense, you are looking at why people need your product or service, because that is how they will determine the necessary tool, the what.
Simon Sinek has built his career around the Golden Circle theory which demonstrates the benefits of emphasizing the Why over the How and the What,
Source : Simon Sinek
Determine the Client's Goal!
When you sell your service or product, have you ever asked your customers:
“What job were you looking to accomplish by engaging my product?”
This is a rather unusual way of surveying your customer base ... yet this is the question that will allow you to truly understand the impact of your products and services on people's lives. This is what will help you build your value proposition.
By the way, here is an interesting definition of the word "job":
[A job is the progress you want to achieve in a particular context].
“This definition is specific and important: Fully understanding a customer's job requires understanding the progress a customer is trying to make in particular circumstances and understanding all of its functional, social, and emotional dimensions — as well as the tradeoffs the customer is willing to make . ”
- Clayton Christensen, Professor at Harvard
To identify the task at hand, a simple technique is to ask your customers to fill in the blanks in this sentence:
> As a (type of person), when (Situation/circumstance), I want to (accomplish something) so that I can (accomplish something else).
The "job-to-be-done" is the amalgamation of the two things to be accomplished, or mainly the 2nd. The first is motivation and the second is the desired result.
Every time a job needs to be done, a service or product needs to be hired. Is yours the best for doing this job?
To find out, you need to identify what work to do. Do not fall for ease and presumptions. Ask your customers!
Here is an example of presumptions and actual work to be done:
The 6 principles of “Job-to-be-done Theory”
- People buy products and services to do a job.
- The products that win in the marketplace are the ones that do this job better, or at a lower cost.
- The work to be done remains stable over time. The products and services that are engaging change, but the work to be done remains the same. This explains why the theory of the work to be done fits as a methodology of disruptive evolution.
- The work to be done is always a process (something that advances).
- A job to be done is functional and has emotional and social work associated with it.
- Understanding the work to be done opens new horizons in understanding the needs of your customers.
The 4 Dimensions of the Work to be Done
The “job-to-be-done” can be accomplished only if the hired product includes the 4 dimensions essential to the accomplishment of the job. These dimensions are:
- Functional requirements : What are the minimum functionalities that your product must have to get the job done?
- Financial Requirements : What are the maximum and minimum fees that people are willing to pay to get the job done? Are you in this price range?
- Personal Identity : Does the product reflect my beliefs, my culture?
- Social Appearance : Does the product influence how others perceive me?
These four dimensions should be reflected in your value proposition.
Bet on Heroic Marketing!
When we understand the work our products and services can do then we can adapt, modify, and improve them to better do that work.
This is also when heroic marketing comes into its own.
So, your job is to empower your clients to become heroes, successful people who get the job done better than anyone else. It is because of you that they'll progress faster, get promoted, avoid problems.
This is called heroic marketing. The act of promoting a product or service with the aim of making a hero of a particular situation, or that of someone else.
What to Include in a Hero Statement?
Every business should be someone else's hero. To get there, we need 2 essential elements.
- Knowing what job, we claim to be able to accomplish through our products and services
- Know who our clients are, who have this job to do. (Ideally identified as personas)
Once these elements are well identified, you will be able to define this hero statement.
Here is the rule to follow when defining your hero statement:
Your company is the hero of the persona(s) who wants to accomplish the “job-to-be-done”.
Here is a real-life example of one of Globalia's hero statements:
“Globalia is the hero of Small and Medium Business Marketers who want to prove to their bosses the benefit of using Inbound Marketing to drive growth.”
In this case, the job at hand, for which companies hire Globalia’s services, is to demonstrate that the use of the HubSpot platform in Inbound Marketing generates growth for superiors who do not believe in it.
At first glance, when we asked our customers why they were hiring Globalia, they would say, “To help me with using HubSpot”. But when we push further and try to understand the Job-to-be-done, they admit that it is because they have a great tool, but they are not able to prove its efficiency to their superiors. This is the real job to be done.
The Superpowers of Heroes
Halfway between business goals and your company's mission, hero statements can quickly rally your efforts towards a common target for a specific purpose.
Your superpowers are therefore as follows:
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Your ability to improve your value proposition in order to facilitate the job at hand.
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Your ability to create other heroes in the community
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Your ability to transform your competitors into allies.
Your competitors, as you know them, could even become allies. Imagine if the job at hand got easier by combining your solutions!
For example, a dinner show business might view bars and casinos as competitors. But imagine that the job at hand, and for which the customers hire their service, is to entertain young parents without their children at a party so that they can get out of their daily routine… They could then partner with bars and nearby casinos to offer tailor-made packages, which involve cocktails at a bar, a dinner show, and a trip to the casino to end the evening! The work to be done would be even more complete!
Steps to Remember
In short, no matter which company you work for, your offer makes it possible to accomplish a Job-to-be-done.
Then apply these steps:
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Find out what work needs to be accomplished;
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Make sure that you are the best fit for doing this work and underline it in your value proposition;
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Identify your hero statement in order to become someone else's hero;
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Turn that person into a hero for their company or those around them;
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Promote your expertise!
