jobs-to-be-done research

Testimonials

"New Markets’ approach to innovation is both insightful and resourceful. They were able to uncover consumer insights through quick and inexpensive research that led to unique and relevant concepts. Leveraging experience in entrepreneurship and disruption, they crafted business models that could be explored quickly and with a relatively low investment, which is a departure from most consultancies."

Nate Hill, Emerging Idea Marketing Leader, Nestlé

"New Markets Advisors did an excellent job of providing our team with a 'jobs-to-be-done' framework for generating customer-centric product requirements. Their consultants have a knack for outlining the theories and then applying them in creative and engaging ways."

Paul Conrad,
Vice President, Global Hip Product Mgt., Zimmer

"“When we wanted to learn the Jobs to be Done skills, we evaluated a handful of consultants. Our choice of New Markets has turned out to be excellent. Their expertise in the concepts and their practice along with their thoughtful mentoring has helped in applying this new skill in our day-to-day work. This has given us a new perspective and ability to spot opportunities."

Bhaskar Venkatasubramanian,
Innovation Program Manager, Cognizant Technology Solutions

"New Markets Advisors did a wonderful job synthesizing a broad array of original and secondary research into fresh, actionable business concepts for our organization.  I was impressed by...their ability to bring disparate insights together in a meaningful way."

Teresa Marchek,
Business Development Director, Capella Education

How "Jobs to be Done" Research Reframes Markets

Great business successes often come from a unique understanding of customer needs. From consumer brands such as Facebook to B2B powerhouses such as GE Healthcare, companies that have an expansive view of their customers' demand can craft offerings that appeal on new dimensions of performance and generate unexpected kinds of value.

Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen has popularized a way of looking at marketplace needs called "jobs to be done."  In contrast to typical ways of examining demand, he calls for looking beyond product markets to root out the underlying jobs that customers are trying to get done in their lives. Christensen's classic example is a milkshake buyer who isn't buying a cold treat but rather a tidy way to alleviate boredom during a long commute.

The leadership of New Markets Advisors worked with Christensen years ago to turn this lens on marketplace demand into a detailed and repeatable process for reframing markets. Our jobs to be done research now helps firms in a vast range of industries -- including consumer products, banking, software, and medical devices -- to compete asymmetrically and defy commoditization. 

In the critically-acclaimed book Capturing New Markets, our Managing Director Stephen Wunker details six aspects of jobs to be done research:
  • Determining the hierarchy of jobs that different customer types are trying to get done
  • Assessing customers' current approaches to these jobs and the pain points they create
  • Finding the real competition, including awkward make-do approaches and inertia
  • Defining the criteria that customers use to make their decisions
  • Determining the obstacles to adopting new solutions
  • Calculating the value that new solutions might bring
Through this six-step process (laid out in the chapter available through the form at right), companies can create a repeatable capability around executing jobs to be done research that can bolster the value of their offerings and keep competitors continually off-balance.

Receive Our Book Chapter on Jobs to be Done