Let’s learn to moderate focus groups with jobs-to-be-done. Focus groups are a cornerstone of market research, providing valuable insights into consumer behaviors, preferences, and perceptions. Jobs-to-be-done is our primary methodology to understand customer behavior and decision-making. It’s natural to consider the interplay of moderation skills, the special context of the focus group, and the mental ... Read More
Jobs-to-be-Done brings CLARITY and PRECISION to every element of innovation, product development and marketing. And likewise, there’s no better structure to understand CX, Customer Experience, than Jobs-to-be-Done. The problem with “Customer Experience” (CX) programs is that we’re missing common definitions of what CX is. Some think about customer journey maps. Some think about NPS surveys. ... Read More
What if you could finish your voice-of-customer interviews in just a few weeks, not months? We’re talking about incredibly thorough qualitative and quantitative interviews. You’ll have irrefutable evidence that eliminates most commercial risk. You’ll know exactly which outcomes the market does and doesn’t want you to improve. And you’ll have it FAST. Here’s the good ... Read More
Market segmentation is covered in every business curriculum, and for good reason. The best of the best, in every craft, maintain a focus on fundamentals. Consider that the great Tiger Woods continues to perfect his golf swing even as he approaches the end of his career. For innovation, few concepts are as fundamental as market ... Read More
Today's innovation methods will look outdated in the future, with these 6 “awkward realities”: 1) We test market needs by launching products at customers. 2) We don’t understand what organic growth requires of us. 3) We misunderstand the proper role of stage-and-gate processes. 4) We interview customers to “validate” our hypothesis. 5) We fail to fully engage customers in our innovation. 6) We are easily distracted from customer-facing innovation. ... Read More
Tired of new product failures? Get one simple step right and your new product success rates will soar. For B2B companies, this step is prioritizing customers’ needs. Not sure about that? We’ll show you strong evidence that supports this… and show you how to turn new product failures into rare and distant memories. What’s more ... Read More
Finance is the calculus of growth. Engineers, product managers, and CEOs are all guided by financial metrics to lead the business to fulfill its purpose: sustainable, profitable growth. Meanwhile, the outside world uses finance to estimate firm value and potential. Perhaps due to the breadth of stakeholders, it’s easy for a company to slip into ... Read More
It’s natural to ruminate on the future; in particular, about technology adoption. What changes will future technology waves bring? Will we ride them to riches or drown under the weight of disruption? A Danish proverb warns that “Prediction is dangerous, especially about the future.” A cycle of bad logic Unfortunately, when we theorize, we can ... Read More
What is Smarketing? “Smarketing” is when marketing is only executed with a short-term, sales mentality. It’s the unholy melding of sales and marketing. Why is this bad? With Smarketing, the longer-term, less urgent, strategic marketing activities are pushed aside. It’s what remains when strategic marketing is absent. Strategy begins with segmentation. Click here to read ... Read More
For new product success, it’s critical to continuously understand customer needs. There’s only one true path to do this well: Your company must develop the competency to interview customers, to gather and prioritize needs. But additionally, are there times when the best decision is outsourcing VOC projects? Yes, there will be. But first, let’s review ... Read More
It's much easier to gather the data you need for pricing a new product, because customers want you to understand enough to deliver value to them. Unlike B2C, B2B providers should try to understand customers’ pricing decision-making instead of asking for pricing decisions (via surveys). ... Read More
Can Voice of the Customer methods be helpful for Sales? Consider the purpose of VOC – to understand customer needs for innovation. Could it be possible that these innovation methods could help sales as well? Let’s look at 11 VOC principles that will improve sales effectiveness. 1. Talk first; listen later. In today’s fast-paced world, ... Read More
Mediocre product teams ask the question, “How do we improve our product?” Good teams ask, “For what job does a customer hire our product?” But the elite teams additionally ask, “Who are we creating value for?” And to arrive at a proper answer, we must understand customer roles for JTBD (jobs-to-be-done). What are the Roles ... Read More
A persona is a hypothetical archetype used to represent customers in a given market segment. Follow 4 practices for B2B growth: 1) Design for just one person, 2) be specific, 3) remember precision is more important than accuracy, and 4) separate user personas from buyer personas. ... Read More