Business Innovation Begins With Customer Understanding (Not Code)
As founders and CEOs and CFOs the difficult reality shows that engineering failures are less common than developing solutions for markets that do not exist. The primary cause of startup closure according to post-mortem analyses is the absence of market need which proves that speculation remains the costliest component of innovation. (CB Insights)
The practical approach of Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) helps businesses discover market demand prior to product development. Your focus shifts to customer progress goals during specific situations rather than personas and feature development. Identifying the job provides you with better investment decisions and accelerated sales processes while generating more customer payment willingness. The article “Know Your Customers’ ‘Jobs to Be Done’” in Harvard Business Review serves as a fundamental primer. (Harvard Business Review)
JTBD, Explained: What Customers Really “Hire” You To Do
Customers purchase products because these items help them accomplish tasks such as faster commuting and presentation confidence and sleep through the night. Great innovations map to those jobs. The famous “milkshake” example shows how reframing the problem (a morning commuter’s hunger gap) led to a winning product tweak—without chasing demographics or vanity features. (Harvard Business Review)
Why this matters to leadership
- CEOs receive improved strategic statements which directly stem from genuine market requirements.
- CFOs observe capital allocation which directly corresponds to specific jobs along with measurable outcomes.
- Founders/COOs should eliminate scope expansion because any element which does not advance the job gets eliminated.
A Practical, 5-Step JTBD Market Test (30–60 Days)
Step 1 — Collect “Switch Stories” (Week 1)
You should conduct interviews with new customers who purchased from you or your competitors during the previous months. Ask them about their struggle at that moment and the factors which triggered their search as well as the limitations they faced and the trade-offs they made. Each interview should last between 30-45 minutes and you should record the exact statements while creating a timeline that shows the progression from first thought to passive search to active search to decision to consumption. The product team at Intercom shared their experiences of using “switch” interviews for product development alongside go-to-market strategies. (Intercom)
Step 2 — Write Clear Job & Outcome Statements (Week 1–2)
The collected interview data should be transformed into:
- Core Job Statement: A statement that includes a verb followed by an object and context (e.g., “Confirm a new vendor is compliant before first invoice”).
- Desired Outcomes: The measurable criteria which customers use to evaluate their progress (e.g., shorten document verification time while enhancing sanction check accuracy).
The Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI) framework uses its structured approach to both document and measure outcomes so businesses can detect unmet customer needs. (Note: the 86% “success rate” often quoted is vendor-reported from Strategyn’s own study.) (Strategyn)
Step 3 — Segment by Circumstances, Not Personas (Week 2)
Organize potential customers based on the situations they face (first enterprise audit, new market entry, merger clean-up) and the restrictions they encounter (security reviews, procurement, integrations). The importance of this method lies in the fact that job requirements change based on circumstances instead of focusing on who the buyer is because their current task is more vital. (Harvard Business Review)
Step 4 — Prototype the Promise (Weeks 3–4)
Create two competing value propositions from the job description and outcomes by following this process:
- Variant A: Optimize for speed to progress (e.g., “Deploy in 1 day, slash time-to-verify 50%”).
- Variant B: Optimize for confidence/risk reduction (e.g., “Audit-ready evidence, 99.9% accuracy”).
Use landing pages along with demos and ROI calculators as the only lightweight assets you should deploy. This test focuses on determining how much demand exists for the promise instead of evaluating your full product.
Step 5 — Instrument the Evidence (Weeks 3–6)
Use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to capture event-level signals across the funnel (e.g., clicked schedule-demo, watched 50% of demo video, pricing page viewed, proposal opened). GA4’s event model and recommended events make this straightforward to implement via Google Tag or GTM. (Google Help, Google for Developers)
The addition of brand monitoring through Brandwatch enables you to monitor mention volume and sentiment while tracking the share of voice (SOV) against two competitors to evaluate how your narrative performs. (Brandwatch)
What to Measure: Executive-Level Signals
Leading indicators (weeks)
- Qualified pipeline velocity: time from first touch → first meeting.
- Value-prop lift: Variant A vs. B conversion rates to meeting/demo.
- Time-to-first value (TTFV): from onboarding → first outcome achieved.
- Early SOV & sentiment: share of conversation versus baseline. (Brandwatch)
Lagging indicators (quarters)
- Win-rate by circumstance (job context).
- Sales cycle days and discount rate (pricing power proxy).
- Net revenue retention (does the job expand?).
- “No market need” in closed-lost reasons (should trend down). (CB Insights)
Case Studies & Proof Points (To Learn From)
HBR’s Milkshake Case: Redefining Competition
The team found milkshakes competed with bananas and bagels when they analyzed the commuter’s job of satisfying mid-morning hunger without creating a mess. The new perspective drove product specifications and channel strategies that resulted in better sales without the need to pursue new customer personas. (Harvard Business Review)
Intercom & Switch Interviews: Operationalizing JTBD
Intercom made the “switch” interview famous through their efforts to transform onboarding processes and define feature development. The public materials from this vendor explain methods to discover triggers and anxieties and desired outcomes which result in products customers will choose to “hire.” (Vendor resources, still highly instructive.) (Intercom)
Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI): Quantifying Demand
The JTBD process of ODI enables organizations to create a quantifiable pipeline of opportunities through importance vs. satisfaction scoring which reveals unserved customer needs. The reported success rates and uplift statistics originate mainly from Strategyn’s publications yet serve as useful vendor-sourced information that needs evaluation. (Strategyn)
Governance & Trust: Certifications and Awards That Signal Rigor
ISO 56002 (Innovation Management — Guidance) represents an established framework for designing and operating innovation systems which also supports their continuous enhancement. Using ISO 56002 to align your JTBD process will enhance both executive and board member trust. (ISO)
The ISO 56001:2024 (Innovation Management — Requirements) standard provides auditable requirements for organizations that wish to receive certifications as standards evolve. (ISO)
The Edison Awards offer independent validation for market impact after your solution reaches the market. You should consider nomination only after demonstrating proof of adoption and achieving specific outcomes. (edisonawards.com)
Your JTBD Analytics Stack (AI-Driven & CFO-Friendly)
Core telemetry
- GA4 (events + DebugView): instrument “micro-yes” steps (scrolls, pricing views, calculator completions, demo requests). (Google Help, Google for Developers)
- Brand monitoring (Brandwatch): monitor mentions, sentiment, and SOV; set anomaly alerts for spikes tied to launches or PR. (Brandwatch)
Decision cadence
- Weekly: review Variant A/B funnel and message-market resonance.
- Monthly: update job/outcome scores; decide kill / scale thresholds.
- Quarterly: fold validated jobs into roadmap, pricing, and sales enablement.
Implementation Blueprint (90 Days)
Days 1–15: Discover the Jobs
- 10–15 switch interviews across won, lost, and churned customers.
- Draft 1–2 job statements and 10–20 desired outcomes per job.
- Prioritize 2 circumstances where your odds to win are highest.
Days 16–45: Test the Promise
- Build two landing pages (A: speed-to-progress; B: risk-reduction).
- Establish GA4 events (view_pricing, start_checkout/“book_demo”), track the path from source to meeting. (Google for Developers)
- Begin monitoring brand trends for category terms and competitors while monitoring the Share of Voice pattern. (Brandwatch)
Days 46–90: Operationalize the Winner
- Productize one high-impact outcome (e.g., a prebuilt integration that removes a top struggle).
- Enable Sales with “When to hire us vs. alternatives” talk track.
- Create a Trust & Innovation page that demonstrates ISO alignment alongside data handling and uptime/SLA policies while preparing an Edison Awards submission after customers show measurable outcomes. (ISO)
Thought Leadership: Earn the Right to Lead Your Category
Executives reward brands that teach with evidence. Publish:
A JTBD Benchmark Report (aggregate, anonymized outcomes & time-to-value) presents combined and anonymous performance metrics and the speed at which value is achieved.
A CEO/CFO Guide to funding bets by jobs instead of features (with GA4 screenshots and SOV trendlines).
A Field Playbook: interview guides + scoring templates aligned to ISO 56002 elements. (ISO)
The following suggestions outline both internal and external link options.
Internal (lead-gen focused)
The services section of the website contains two main subpages: JTBD Research which describes interview procedures and outcome measurement while the JTBD Interview Kit page provides a script for interviews along with consent and analysis template.
The resources section contains the JTBD Interview Kit which includes interview scripts and consent forms and analysis templates.
The innovation section of the website provides content about trust which explains ISO 56002 alignment and governance structures along with process maps.
The case-studies/ section contains data about demand discovery successes which can be tracked through segment and circumstance analysis.
External (authority)
The executive primer in HBR explains the importance of understanding what “Jobs to Be Done” means to customers. (Harvard Business Review)
The ISO provides 56002 guidance and 56001 requirements for innovation governance. (ISO)
Google provides step-by-step instructions for GA4 event setup and instrumentation. (Google Help, Google for Developers)
Brandwatch provides comprehensive guides about share of voice and brand monitoring which track demand signals. (Brandwatch)
The startup failure analysis from CB Insights demonstrates why market need assessment should be conducted in the early stages. (CB Insights)
Why This Positions You as a Thought Leader
Your approach to innovation goes beyond feature delivery because you use evidence to reduce risk during product development. Product, sales and finance teams share the JTBD language which works alongside ISO 56002/56001 governance and GA4 and brand monitoring provides real-time signals and external awards validate your impact. The combination of these elements creates board-level trust and market buyer confidence. (ISO, Brandwatch)
Ready to Put This to Work? (Conversion CTA)
Book a Customer Truth Sprint. We will conduct switch interviews and establish GA4 + brand monitoring while developing two tested value propositions through a 90-day roadmap and board-ready brief within 2-3 weeks.
TL;DR (Key Takeaway)
Find demand before you build. Start by using JTBD to discover actual jobs which you can convert into measurable results before testing two promises through fast evaluation. Use GA4 events together with brand monitoring for instrumentation while following ISO 56002/56001 for governance standards and validate your achievements through external recognition. This method enables founders and CEOs and CFOs to transform innovation into revenue with assurance. (Google Help, Brandwatch, ISO)
eBooks to read for executives: CEO, CFO, COO, Founder, and Co-founder:
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