Identifying the fundamental need
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:23 am
For these reasons, it is important for every organization to take a step back and identify the fundamental need of the customer, and then consider whether that need cannot be fulfilled in a different and much better way. This provides insight into the chance that someone else will enter your market with a disruptive product or service and at the same time provides insight into how you can respond to this by better fulfilling the fundamental need.
To find that fundamental need, it is important not to make the mistake that many companies make: asking the customer what he wants. There is a difference between the need that people think they are fulfilling with a product or service and the need that they are actually fulfilling, the fundamental need.
Clayton Christensen , professor at Harvard Business School, has therefore come up with the ' job to be done' theory. In this theory, you do not look at the superficial need of a person, but at the task that he is trying to fulfill.
Christensen himself explains it by means of a case in which a fast food chain wanted to increase its market share for milkshakes. First, customers were asked for their suggestions for improvements. It turned out that they wanted different flavors and these were therefore added to the range. The increase in turnover did not occur. Then they started to analyze the behavior of the customers in detail. When do they buy a milkshake, what do they do afterwards? How do they drink the milkshake? Etc. etc. The analysis showed that a large group of customers came to get a milkshake every morning, because they had a long drive in the car and a milkshake is nice to drink slowly without spilling. The chain would therefore be better off setting up in strategic places along netherlands phone data the road than changing the flavor.
The 'job to be done' theory does not assume an existing product or service, but starts with the underlying need of the person. This makes it a very good method to discover digital opportunities and threats that you would not see in another way.
Don't ask the customer what he wants, but observe what his needs are.
Don't ask the customer what he wants, but observe what his needs are.
Start over every day
Chances are you will discover that your market is also susceptible to digital disruption. My colleague Robert Jan van Nouhuys previously described four strategies to anticipate this disruption. But just as important as choosing the right strategy is to keep innovating. The need itself may not change quickly, but the way in which it can be met does, thanks to digital developments. Therefore, keep observing the customer and adjust your product or service a little bit at a time, so that you move along with the digital possibilities.
To find that fundamental need, it is important not to make the mistake that many companies make: asking the customer what he wants. There is a difference between the need that people think they are fulfilling with a product or service and the need that they are actually fulfilling, the fundamental need.
Clayton Christensen , professor at Harvard Business School, has therefore come up with the ' job to be done' theory. In this theory, you do not look at the superficial need of a person, but at the task that he is trying to fulfill.
Christensen himself explains it by means of a case in which a fast food chain wanted to increase its market share for milkshakes. First, customers were asked for their suggestions for improvements. It turned out that they wanted different flavors and these were therefore added to the range. The increase in turnover did not occur. Then they started to analyze the behavior of the customers in detail. When do they buy a milkshake, what do they do afterwards? How do they drink the milkshake? Etc. etc. The analysis showed that a large group of customers came to get a milkshake every morning, because they had a long drive in the car and a milkshake is nice to drink slowly without spilling. The chain would therefore be better off setting up in strategic places along netherlands phone data the road than changing the flavor.
The 'job to be done' theory does not assume an existing product or service, but starts with the underlying need of the person. This makes it a very good method to discover digital opportunities and threats that you would not see in another way.
Don't ask the customer what he wants, but observe what his needs are.
Don't ask the customer what he wants, but observe what his needs are.
Start over every day
Chances are you will discover that your market is also susceptible to digital disruption. My colleague Robert Jan van Nouhuys previously described four strategies to anticipate this disruption. But just as important as choosing the right strategy is to keep innovating. The need itself may not change quickly, but the way in which it can be met does, thanks to digital developments. Therefore, keep observing the customer and adjust your product or service a little bit at a time, so that you move along with the digital possibilities.