CUSTOMER
It’s not about the product or service you sell. It’s about the problem you solve.
And the milkshake proves it.
I spend quite a bit of time working with my clients around the idea of a core customer – the person who ultimately purchases whatever it is that your business creates. No surprises there.
So, once the core customer is defined, the clients are ready to run to market and offer their products and services to those very customers, right? Not so fast. According to Peter Drucker, a customer rarely buys what the company thinks it’s selling. Wait, what? That’s right – what the company had in mind when first creating the product or service is likely NOT the real reason a customer will buy it.
This is where I want to introduce the concept of jobs to be done and the star of this story, the milkshake. This business story comes from Harvard Business School professor and innovation author, Clayton Christensen, who wrote about the Jobs to be Done theory in 2016. Christensen put it simply, “We hire products to do jobs for us.”
Iconic fast food chain McDonald’s wanted to increase milkshake sales so the company did the classic market research, brought in tasters, held focus groups, and asked how they could change their milkshakes so a consumer would buy more. They used the research and feedback to make improvements to the milkshakes. The results were astounding, or should I say dismal. The changes had absolutely no impact on sales or profits of the milkshakes. NONE. What did they miss?
This revelation led a researcher to go with a different tactic, leveraging Christensen’s question, “What ‘job’ arises in people’s lives that causes them to come to this restaurant to ‘hire a milkshake’?”
McDonald’s has different groups of core customers. The milkshake does a different job throughout the day for each – from the driver taking a long journey to work in the morning to a mother and child swinging through the drive-thru after school.
Using the “job to be done” question created a shift in the market research. Instead of asking focus groups what they could do to make the shakes better, researchers observed restaurant visitors and took careful notes on questions such as:
After asking the morning milkshake drinkers some pointed questions about their breakfast of champions, the milkshake’s job became clear:
Conclusion: The milkshake was the BEST hire for the job of occupying a long-distance commuter while providing belly-filling nourishment that easily fit into a cup holder and was easy to consume with one hand.
The moral of the story is that if you truly understand the job your product or service is hired for by your core customers, it’s easier to innovate and make a good thing better. Even a milkshake.
If you’d like to get clear on your core customer or understand the Jobs to Be Done theory more, reach out now.
BLOG | LEADERSHIP
If your leadership team isn’t strong, aligned, and equipped with the right tools, how can they bring your strategy to life? The short answer: they can’t. But the good news? You can change that with this critical ingredient.
Read MoreBLOG | LEADERSHIP
The most successful family businesses don’t leave leadership development to chance. They recognize that leadership isn’t just about a single person at the top – it’s about building a system that supports leadership at every level – and through each of the 3 domains of a family business. It truly IS the golden thread that binds.
Read MoreBLOG | TRANSITION / SUCCESSION
History provides us the benefit of hindsight and powerful lessons. Take Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, both great conquerors. Yet one implemented a structured succession plan that ensured the survival and expansion of his empire, while the other's failure to do so led to the disintegration of his vast holdings shortly after his death. A strong succession planning is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Read MoreAt Compass Point, we make it easy to get insights, training, tools, and articles straight to your inbox and help family business owners and their team continue to grow, learn, and lead.