CUSTOMER- CENTRIC Growth

Applying Jobs to be Done

HOW MCDONALD'S

INCREASED SALES 7X

When McDonald’s Restaurants adopted the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) methodology, they increased sales of milkshakes sevenfold. Now that’s a result worth paying attention to!

When McDonald’s looked to increase milkshake sales, they considered the usual suspects; offering more flavours and different sizes. But that didn’t work.

Traditional customer research might discover that “I’d like a milkshake” really means “I want something filling to eat”. Jobs to be Done (JTBD) goes a layer deeper and reveals that customers actually wanted something to keep them engaged on a long commute to work. 

So, instead of adding different flavours, the McDonald’s team made milkshakes thicker. Once they put in strategies to support the customer’s Job to be Done, (to reduce boredom on a commute), sales of milkshakes increased sevenfold. You can read the transcript where Clayton Christensen discusses the McDonald's case study in detail on HBR's IdeaCast podcast.

The power of understanding customer motivations beyond demographics

Today, we can gather more data about our target customers than ever before. But how useful is this data to marketers and business owners? If we are shaping products and developing strategy, demographic and psychodemographic data has its place, but it’s not the whole story.

In 1990, Tony Ulwick hypothesised that companies can unlock innovation and growth by understanding that customers buy a product or service to get a “job” done. If it does the job well, we hire it again. If it misses the mark, we look for an alternative to help us solve our problem.

It wasn’t until 2010 that people really started to pay attention to the Jobs to be Done framework. Johnson & Johnson attributed winning an Edison Award to the insights learned from their JTBD research, and the rest is history. Now, it’s applied in marketing, product, and management strategy the world over — in industries from SaaS to heavy machinery.

The Jobs to be Done framework helps B2B professionals like us to better understand customers, create a shared view of priorities, and enable a laser-focus on what drives the most results within our business.

In the resources below, we take you through the fundamentals of the Jobs to be Done framework and how crafting effective JTBD statements helps New Zealand companies like Tradify and Lumen achieve growth, alignment, and effectiveness.

Apply Jobs to be Done Across your Organisation

📃 Download Article

Internal Alignment

Bring everyone in your team together by putting the customer’s needs and wants front and centre, even when there are disagreements.

Deeper Insights

Learn about your customer on a deeper level. What they are trying to achieve with your offering, and how can you develop messaging and positioning with that in mind?

Prioritise Work

Customers need a figurative seat at the decision-making table. Activity can be run through the filter; will this enable my customer’s Job to be Done? 

Improve Sales

Gain more insight into the customer journey to support your sales team. Understand why a customer might choose you — and why they might not. 

IF YOU LISTEN TO LEARN

Applying Jobs to be Done

Learn how Tradify and Lumin apply the Jobs to be Done framework to unleash growth.

Mastering “Jobs To Be Done” For Global Growth

TRADIFY

Join us for Episode 23 of #WeDoB2B as we uncover the power of customer-centricity with Ross Howard, Chief Product Officer at Tradify. These are invaluable insights into the 'Jobs to be Done' framework and how it drives successful B2B marketing and product development. Ross delves into the challenges of growth, AI applications, sharing his journey from web design to leading Tradify in simplifying the lives of tradespeople.

Putting Marketing in the Middle

Lumin

This episode is packed with invaluable advice for B2B marketers eager to innovate and grow in today’s fast-paced landscape. Join us as we chat with Lucy Mansfield, VP of Growth at Lumin, and dive deep into the pivotal role of marketing in driving company success. Lucy explains how Lumin leverages product-led growth strategies through data-driven insights while fostering a culture of inclusivity and ambition within her team.

If you read to learn

BUILD MORE TRUST WITH JTBD

Jobs to be Done helps to build trust with customers. Read how.

The Importance of Trust in B2B Relationships

Read the Article

In the fast-paced world of B2B marketing, one concept stands as the cornerstone of success: trust.

How to align sales and marketing

Video insight

Best efficiencies and revenues are achieved when sales and marketing are aligned. But how can we get there? What strategies can you implement today to help sales and marketing to become the dream team you want?

BRANDS ARE UNLEASHING GROWTH WITH BLUEOCEAN

A customer-centric strategy with BlueOcean helped Orb Medical and BeeNZ Honey to unlock growth in new markets.

Orb Medical

"We now have real focus on value-creating activities that matter. It has really been about BlueOcean expertise."

BEN WILLIS, ORB MEDICAL

On a mission, together.
Global innovation for surgeons.

BeeNZ Honey

"BlueOcean has helped us to affirm and communicate our values and our reason why we do what we do."

JULIE HAYES, BEENZ

From hive to soul.
International go-to-market plan.

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