Why Articulating the “Customer Outcome” is Crucial for Using Behavioral Segmentation in Customer Discovery

In customer discovery, understanding the customer is a crucial step in creating a successful product or service. One approach to gaining this understanding is behavioral segmentation based on the solutions users use to accomplish their intended outcome. However, before diving into this approach, it’s essential to articulate the job to be accomplished or the customer outcome. By connecting the customer outcome to the fact that some solution would be at use and finding gaps in satisfaction level of that existing solution and reasons for the gap, one can better understand the customer’s needs and how to serve them.

What is the Job to Be Accomplished or Customer Outcome?

Before diving into why it is crucial to articulate the job to be accomplished or the customer outcome, it’s important to understand what these terms mean.

A job to be accomplished refers to the underlying goal that a customer is trying to achieve when they use a product or service. It’s not about the product or service itself but rather the desired outcome that the customer is seeking. For example, a job to be accomplished for a customer could be to reduce stress or to save time.

A customer outcome, on the other hand, refers to the specific results or benefits that a customer expects to receive from using a product or service. It’s the measurable outcome that a customer seeks. For example, a customer outcome for a fitness app could be to lose 10 pounds in 3 months.

Why is Articulating the Job to Be Accomplished or Customer Outcome Important?

It Helps Identify the Right Target Customer Segment

Articulating the job to be accomplished or customer outcome helps identify the right target customer segment. By understanding the underlying goals or desired outcomes of a customer, businesses can create products or services that cater to those needs. For example, if the job to be accomplished is to reduce stress, the target customer segment could be people who work long hours or have high-stress jobs.

It Enables the Business to Focus on the Customer’s Needs

By articulating the job to be accomplished or customer outcome, businesses can focus on the customer’s needs rather than their own. This enables businesses to create products or services that cater to the customer’s needs rather than just their own business goals. For example, a fitness app could focus on helping customers achieve their fitness goals rather than just making money from the app.

It Helps Identify Existing Solutions and Gaps in Satisfaction Level

Articulating the job to be accomplished or customer outcome can help identify existing solutions and gaps in satisfaction level. By understanding what the customer is trying to achieve, businesses can identify existing solutions that customers use to accomplish their desired outcome. They can then evaluate the satisfaction level of customers using these solutions and find gaps in the market that they can fill. For example, a business might identify that customers are using fitness apps but are dissatisfied with the level of personalized coaching.

It Guides Product Development

Articulating the job to be accomplished or customer outcome helps guide product development. By understanding what the customer is trying to achieve, businesses can create products or services that cater to those needs. They can then evaluate the satisfaction level of customers using these products or services and make improvements to meet customer expectations. For example, a fitness app could develop personalized coaching features to meet the needs of customers who want more personalized guidance.

Using Behavioral Segmentation Based on the Solutions Users Use to Accomplish Their Intended Outcome to Understand Customer Needs

Once the job to be accomplished or customer outcome has been articulated, using behavioral segmentation based on the solutions users use to accomplish their intended outcome can help businesses understand customer needs. This approach involves segmenting customers based on the solutions they use to accomplish their desired outcome. For example,

For example, let’s say a company is developing a new software tool for project management. Before conducting behavioral segmentation research, they should first articulate the job to be accomplished or the customer outcome that the tool will help achieve. This could be something like “streamlining project management processes” or “increasing team productivity.”

Once they have identified the customer outcome, the company can then use behavioral segmentation research to understand how their target customers currently achieve this outcome. They may find that some customers are already using direct competing products, while others are using indirect competing products or substitute competing products. There may also be a segment of customers who do not currently use any existing solutions to accomplish their intended outcome.

Through behavioral segmentation research, the company can dig deeper into each segment to understand their challenges and pain points with regard to the solutions they use currently and also with regard to other options available to them currently. This information can help the company identify gaps in satisfaction levels with existing solutions and the reasons for those gaps.

By connecting the customer outcome to the fact that some solution would be at use and finding gaps in satisfaction levels of that existing solution, the company can gain insights into what features and functionality their new tool should offer to better meet the needs of their target customers. For example, they may find that customers using indirect competing products are frustrated with the lack of integration between different tools they use, which could inform the development of a more seamless and integrated project management solution.

Ultimately, articulating the job to be accomplished or the customer outcome before conducting behavioral segmentation research helps ensure that the research is focused on the right areas and that the insights gained are directly relevant to the company’s product development goals. Without this focus, behavioral segmentation research may yield interesting insights, but they may not be actionable or relevant to the company’s specific needs.

If you’re looking to take your marketing efforts to the next level, understanding behavioral segmentation is crucial. By downloading our free ebook “Discovering Your Target Customer: A Behavioral Segmentation Playbook“, you’ll gain valuable insights and strategies for targeting your audience more effectively.