Understanding customers is a fundamental step in developing a business strategy. It begins with forming hypotheses about who the customers are and what [[customer job|jobs]] they aim to complete. This involves identifying whether these jobs are [[functional customer job|functional]], [[social customer job|social]], or [[emotional customer job|emotional]], and determining whether they address a [[customer problem]] or fulfill a [[customer need]]. The concept of "jobs to be done," popularized by Clayton Christensen, encourages entrepreneurs to explore the tasks customers seek to complete, such as solving a problem, enhancing their status, or fulfilling a basic need like entertainment. By starting with these hypotheses and conducting experiments, businesses can refine their understanding of customer segments, ensuring that their product or service aligns with customer needs and desires. A key step in this process is assessing the importance of each task to the customer and understanding the context in which these tasks occur. This involves creating [[A Day in the Life]] scenario for your customers, mapping out their daily activities, and identifying where your product integrates into their routine. By engaging with customers and gathering insights, you can move beyond assumptions and develop a deeper understanding of how to effectively reach and communicate with them. This approach ensures that your marketing strategies are based on real customer interactions rather than speculation. It's important to remember that initially, much of this is guesswork, but the objective is to fill in these gaps through [[customer discovery]]. In addition to understanding customer jobs, it's essential to identify the benefits and challenges associated with your product or service. [[customer gain|Customer gains]] refer to the positive outcomes customers expect, such as saving time, money, or effort, while [[customer pain|pains]] are the difficulties they face, such as high costs or underperforming products. By listing and validating these gains and pains, you can prioritize the most critical aspects of your offering and ensure it addresses the top concerns of your target audience. This understanding of customer needs, combined with a well-defined [[customer archetype]], enables you to tailor your [[value proposition]] and marketing efforts to effectively engage and satisfy your customers. Defining the customer archetype involves knowing various aspects about your customers, from their demographics and buying behaviors to their motivations and influences. This includes understanding who makes purchasing decisions, who influences those decisions, and who might act as an obstacle in the process. In both [[business-to-business]] and [[business-to-consumer]] contexts, it's important to recognize the different roles individuals play, such as [[user|users]], economic [[buyer|buyers]], and [[influencer|influencers]]. For instance, in a corporate setting, the user might be different from the economic buyer (e.g., a CFO), while influencers might include department heads or even potential obstacles who feel threatened by new solutions. Similarly, in consumer markets, the user might be a teenager while the economic buyer could be their parents. Understanding these dynamics helps in crafting strategies that address all stakeholders involved in the purchasing process. Finally, understanding your customers involves setting up experiments to test hypotheses about who they are and what they need. This includes determining suitable customers or buyers and setting up experiments to test their interest. The number of customers you need to engage with varies depending on your market; for instance, business-to-business sales might require fewer interactions compared to a mobile or web app that could necessitate reaching out to many potential users. It's important to balance virtual interactions with in-person engagements to validate the data collected. By observing customer reactions firsthand, you can ensure that insights are accurate and actionable—leading ultimately toward a more effective customer-centric business strategy. ## Activities - Watch the video [Product Market Fit](https://youtu.be/sSDvwQiPtgc) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.1) - Watch the video [Jobs To Be Done](https://youtu.be/MiBoMzA_d6A) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.2) - Watch the video [Rank And Day In The Life](https://youtu.be/WR33oS19-0Y) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.3) - Watch the video [Customer Gains](https://youtu.be/aPkmurDyEtk) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.4) - Watch the video [Customer Pains](https://youtu.be/T7MVZMkJKzc) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.5) - Watch the video [Customer Archetype](https://youtu.be/StAeA16gNPY) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.6) - Watch the video [Customer In Context](https://youtu.be/Y4ZE5P7w_GQ) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.8) - Watch the video [Signals And Experiments](https://youtu.be/fre8DkAr47g) ([[Udacity - How to Build a Startup]], Lesson 6.10) Next: [[Multi-Sided Markets]] Back to: [[Who Will Be Your Target Market?]]