EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode, SaaS-Story in the Making host Matt Wolach talks to Jay Haynes, the founder, and CEO of Thrv.com, the first and only software application for Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) product, marketing, and sales teams. Jay talks about what JTBD is all about and how this idea can help your business be more profitable.
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making
Episode: Episode No. 175, “Know Your Customers’ ‘Jobs-to-be-Done’ to Generate More Revenue for Your Business”
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor
Guest: Jay Haynes, Founder & CEO of thrv.com.
TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
It’s Not About Your Product
“Jobs-to-be-Done can help you understand and analyze and manage complexity,” Jay says. As a founder of the first JTBD software, Jay always reminds his clients: do not talk about your product at all. The first meeting with your customer should be entirely about them and how you show empathy towards the problem they are struggling with.
You have to ask what your customers are trying to do with your product or service. What matters here is how your products will help your customer achieve their goal fast and accurately.
If you empathize with the customers’ problems and identify how they struggle, the ideas will be easy to figure out how you can solve them.
Adapt to the Changing Market
When asked about some of the early mistakes he wished he had avoided back then, Jay answered, “One of our mistakes was we were kind of project-oriented.”
With this, Jay realized the importance of learning to adapt. Adapt to the changing market as it’s an ongoing process.
“Your customers’ job does not change, but markets change a lot. Some new competitors enter the market. There are new technologies that can change the way things get done,” Jay explains.
“By adapting it as a process, you’ve got this pulse on what’s happening in the market, and you can evaluate it against your customer’s job.”
Generate Your Revenue Soon
Jay wants to share a big piece of advice with startup software founders to generate your revenue and profitability way sooner than you think you should.
The goal is revenue and profitability. “My favorite business school professor, he’s always telling me that companies fail for the same reason: they fail because they run out of cash.”
As an entrepreneur, Jay advises: Be focused on revenue and profitability. Generate these things much sooner, and always protect your cash.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
What is Jobs-to-be-Done?
Jay described Jobs-to-be-Done as a “deceptively simple” idea: it’s that your customers are not buying your products, but instead, they are “hiring” them to get a job done. A customer avails of your product because they need it to achieve a particular goal.
You are not selling your product–your customer is looking for your product, so it could help them get a job done.
Matt further explains, quoting Clay Christensen, a fellow from Harvard Business School who popularized the idea. McDonald’s found out that customers buy their milkshakes in the morning, even though milkshakes are not made for breakfast, to get a job done for them–and that is to help them feel full on their way to work. Customers buy their milkshake in the morning as a substitute for a heavy breakfast–this is the JTBD.
“That’s the concept, whether it’s a B2C market, B2B market… What you’re trying to achieve as a human, the goals that you’re trying to achieve are stable or very stable over time. And that is the key benefit of the method,” says Jay.
How Jobs-to-be-Done Works
The JTBD method itself creates a lot of data, and it’s valuable data that gives you insights into your customers’ first and foremost competitors in your market, explains Jay.
If you’re trying to figure out how to beat a tremendous competitor, you need a lot of information about a particular job or service. For instance, if you are a GPS software founder, your biggest competitors are Apple and Google Maps. Thrv.com works by gathering the quantitative data, segmenting the market, analyzing the data, and providing you with JTBD methods to build roadmaps that will help you get the most significant market opportunity.
The first thing Thrv.com does is help your team use that data, which tells you where the largest number of customers are. These customers are willing to pay for a new solution for something they are struggling with the most.
“That’s the key,” Jay points out. “Most importantly, our software helps your teams agree on this stuff. It helps product marketing and sales teams get aligned with their customers.”
TOP QUOTES
Jay Haynes
[06:32] “Look at the markets through the lens of your customer and the job they’re trying to get done.”
[09:26] “Don’t talk about your product at all. The first meetings should be entirely customer empathy. What are they struggling with the most?”
[10:19] “If you empathize with their customers’ problem, and you know how they struggle, the ideas are gonna be pretty easy to figure out.”
[14:35] “Your customers don’t care at all about how your company operates. They care about their job.”
Matt Wolach
[07:26] “You have to realize what it is, what’s the job to be done? What do you end up selling?”
[22:17] “Cash is king. It’s your oxygen. It’s what helps fuel your growth. It’s everything.”
[22:41] “You got to think of what your customer needs. You got to know your customer. You got to understand them, and you got to deliver what they’re looking for. “
LEARN MORE
To learn more about Jay Haynes and Thrv.com, visit https://www.thrv.com/.
You can also find Jay Haynes on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayhaynes/.
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.
