Understanding your customer’s goals

Note: scroll down to see the worksheet or access a link to the Google Doc version

Defining your customer, understanding their needs and goals and defining your product or service in terms that support those needs will help you launch smart, grow faster and improve your business’s efficiency

  • It’s not about demographics: You’re using this persona to delve into the customer’s needs, goals and concerns.  So try to focus on psychographics, business or personal role and other personal characteristics that help you better understand your customer
  • Be precise: It can be hard to limit yourself.  After all, you’re probably hoping many types of people may want your product or service.  But if your customer definition is too broad, you risk losing the nuance and insights that make this exercise effective
  • Define your target: You can do this exercise for several personas, but focus on one per sheet.  Then use the results to help you define your initial target customer or to find overlapping interests, if they exist, that will help you reach several – still well defined! – types of customers with common features and messaging

What does the customer want?

With a well-defined customer clearly in mind, you’re ready to move on to describing what they want or need.  What are they looking to achieve, what problem are they facing that could lead them to consider your product or service?

Using the Jobs to be Done framework, you want to ask yourself what “job” the customer needs done.  Keep in mind that there are different forms of motivation:

  • Job: What does your customer need to accomplish?  Why is this important to them?
  • Gains: How will doing this job make things better for them?  Make them happier, more relaxed or efficient or whatever else their goals might be?
  • Pains: What is bothering your customer?  What are they trying to minimize or avoid? What is holding them back from achieving their goals?

Why do they care?

In defining these “jobs” you want to focus less on specific tasks and more on the “why” of the customer’s objectives.  And this value to the customer can take various forms:

  • Functional: They have a practical objective they’re trying to achieve
  • Emotional: Achieving this objective will make them feel better or will relieve a negative emotion
  • Social: Getting this job done will have some community or social impact for the customer, either directly (it provides interaction with others) or indirectly (it signals their priorities and community)

How do you help?

Now that you’ve defined the customer’s goals, explain how you address each of their concerns or objectives.  Not with features or functions.  With solutions to their problems or a clear means to reach their goals.  Match your benefits to the specific objectives you’ve defined and explain how your produce or service meets your customer’s specific goals or eliminates their pain points.

Need more information?

Worksheet link

Unit #1: Customer Value Proposition – What does the Customer Need

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