JTBD: days six and seven - Product Strategy

Three insights

  1. Product strategy is not a kind of magic; it is an algorithm.
  2. Strategy is a path, not a destination.
  3. Small daily decisions we make are a part of the strategy.

Note: Companies that operate outside of market rules do not need a strategy since their decision-making process is not market-driven—for example, the government.

The main mistake is the ignorance of current trends.

Sandy san, Our current success is the best reason to change. We must be permanently dissatisfied in order to succeed.

Eiji Toyoda (CEO of Toyota)

Product Strategy is answering the question: What jobs are we going to do in the future at a higher level of the job graph.

Product strategy inputs:

  1. JTBD for segment selection and product selection.
  2. Analytics.
  3. Experts: segments, values.
  4. Analysis: competence, resources, decision principles.

You can use OODA (observe, orient, decide, act) loop - Wikipedia when you think about a strategy. In OODA, you need to spend at least 80% of your time in observe and orient.

Algorithm: JTBD 3 - solution value and how to create it

Read: Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt

Mechanisms

1 - Fix a broken job

This and the next two are about similar problems at different scales.

If something just does not work at all, there is no way it can be used. Hence, there is no value in the solution. Fix it.

2 - Fix problems in a job

Broken processes and paper-cuts eat the product value like a pack of wolves who found a deer after a week of hunger. This is the next thing you need to fix in your product.

3 - Provide base/minimal quality

You need to provide some minimal quality to make your product work. Everything should just work and not fall apart. It does not have to be good; it has to be acceptable.

4 - Eliminate lower-level jobs

For example, to select a personal WiFi hotspot on a Mac:

  • Before: Take a phone, open the settings menu, enable the hotspot, open Wi-Fi settings on a laptop, enter the password.
  • After: Select your phone in a drop-down menu.
5 - Do more jobs of a customer using one solution

The device you are using to read this text is a great example. The more jobs that can be done using the same solution, the more value it gives. In addition, the solution can become a default mode for the user to the level that the pain of switching to a new solution is too high. But it does not mean that you need to employ dark patterns to increase the price of switching. Sometimes you need to show that switching is easy; this can attract new users who are hesitant to try due to the costs of switching.

6 - Do the next job

After completing one job, customers often have a subsequent task they need to accomplish. By enabling them to seamlessly transition to the next job within your product, you enhance their overall experience and increase the value you provide.

For example, after creating a report (the initial job), the next job might be to share it with colleagues or analyze the data further. If your product facilitates this by offering easy sharing options, collaborative features, or advanced analytics tools, you eliminate the need for customers to switch to another solution. This not only saves them time and effort but also makes your product more integral to their workflow.

By proactively supporting the next steps in your customer’s journey, you can improve satisfaction, foster loyalty, and differentiate your offering in the market.

7 - Reduce a job’s costs without changing the graph

Reducing the costs associated with performing a job without altering the job graph can enhance your product’s value proposition. This involves streamlining processes, improving efficiency, or leveraging economies of scale to lower expenses for the customer. By making it cheaper to accomplish the same job, you make your solution more attractive compared to competitors, especially in price-sensitive markets.

8 - Increase a job’s benefits

Enhancing the benefits derived from a job without changing the job itself can significantly boost customer satisfaction. This could involve improving quality, speed, or outcomes associated with the job. By delivering greater benefits, you enhance the overall value of your product or service, making it more compelling to customers.

9 - Fulfill basic needs

At a fundamental level, customers have basic human needs such as security, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. By designing your product to address these intrinsic needs, you create a deeper, more meaningful connection with your users. For example, a social platform that fosters community satisfies the need for belonging, while a financial service that ensures data protection addresses the need for security. By aligning your product with these basic human needs, you not only meet functional requirements but also resonate on an emotional level, leading to increased customer loyalty and differentiation in the market.

10 - Communicate that your solution fulfills basic human needs

It’s not enough to fulfill basic human needs; you must also effectively communicate this to your customers. Clear messaging that highlights how your product addresses their intrinsic needs—such as security, belonging, esteem, or self-actualization—can build trust and forge a deeper emotional connection. By emphasizing how your solution meets these fundamental human desires, you differentiate yourself in a crowded market and make your product more compelling to customers who are seeking meaningful fulfillment.

11 - Correct expectations

Setting and managing customer expectations is crucial. If customers have unrealistic expectations about your product, they may be disappointed even if you deliver substantial value. By correcting and aligning expectations through transparent communication, you ensure that customers appreciate the benefits your product provides, leading to higher satisfaction and retention.

12 - Wake up sleeping jobs

There may be latent needs or “sleeping jobs” that customers are not actively seeking solutions for, perhaps because they are unaware that solutions exist. By identifying and addressing these sleeping jobs, you can tap into new markets or create demand where none existed before. This can be a powerful way to differentiate your product and offer unique value.

13 - Reduce onboarding costs

Lowering the barriers to entry for new customers can significantly enhance adoption rates. This includes simplifying the sign-up process, offering intuitive user interfaces, and providing helpful resources or support during the initial stages of product use. By reducing onboarding costs—both in terms of time and effort—you make it easier for customers to start benefiting from your product.

14 - Gray area: Increase costs of switching a competing product (vendor lock)

In the competitive landscape, some strategies focus on increasing the costs for customers to switch to a competitor’s product. This can involve creating proprietary ecosystems, using exclusive formats, or making data export difficult. While this can help retain customers, it must be approached carefully to avoid negative perceptions or legal issues.

15 - Gray area: Increase benefits when a customer tries to switch to a competing product

Alternatively, you can design your product so that customers receive additional benefits when they consider switching to a competitor. This might include offering special deals, added features, or enhanced support to retain them. While this can be effective, it should be implemented thoughtfully to maintain customer trust.

16 - Dark pattern: Block customers from switching to a competing product

For example, making it impossible to disable a subscription.

Using tactics that deliberately prevent customers from leaving—such as making it difficult to cancel a subscription—is considered a dark pattern. While this may retain customers in the short term, it often leads to dissatisfaction, negative reviews, and damage to your brand reputation. Ethical considerations and long-term customer relationships should guide your approach.

17 - Dark pattern: You want one thing, we give you something else

This involves misleading customers by offering something that appears desirable but delivering something different, often to the customer’s detriment. Examples include bait-and-switch tactics or hidden terms that alter the expected value. Employing such dark patterns can erode trust and lead to legal repercussions.

18 - Gray area: Only we can do this job

Positioning your product as the sole solution for a particular job can be a competitive advantage. This might involve proprietary technology or exclusive partnerships. However, monopolistic strategies can raise ethical and legal concerns. It’s important to balance uniqueness with fair competition and customer choice.

19 - Go to a previous job

This may give you 2x growth.

Focusing on a previous step in the customer’s job sequence can uncover opportunities for improvement or value addition. By addressing earlier jobs, you may simplify subsequent tasks or enhance the overall experience. This approach can double the impact of your solution by improving efficiency or effectiveness in the customer’s workflow.

20 - Go to a higher-level job

This can give 10x growth.

Elevating your focus to a higher-level job allows you to address broader customer goals and create more significant value. By solving more substantial problems or integrating multiple jobs into a comprehensive solution, you can achieve exponential growth. This strategy often leads to innovation and can position your product as indispensable.

21 - Do a low-level job used in many other graphs

By specializing in a fundamental task that is a component of numerous job graphs, your product can become an essential building block across various industries or applications. This can lead to widespread adoption and scalability, as many different solutions rely on your product to function effectively.

22 - Shift to a different segment

This approach allows you to extend a market segment or move away from direct competition.

23 - Shift to a segment which is ready to pay 10x

This approach allows you to extend a market segment or move away from direct competition.

If you have 10 customers who pay for your product, there is at least one who will pay 10x. Repeat for every next 10x paying customers.

24 - Move to low-cost or to premium

This approach allows you to extend a market segment or move away from direct competition.

The mid-price segment is the most competitive segment. Moving to a different price range may require different skills and competencies.

25 - B2B to B2C and vice versa

This approach allows you to extend a market segment or move away from direct competition.

26 - SuperApp: A distribution channel

A SuperApp is a distribution channel that allows you to generate leads for a lower price than through other channels. A shopping mall is an example of a SuperApp.

27 - Tripwire: Lead generation

Offer a disproportionately higher perceived value so it will be really hard to discard an offer by the lead. For example, a nice, fatty, juicy burger for $0.99 or freemium products.

28 - Build an ecosystem

The sum of individual, unconnected products is less than the sum of connected products. Also, ecosystems allow you to build products otherwise not possible and eliminate jobs that wouldn’t be possible or would be much harder to eliminate outside of an ecosystem. Look at Apple with synchronizations, Apple Cash, Continuity, etc.

29 - Focus on vital jobs

Concentrating your efforts on the most critical jobs that customers need to accomplish ensures that your product delivers essential value. By prioritizing vital jobs, you address the core needs of your market, which can lead to higher adoption rates and customer loyalty. This focus can also help in allocating resources efficiently.

30 - Select a segment with the largest pain

Targeting customer segments experiencing significant pain points presents an opportunity to provide substantial value. By identifying and addressing these intense needs, your product can become a must-have solution. This approach can also reduce competition, as not all companies are willing or able to tackle the most challenging problems.

31 - Select the largest, most frequent, important but underserved segment

By choosing a customer segment that is large, frequently encounters the problem, considers it important, but is currently underserved, you can capture a significant market share. These segments offer high potential because they represent unmet needs that your product can fulfill, leading to rapid growth and strong customer relationships.

32 - Select a segment which defines an opinion in other segments

Influencer segments can shape perceptions and adoption rates in other market segments. By targeting and satisfying these key groups, you can create a ripple effect that promotes your product more broadly. This strategy leverages the social proof and authority of opinion leaders to drive wider acceptance.

33 - Don’t choose an easy-to-reproduce job by a large player and activate it in their customer

To Me alex@askguru.ai

6/2/23, 10:48

Subject: YC

Hi Alexander and Sergei,

Unfortunately, we’ve decided not to fund AskGuru this batch. We thought you built a pretty cool looking product. The UX you’ve created is one of the most well-done we’ve seen in this area, and we have seen a LOT of customer support AI tools recently. The problem is, enterprise software doesn’t win because it has great polished UX; it wins because it:

  • Solves a burning business problem for a stakeholder who has a budget to buy hundreds of businesses which are themselves gigantic

The issue is that AskGuru’s feature set will, for sure, be added to Zendesk and all the other big support software. Their implementation might not be as polished, but no one is buying a second product just for polish. And the segment of customers left after the top 3 customer support platforms are taken away is just not very big, which we think you agree with. We don’t agree that expanding into libraries and other “knowledge management” is a good act two either.

However, clearly you are good as a team: you built something good!

We suggest taking that energy and aiming it at a problem where you feel you can build a product that hundreds of big companies will buy.

34 - For B2B - choose a segment with the shortest feedback loop

In B2B markets, selecting segments where you can receive quick feedback allows for faster iteration and improvement of your product. Short feedback loops enable you to adapt swiftly to customer needs, refine your offerings, and demonstrate responsiveness. This can enhance customer satisfaction and give you a competitive edge.

35 - Wait

Sometimes, timing is crucial. Waiting for the right moment—such as market readiness, technological advancements, or shifts in customer behavior—can be a strategic choice. Patience can allow you to allocate resources more effectively, avoid premature launches, and capitalize on opportunities when conditions are most favorable.