Jobs To Be Done, or JTBD, is a customer insight framework that shifts the focus from demographics and attributes to the progress customers are trying to make. Instead of asking, “Who is our customer?” JTBD asks, “What job is the customer hiring our product or service to do?”

In other words, JTBD starts with the idea that people – including business decision-makers – don’t buy products just to own them. They buy them to solve a problem, unlock value, or improve a situation. That job is functional, emotional, or social in nature. Understanding it unlocks clearer product direction, better messaging, and smarter business decision making.

Why JTBD is especially powerful in B2B environments

Modern B2B buyers are often part of a complex decision-making unit. Their needs are layered and shaped by internal goals, operational pain points, team dynamics, and bottom-line performance. Traditional market research tools, while valuable, can sometimes fall short of capturing the full picture of why businesses make a purchase.

The JTBD framework helps B2B organizations:

• Uncover unstated or overlooked needs that go beyond surface-level feedback
• Align teams around a shared view of customer goals across sales, product, and marketing
• Improve product development in B2B by focusing on what users are truly trying to accomplish
• Drive innovation not through ideation alone, but by solving meaningful customer problems

JTBD vs. traditional segmentation

Let’s say you sell a project management tool to IT departments. A role-based segmentation might group users into 'project managers' or 'developers'. JTBD goes deeper, helping you understand the specific job they're trying to get done, like "coordinate work across hybrid teams without losing visibility" or "reduce project delays caused by miscommunication". These are actionable jobs that inform better design, messaging, and prioritization.

Busting a common myth

One misconception is that JTBD is only useful in consumer-facing (B2C) industries. In fact, the JTBD framework for business is equally effective in B2B – where uncovering real buying motivation is often more challenging. When B2B companies tap into customer-centered insights using JTBD, they gain powerful tools for reducing risk and accelerating market growth strategies.

That’s why more organizations are making JTBD a foundational part of their B2B market research strategy – not to replace existing tools but to complement them with a sharper lens on customer motivation.

Applying Jobs To Be Done in a B2B setting starts with curiosity – asking not just about what customers do, but why they do it. By identifying the jobs your customers are trying to complete, your company can uncover new pathways to value, create more relevant offerings, and support better business decision making.

Start with customer conversations, not assumptions

One of the most effective B2B customer insight methods within JTBD is conducting structured qualitative interviews. These conversations dig into a customer’s workflow, frustrations, triggers, and decision-making process. Instead of asking, “Would you like this new feature?” a JTBD-informed approach explores, “Tell me about the last time you faced this problem. What did you try to do, and what got in the way?”

For example, a fictional manufacturing SaaS provider might learn that their customers aren’t just “managing inventory” – they’re trying to “maintain workflow continuity during unexpected supply shortages.” That insight points to real unmet needs and innovation opportunities.

Map the Job, Then Build Solutions

After identifying the core jobs, many B2B companies use JTBD to map out:

• The functional job (e.g. reduce operational downtime)
• The emotional job (e.g. feel confident presenting performance metrics)
• The desired outcomes or success conditions (e.g. get alerts ahead of time, reduce manual reporting)

This creates a blueprint for product strategy in B2B – helping teams focus resources on solutions that actually support the customer’s definition of success.

JTBD in action: a fictional example

A hypothetical cybersecurity company was planning new features based on competitor benchmarking. However, after applying JTBD interviews, they uncovered a bigger job: clients were less concerned about adding more control options than they were about "proving security ROI to internal stakeholders." This shifted their roadmap toward dashboards, usage analytics, and executive reporting tools – features that solved the actual job and helped them differentiate.

Cross-functional value of JTBD insights

Insights from JTBD aren’t only useful for research or product teams. In B2B organizations, they also help:

• Marketing teams craft more resonant positioning and messaging
• Sales teams better diagnose customer needs during discovery phases
• Leadership define more relevant market growth strategies

Ultimately, JTBD enables B2B companies to see the world through their customers’ eyes – not just what they need to sell, but what customers need to achieve. That shift in perspective can be the critical difference between incremental improvement and true innovation.

Understanding how to put the Jobs To Be Done framework into play can be easier when you see it through examples. That's where JTBD really shines – helping B2B companies uncover unmet customer needs and drive meaningful product or service improvements.

While these are fictional examples, they're based on common B2B scenarios and illustrate how JTBD can unlock deeper understanding and innovative thinking.

Example 1: A Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Company Serving HR Teams

A mid-sized SaaS provider offering workforce planning tools wanted to grow in a saturated market. Instead of focusing on feature upgrades, they used the JTBD framework to explore why HR managers were hiring their service in the first place.

They discovered that HR teams were not just buying a scheduling tool – they were hiring it to “help reduce friction between departments” and “make forecasting talent needs more credible when speaking with leadership.” These insights led the company to reposition their platform to highlight seamless cross-functional planning and executive-ready reporting, setting themselves apart from competitors focused on feature checklists.

Example 2: A B2B Logistics Firm Targeting Manufacturing Clients

A logistics company had strong operations, but stalled growth. By applying JTBD methodology, they unearthed that manufacturing clients weren't just hiring them to “transport goods” – they were hiring them to “avoid production shutdowns caused by shipping delays.”

This shifted their messaging and service innovation. Instead of pitching speed alone, they emphasized reliability and created predictive delivery dashboards. As a result, they tapped into a more urgent customer need and redefined their value proposition around operational continuity.

Why These Examples Matter

In both scenarios, B2B customer insights helped teams see beyond what customers were saying to what they were actually trying to accomplish. That’s the heart of customer-centered innovation – designing solutions based on the true job to be done, not assumptions about product features or legacy expectations.

By anchoring strategy to the real problems customers are solving, these companies found smarter ways to grow – rooted in data-driven market research tailored to their audiences.

For many B2B leaders, strategic decisions often come down to a mix of data, intuition, and pressure to move quickly. The Jobs To Be Done framework quiets the noise by offering a more structured, research-driven lens on what customers really need – and why they choose (or don’t choose) solutions like yours.

JTBD helps de-risk innovation and product development by aligning your business strategy with customer intent. Instead of guessing what features to prioritize or which market to enter, JTBD tells you what progress your customers are trying to make. That's a powerful guidepost for smarter, evidence-based decisions.

Ways JTBD Insights Improve Decision Making

• Improved product strategy: By understanding the emotional and functional jobs customers are hiring products for, you can tailor features and messaging to directly support those outcomes.
• Smarter market segmentation: JTBD cuts across traditional demographics and firmographics. Instead of grouping buyers by industry or size alone, it lets you group them by shared needs and motivations.
• Focused innovation: Rather than innovating for the sake of novelty, JTBD helps teams innovate for relevance – solving real frustrations or unmet needs that customers actually prioritize.
• Reduced launch failures: Because JTBD insights are tied to actual decision-making criteria used by customers, product teams can reduce the risk of launching solutions that miss the mark.

JTBD Insights Are a Strategic Compass

Whether you’re planning a new offer, restructuring sales messaging, or choosing which market to grow into next, JTBD provides clarity. It bridges the gap between what you think customers want and what truly drives their behavior, creating a shared understanding across teams.

This is particularly valuable in B2B environments, where decision making can be complex and multi-layered. JTBD helps surface the motivating factors at each stage – from initial discovery through to final purchase – so your strategy supports the entire customer journey, not just the transaction.

In essence, using Jobs To Be Done in B2B shifts your strategy from internal assumptions to external truths – one of the most effective ways to build sustainable growth.

Getting Started: When and How to Use JTBD in Your Company

If you're wondering how to use Jobs To Be Done in B2B settings, the good news is: you don’t need a full-scale research department to get started. The JTBD framework is flexible and scalable – it can be applied at many stages of your business journey, whether you’re validating a new idea or optimizing an existing offer.

When to Use JTBD

JTBD is particularly useful when:

• You suspect your current product offerings don’t fully align with customer priorities
• Your messaging isn’t resonating, and churn is increasing
• You’re entering a new market or launching a new product
• You're seeing inconsistent sales success and need deeper customer insight

How to Start Applying JTBD

Begin with customer conversations, not just data points. The goal is to uncover the underlying reasons a customer chooses (or passes on) your product or service. Good JTBD interviews are open-ended and focused on the customer’s journey – not your product features.

Here are some key steps:

1. Identify key customer segments to explore. Focus on users or buyers who recently made a purchase or switched providers.
2. Conduct interviews or surveys that reveal motivations. Ask about the timeline and triggers of their decision, what they were trying to solve, and how they evaluated alternatives.
3. Map the Job To Be Done. Synthesize these insights into a clear job statement – what the customer was trying to accomplish, and why it mattered.
4. Translate insights into action. Once you understand the job, you can align marketing, product development, and go-to-market strategy around it.

You can run this work internally or partner with a market research firm that specializes in B2B customer insight methods. Firms like SIVO combine human-centered research with strategic frameworks like JTBD to ensure the insights lead to real business impact.

Wherever you begin, the key is to focus less on what product to sell next – and more on what job your customers are truly trying to get done. That’s where growth lives.