Raw research data – especially from surveys, interviews, or analytics platforms – provides essential insights. But for many stakeholders, especially outside of research teams, spreadsheets or decks filled with findings can feel overwhelming, disconnected, or hard to apply. Even when insights are solid, if they aren’t translated into meaningful stories, they often struggle to gain traction.

The Problem with Delivering Facts Without Context

Business decision-makers often need more than just the “what.” They want to understand the “why” in a way that ties directly to business outcomes. When teams present data without framing it through the customer’s lens, they risk:

• Overwhelming audiences with too many statistics and research terms
• Losing connection to real customer needs or motivations
• Failing to show impact on goals like growth, loyalty, engagement, or innovation

Even high-quality consumer insights can stall in business communication when there’s no compelling narrative to guide the story. This can result in unmet expectations, stalled initiatives, or silos where teams interpret findings differently.

Stakeholders Need Stories, Not Just Reports

Qualitative and quantitative research both produce valuable outputs, but when insights are presented as standalone stats or summaries, they may not answer the real business questions stakeholders care about. Leaders need a story that connects the dots between data, customer needs, and strategic decisions.

Think of it like this: raw data is a library of facts. But without a narrative, teams don’t know which book to check out, or how its chapters apply to their work. JTBD gives researchers a structured way to present those stories in a format that drives decisions.

From Insight to Impact Requires Translation

Putting insights into action isn’t about ignoring the data – it’s about enhancing its delivery. By reframing research with storytelling techniques rooted in real customer behavior, insight professionals can capture attention, align teams, and inspire change.

This is why many market research teams are turning to the JTBD framework – to close the gap between knowledge and impact. And as we’ll explore next, JTBD helps take abstract insight and make it concrete, relatable, and business-ready.

The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework helps insight teams shift from reporting data to telling stories that reflect how customers experience the world – their motivations, frustrations, and end goals. Rather than focusing on demographics or product features, JTBD looks at the progress a customer is trying to make in their life or work, in a specific situation. This human-centered lens is what makes the model a powerful tool for stakeholder alignment.

What Is a “Job To Be Done” in Simple Terms?

In JTBD, a “job” is a customer’s goal or desired outcome. It’s not a task or function – it’s the deeper reason they choose a product, service, or behavior. For example, someone might buy a smoothie not just to consume something healthy but to feel energized during a busy workday. That emotional and functional goal is the real job to be done.

By defining these jobs clearly, insight teams can start turning scattered research data into structured customer stories. These stories are easier for stakeholders to understand and relate to – because they reflect real-world situations, not just abstract trends.

JTBD Helps Organize and Personalize Consumer Insights

Turning research data into stories starts with customer context. JTBD allows insight teams to organize findings across various touchpoints in a customer journey and reshape them around actionable questions like:

• What outcome was the customer trying to achieve?
• What barriers or unmet needs stood in their way?
• What emotional or functional benefits were they seeking?

By answering these questions through a narrative arc, JTBD helps researchers create personas and scenarios that are rooted in authentic behaviors and decisions – not assumptions. These stories tap into empathy, helping stakeholders emotionally connect with the customer experience.

Why JTBD Stories Resonate with Stakeholders

Executive leaders, product teams, and marketers are naturally drawn to stories because stories organize complexity into something digestible. With JTBD, those stories are backed by qualitative research and user insights, but framed in a way that shows relevance to key business priorities.

Here’s why JTBD works for stakeholder engagement:

• It reframes data through the lens of customer problems and goals
• It makes customer needs visible and business-forward
• It connects research insights directly to growth opportunities

At SIVO, we’ve seen how JTBD examples can unite cross-functional teams who otherwise interpret research findings differently. By using stories grounded in the JTBD framework, insight teams can present outcomes in ways that resonate with marketers, product leads, and the C-suite alike.

JTBD and the Art of Strategic Data Storytelling

JTBD is not just a research tool – it’s a storytelling technique. It turns passive data into active insight by shining a light on the human drivers behind customer choices. This helps businesses not only understand what people are doing, but also design the strategies and offerings that truly meet their needs.

For researchers and strategists wondering how to present research findings to executives or how to get executive buy-in for insights, JTBD offers a clear, structured path toward stronger stakeholder communication.

In many organizations, teams work toward the same goals but often speak different languages – marketing, product, operations, strategy. Each function has its own lens on the customer and their needs. This siloed approach can make it hard for insights to take hold or spur cross-functional alignment, even when the data is sound.

This is where the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework can help. JTBD reframes customer behavior around the goals people are trying to achieve – their 'jobs' – rather than demographics or product usage alone. By mapping out these jobs, teams can rally around a shared customer understanding that cuts through functional boundaries.

Why JTBD Resonates Across Teams

• It’s simple and human-centered: JTBD stories focus on real-life needs, including emotional and functional motivators – something every department can relate to.
• It connects tactics to outcomes: Product teams see feature gaps; marketing sees messaging opportunities; leadership sees potential growth lanes.
• It removes internal bias: JTBD language is grounded in the consumer’s voice, not departmental jargon or assumptions.

When aligned around JTBD insights, teams start to collaborate with the same end user in mind. For instance, rather than debating features based on assumptions, a product, marketing, and service team can co-create solutions by looking at what the customer is really trying to get done, and what barriers are in their way.

Example: Instead of simply targeting “working moms aged 35–44,” JTBD might surface a job like “Find a quick, healthy dinner that my kids will actually eat between activities.” That job immediately suggests implications for recipe formats, packaging, branding, and retail positioning that different teams can act upon, together.

Framing insights through JTBD also shifts conversations from internal outputs to customer outcomes. Doing so makes it easier to communicate findings in a way that drives action across roles – whether someone builds the roadmap, shapes the messaging, or allocates the budget.

In short, JTBD builds common ground. It acts as a bridge between teams by anchoring business decisions in a shared understanding of customer needs. For market research teams, it's a powerful tool to foster more connected thinking and break through organizational silos.

Turning raw research into clear and compelling customer stories can be challenging, especially if you're working with multiple data sources or speaking to a mixed group of stakeholders. The JTBD framework simplifies this by structuring insights around practical human needs and contexts – what people are trying to achieve, why, and under what circumstances.

Let’s look at a few real-world examples of how JTBD reveals deeper insights and creates alignment across teams:

1. Consumer Electronics: 'Stay Connected Without Feeling Drained'

A traditional user research approach may report on battery life preferences or app usage frequency. But with JTBD, the story shifts to the emotional goal: “I need to stay connected throughout my day without constantly worrying about charging.”

This insight helps product teams rethink power features, drives marketing to position the product as stress-reducing, and guides customer service on proactive battery tips. The insight is the same data – but made actionable through a clear narrative.

2. Retail: 'Make Grocery Shopping Less of a Chore'

Through a qualitative research lens, one insight may be that consumers are overwhelmed by crowded aisles and too many choices. JTBD reframes this as: “Help me check off my grocery list faster so I can move on with my day.”

The story shifts from environmental observations to a need state. This can prompt innovations in store layouts, faster checkout options, or digital lists – ideas that multiple departments can run with.

3. Financial Services: 'Feel Confident Making Big Decisions'

Quantitative data may show that users drop off before completing loan applications. The JTBD insight? “Help me understand complex financial decisions so I feel less anxious and more in control.”

This leads to better user onboarding, easier-to-read forms, trust-building content, and simplified messaging. By telling the story of why users hesitate – not just that they do – JTBD turns drop-off data into action.

Each of these examples starts with consumer insights but adds context, tension, and purpose. That’s the power of turning research data into stories using JTBD: it helps teams move from what’s happening to why it matters – and what to do next.

You’ve done the research. You’ve uncovered meaningful customer needs using the JTBD framework. Now comes the critical step – helping your stakeholders understand and act on those insights.

Whether you’re presenting to executives, product owners, or cross-functional teams, your goal is to make the story stick – not just the data. Here’s how to do it effectively:

Start With the Job, Not the Data

Begin your presentation with the core “job” your customer is trying to get done. This immediately grounds the conversation in real-world needs – something leadership cares about. Only after the job is clear should you introduce supporting data or behavioral observations.

Use Real-World Language and Scenarios

Avoid technical phrases or research jargon. Instead, describe the customer situation in plain terms. For example: “Imagine a parent trying to get their toddler out the door in the morning – they want breakfast to be easy, fast, and mess-free.” This paints a picture executives can visualize, even if they don’t know the research methodology behind it.

Connect JTBD to Business Outcomes

To secure stakeholder engagement, always link the qualitative research insight back to business priorities. How will this job-based opportunity affect customer retention, conversion rates, or product adoption?

Bring Stories, Not Just Surfaces

When sharing respondent quotes, connect them to the JTBD context so they don’t feel anecdotal or isolated. Say: “This quote illustrates a common moment in the ‘Make weekday meals feel less stressful’ job we identified.”

Keep it Visual and Clear

• Use job maps or simple timelines to show where customer friction lives.
• Highlight unmet needs, triggers, and trade-offs with icons or infographics.
• Tell fewer stories, but make each one count.

Lastly, invite your stakeholders into the moment. Ask: “Have you ever felt this way as a consumer?” That shared understanding is where data storytelling starts to drive real collaboration and decisions.

By focusing on how to present research findings to executives in a relatable, narrative-driven way, JTBD gives you tools to frame insights clearly and persuasively. It's not about drowning teams in reports – it’s about inspiring the next move with a story they remember.