Self study area

Customer jobs describe what customers are trying to achieve in their personal and professional lives. It could refer to the work they are trying to get done, needs that they are trying to satisfy or challenges that they are trying to overcome. It is important for the entrepreneur to think from the customer’s perspective to better understand the customer. 


Jobs can be of different types:

• Functional jobs

These are specific tasks and results that the customer is trying to achieve and is working on. They are simple and easily defined such as cook a meal, complete my homework in literature, eat healthier etc.

• Social jobs

These describe how a customer wants to project himself/ herself in a social setting. This includes wanting to fit in with a particular crowd socially, or wowing the boss with a presentation at work.

• Supporting jobs

Customers also consume or buy value, thereby performing a supporting job. The following three roles contribute to supporting jobs:
- buyer of value (this job includes any purchase of value and can cover the spectrum from evaluating available options and alternatives
to signing for a delivery or paying for a product you have selected;
- co-creator of value (these are jobs in which one has a direct contribution in the creation of the product with the organization like brainstorming for ideas for the design of the product or testing the product and providing reviews online);
- transferor of value (this job represents the close of the product use lifecycle and is characterized by the consumer disposing off the product or transferring this ownership to someone else because they find no further value in it).