Assess customer unmet needs

Innovation comes from integrating chemicals management hotspots with the unmet or underserviced needs of direct and end market customers. The company can use the unmet needs in the value chain to address chemicals management hotspots and increase business performance through targeted innovations. This section helps to identify the needs of the company’s direct customers and end market customers.

One will learn how to:

  1. Determine important jobs to be done for specific customer segments
  2. Determine desired and undesired outcomes (pains and gains) for the company and its customers
  3. Assess the fit between the company’s product offerings and its customers’ outcomes
  4. Generate unmet needs to drive innovation and create value

 >>>  The jobs and outcomes that are under-serviced or not being met are called unmet needs.

The approaches jobs to be done (JTBD) and customer outcomes were developed and made popular by several consultants including Clay Christensen and Anthony Ulwick. Osterwalder et al. combined JTBD and customer outcomes (pains and gains) into a customer profile that can be used to evaluate the fit of products (goods and services) offered by companies to their customers. This is called the Value Proposition Canvas.

Deliverables of this Part 

  • Summary of key customer jobs and desired and undesired outcomes
  • Summary table of customer unmet needs

Key tasks:

  • Characterize customer segments to be used for the JTBD analysis
  • Assess customer jobs to be done and prioritize most important ones
  • Assess desired and undesired outcomes (pains and gains) for customers and suppliers and prioritize most important ones
  • Use the Value Proposition Canvas to assess product offering fit and identify unmet needs to prioritize to drive the innovation process

See the respective presentation to learn more:

Assess customer unmet needs

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