Identify and address the real needs and motivations that drive Upstream Customer Experiences

Lately, I wrote an article about Upstream CX on Substack , and how forward-thinking organizations are beginning to recognize that CX isn’t just a reactive measure but a proactive strategy that drives innovation and market leadership. In this article will dive in a bit deeper in the relationship of upstream CX with competitive advantage and new market entries. Therefore I will use one of the frameworks I came across during my MBA a while ago; Jobs to Be Done. For those who read my articles, I enjoy connecting different insights and develop more powerful frameworks and/or concepts that can help organizations. This article is builds upon my previous article as well as the concept I introduced in November 2023; CX led Profitable Growth flywheel . Please review these articles as it will help you better place the concept of JTBD in the context of upstream CX.

Swiffer

Before I discuss the theory and my assertions, let me first start with a case study; Swiffer. Swiffer?is an American brand of cleaning products that is made by?Procter & Gamble (P&G). Introduced in 1999,?the brand uses the "razor-and-blades" business model, whereby the consumer purchases the handle assembly at a low price, but must continue to purchase replacement refills and pads over the lifespan of the product.

Before Swiffer’s development, P&G already had a strong presence in the cleaning market with established brands like Tide and Mr. Clean. However, P&G noticed that despite having high-quality products, many customers were dissatisfied with traditional cleaning methods, especially mopping and sweeping. Instead of focusing solely on improving the mop or creating better cleaning solutions, P&G applied the JTBD framework to understand?why?people were dissatisfied and?what job?they were actually trying to get done.

Through extensive customer research, P&G discovered that the functional "job" customers wanted to accomplish wasn’t just to clean their floors—it was to clean quickly, easily, and without the hassle associated with traditional mops, brooms, and buckets. Consumers found that using a traditional mop was time-consuming, required effort to wring out water, and often left floors too wet, which created additional inconvenience. Customers also disliked how dust and dirt tended to scatter while sweeping, requiring repeated efforts to clean the same area. The core job wasn’t simply “cleaning the floor” but rather?efficiently removing dirt with minimal effort?and making cleaning as hassle-free as possible.

Once P&G identified these broader jobs—speed, convenience, and ease of use—the company set out to create a product that fulfilled these needs in a way that traditional tools could not. This led to the development of Swiffer, a product that completely changed how people clean their floors.

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Impact Swiffer innovation on P&G competitive advantage

Swiffer’s development didn’t just enhance an existing product—it created a?new product category?in home cleaning. By addressing unmet customer needs for a quick and convenient cleaning solution, Swiffer transformed the way people approached floor cleaning. This opened up an entirely new segment in the market for disposable, ready-to-use cleaning products. Swiffer innovated within the cleaning space, giving P&G a?first-mover advantage?in this category. This category creation allowed P&G to tap into new customer segments, many of whom hadn’t been regular purchasers of traditional cleaning tools.

Swiffer’s success allowed P&G to significantly expand its market share within the home cleaning segment. While traditional mop and broom manufacturers continued to focus on minor product enhancements, the innovation allowed Swiffer to stand out as a differentiated, modern solution for home cleaning. The innovation gap Swiffer created made it difficult for competitors to immediately replicate its success (barriers to entry, Porter 1979).

Swiffer’s appeal extended beyond the U.S. market, facilitating P&G’s international expansion. The simplicity and universality of Swiffer’s value proposition—quick, effective, and convenient cleaning—resonated with consumers in diverse markets around the world. This allowed P&G to introduce Swiffer to international markets, where it also enjoyed widespread adoption, contributing to the company's global growth.

And last but not least, the success of Swiffer exemplified the effectiveness of P&G’s long-term growth strategy through product innovation. Swiffer wasn’t just a one-off success; it became a template for how P&G would continue to innovate across its other product categories

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Jobs To Be Done framework

The Swiffer example is intricately linked to the growth of P&G, demonstrating how applying the?Jobs to Be Done?(JTBD) framework to product innovation can fuel business expansion, market leadership, and long-term profitability. The broader impact of Swiffer's success is that it validated the importance of understanding the?actual jobs customers are trying to get done—a strategic insight that P&G would replicate in developing future products, ensuring the company’s competitive advantage and long-term success.

The Jobs to Be Done framework is a powerful conceptual model used to understand customer behaviour and drive innovation by focusing on the underlying reasons why customers “hire” a product or service. Rather than merely considering demographic data or market segments, the JTBD framework centers on the specific jobs or tasks that customers need to accomplish, offering a more nuanced and effective approach to product development and marketing.

Clayton Christensen introduced the concept as part of his broader research on disruptive innovation. Christensen and his colleagues argued that customers do not simply buy products; they ‘hire’ them to do a specific job (Christensen, Hall, Dillon, & Duncan, 2016). For instance, a consumer might ‘hire’ a drill not because they want the tool itself but because they need to create a hole. This shift in perspective—from focusing on the product to understanding the customer’s job—enables companies to innovate more effectively and create offerings that better satisfy customer needs.

The JTBD framework challenges traditional approaches to market segmentation by suggesting that the most significant unit of analysis is not the customer as an entity, but rather the job the customer is trying to accomplish (Ulwick, 2005). This perspective allows businesses to identify opportunities for innovation by uncovering unmet needs or “jobs” that current products fail to address.?

Another great and famous example of JBTD is the milkshake and straw study by Christensen which made clear that customers were ‘hiring’ milkshakes not just as a treat but as a convenient, satisfying breakfast option during their morning commute. This insight led to product modifications that more effectively fulfilled this job, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and sales (Christensen et al., 2016). I recommend you to Google Milkshake Christensen and review some articles or watch the following Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfGtw2C95Ms ?

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JTDB drives Upstream CX

Organizations gain competitive advantage by delivering unique value to customers in ways that are difficult for competitors to replicate. Traditionally, competitive advantage might come from cost leadership, differentiation, or focusing on niche markets (Porter, 1985). However, in today’s customer-centric marketplace, a deep understanding of the customer journey and needs can create a significant competitive edge.

The Jobs to Be Done framework is one of the best ways to understand the ‘jobs’ that customer is trying to accomplish. The JTBD framework also supports innovation within the Experience Economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1998), by helping businesses identify unmet or underserved customer needs. Organizations that can deliver meaningful, emotionally engaging experiences are often those that thrive.

So, when organizations focus on upstream CX and design products that anticipate and address specific customer needs before competitors do, they are better positioned to offer more compelling solutions.

This is the core message of my last article.

Moderating effect of Upstream CX

An effective upstream Customer Experience is vital for organizations to enhance their competitive advantage, particularly when it comes to product innovation and new market opportunities. By focusing on CX during the early stages of product development, organizations can better understand the deeper needs, motivations, and pain points of their customers. This allows organizations to create products that not only address functional needs but also provide emotional and social benefits, leading to higher customer satisfaction.

When organizations use the JBTD framework in their upstream CX cycle, they can ensure that their product innovations align closely with the “jobs” customers are trying to accomplish. This deep alignment helps products resonate more with customers, fostering stronger loyalty and differentiation from competitors as well as creating a new market opportunity and/or competitive differentiation.

To connect back to my previous articles on the CX Led Profitable Growth Flywheel, I argue that effective upstream CX enhances an organizations competitive advantage by ensuring that product innovations resonate more deeply with customers than those of competitors (Fig 1.)

Conclusion

Effective upstream CX enhances an organization’s competitive advantage by ensuring that product innovations resonate more deeply with customers than those of competitors. When organizations prioritize CX from the earliest stages of product development, they gain crucial insights into the emotional, functional, and social “jobs” that customers are trying to fulfill.

This customer-centric approach not only leads to products that better solve real customer problems, but it also fosters loyalty, improves market differentiation, and enables organizations to innovate in ways that are difficult for competitors to replicate. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, embedding upstream CX into product innovation strategies ensures that companies not only meet but exceed customer expectations, securing long-term success and Growth

CX Profitable Growth Loop

In my article in November 23 I introduced the CX Led Profitable Growth Flywheel. A mechanism that reflects the impact of Customer Experiences on Profitable Growth.

The CX Led Profitable Growth Flywheel has multiple loops where Customer Experiences generates two key outputs; customer satisfaction and competitive advantage which both find their way to Profitable Growth input.

In the meantime I wrote different articles about the relationships between CX and Profit and Growth. If you are interested how Customer Perception moderates the relationship between CX and competitive advantage, please read these article

References

Anthony, S. D., Johnson, M. W., Sinfield, J. V., & Altman, E. J. (2008).?The Innovator's Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work. Harvard Business Press.

Colapinto, John?(October 3, 2011).?"Famous Names" .?New Yorker.

Capon, Noel (2009).?Capon's Marketing Framework. Wessex Publishing.?ISBN ?978-0-9797344-6-5 . Retrieved?May 29,?2011.

Christensen, C. M., Hall, T., Dillon, K., & Duncan, D. S. (2016). Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. Harper Business.

Christensen, C. M., & Raynor, M. E. (2003).?The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. Harvard Business Review Press.

Hindo, B. (2007, June 11). At P&G, the Innovation Culture Yields More Than New Products.?Bloomberg Businessweek.

?"New Swiffer cleans up for Procter - Business Courier" . Bizjournals.com . 1999-11-08. Retrieved?2013-03-03.

Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1998). Welcome to the experience economy.?Harvard Business Review, 76(4), 97-105.

Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press.

Porter,?"How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy",?Harvard Business Review, May 1979 (Vol. 57, No. 2), pp. 137–145.

Ulwick, A. W. (2005). What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services. McGraw-Hill.

Wunker, S., Wattman, J., & Farber, D. (2016).?Jobs to be Done: A Roadmap for Customer-Centered Innovation. AMACOM.