Purchase Journey

JTBD MC2

Buyer experiences the Purchase Journey — The action and strategy behind acquiring a solution. This is also know as the purchase journey or the buyer journey. However, it stands independently from other journeys.

Job: Purchasing a Solution

Job Steps

These are sub-objectives of the overall job following the 9 universal phases of Jobs to be Done. Each step is further supported by several performance metrics that customers use to measure success. These are what get prioritized in a survey.

Click Step ⬇️to Open Performance Metrics ➡️

Purchase Journey Steps

Identify Needs

The ability to recognize and articulate the specific requirements and goals that the solution must meet.

1

Research Potential Solutions

The ability to gather information about available options that could fulfill the identified needs.

2

Evaluate Budget and Resources

The ability to assess financial constraints and available resources to determine affordability and feasibility.

3

Gather Vendor Information

The ability to collect details about potential suppliers, including their reputation, reliability, and product quality.

4

Prepare Evaluation Criteria

The ability to establish clear and objective criteria for assessing different solutions.

5

Consult Stakeholders

The ability to engage with individuals or groups who will be affected by the solution, to gain their insights and preferences.

6

Select Potential Solutions

The ability to narrow down options based on research, budget, and stakeholder input.

7

Verify Compliance and Compatibility

The ability to ensure that the chosen solutions comply with relevant regulations and are compatible with existing systems or processes.

8

Negotiate Terms

The ability to discuss and agree on the terms of purchase, including price, delivery, and service agreements.

9

Finalize Purchase Decision

The ability to make a final decision based on evaluations, negotiations, and stakeholder agreement.

10

Execute Purchase

The ability to complete the transaction, including processing payment and confirming the order.

11

Monitor Delivery and Implementation

The ability to track the delivery of the solution and oversee its implementation to ensure it meets the set requirements.

12

Assess Solution Performance

The ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution in meeting the identified needs and goals.

13

Address Issues and Provide Feedback

The ability to resolve any problems encountered and provide feedback to the vendor for future improvements.

14

Contexts

When jobs have too high of a context, insights tend to be less actionable - or at least relevant for certain stakeholders. These contexts provide a means for narrowing the scope of your research in a consistent and structured fashion. Certainly, more contexts exist, and can be addressed with a specific request.

Situations

While a group of people may be trying to get the same job done, the way the respond to needs-prioritization questions can be different. When we find statistical clusters of needs we need a way to describe why the group is different from another, not simply that that are different based on how they rate needs. Situations (aka Complexity Factors) that end users experience when they execute the job (or last executed the job) could be different, thus resulting in a different prioritization of specific performance metrics. One or or more situations could correlate to a segment, and it is recommend that follow up interviews are done with actual respondents within a segment to help you gain clarity, and verbatims you can use to construct your strategic storyline for the segment.

Ideal States

There are times when going deep into a job, job map, and success metrics is just too much of a gamble. Is it the right job to study? Ideal states give us a handful of indicators that can be used in addition to importance, difficulty, and frequency to understand which jobs groups of end users struggle with, and why.

Financial Metrics

The purchase decision-maker has a say in product selection, and costs relative to cash outlays, direct or indirect, are what they think about. These questions can only be answer by the person who makes those decisions. For consumers, many times you can included these in a core functional study. However, beware of business end users who simply use products that are purchased for them. They are not the right audience for these metrics.

1. Minimize the cost of maintenance for the solution over its lifespan.
2. Minimize the cost of upgrading the solution to newer versions.
3. Minimize the cost of training staff to efficiently operate the solution.
4. Minimize the cost of integrating the solution with existing systems.
5. Minimize the cost of technical support for the solution.
6. Minimize the cost of downtime when implementing the solution.
7. Minimize the cost of energy consumption by the solution during operation.
8. Minimize the cost of compliance with industry regulations when using the solution.
9. Minimize the cost of data storage required for the solution’s operation.
10. Minimize the cost of insurance for risks associated with the solution.
11. Minimize the cost of customization to meet specific business needs.
12. Minimize the cost of disposal of the solution at the end of its life cycle.
13. Minimize the cost of licensing fees associated with the solution.
14. Minimize the cost of security measures needed to protect the solution.
15. Minimize the cost of scalability to grow with the business.
16. Minimize the cost of data migration when transitioning to the solution.
17. Minimize the cost of warranty and repair services for the solution.
18. Minimize the cost of environmental impact of using and disposing of the solution.
19. Minimize the cost of inventory management related to the solution.
20. Minimize the cost of communication and coordination with the solution provider.

Related Jobs

When a core functional job is getting close to maturity, we have to look beyond steps or metrics and find other jobs the end user is trying to accomplish so we can help them. This provides an opportunity to not only get a job done better, but get more jobs done on a single platform (and potentially better).

Before Purchasing a Solution

1. Identifying Business Needs - Determine the specific needs and problems that the solution should address.
2. Researching Available Solutions - Explore different solutions in the market to understand features, benefits, and limitations.
3. Setting a Budget - Establish how much can be spent on the solution, taking into account both initial and ongoing costs.
4. Evaluating Internal Capabilities - Assess if the existing infrastructure and skills are sufficient to integrate and use the new solution.
5. Consulting with Stakeholders - Discuss with key stakeholders to get their input and ensure the solution aligns with broader business goals.

During Purchasing a Solution

1. Requesting Proposals from Vendors - Reach out to potential vendors to receive detailed proposals and quotations for their solutions.
2. Analyzing Proposals - Compare proposals from different vendors, focusing on how well each solution meets the identified business needs.
3. Negotiating Terms - Engage in negotiations with preferred vendors to arrive at favorable terms, prices, and service agreements.
4. Conducting Risk Assessment - Evaluate the potential risks associated with each solution, such as vendor reliability and solution scalability.
5. Obtaining Approval from Management - Present the chosen solution and terms to higher management for approval.

After Purchasing a Solution

1. Finalizing the Purchase - Complete the transaction, including signing contracts and making the initial payment.
2. Implementing the Solution - Work with the vendor and internal teams to integrate and deploy the solution.
3. Training Employees - Ensure that employees are trained on how to use the new solution effectively.
4. Monitoring Solution Performance - Regularly track the performance of the solution to ensure it meets the expected outcomes.
5. Reviewing Vendor Support - Evaluate the ongoing support provided by the vendor and address any issues or needs for improvement.

Emotional Jobs

Understanding how end users want to feel (or avoid feeling) in the context of getting the job done is important in several ways. First, understanding this helps to think about more abstract things things a user considers when actually performing the job (or access a service/journey). Second, these insights can be critical in messaging to your offer, which is something your marketing team will value.

Desired Emotions:

1. Feel Confident: As a buyer purchasing a solution, confidence is crucial in making well-informed decisions and selecting the right product or service.
2. Feel Informed: Being well-informed about the product, its features, and its benefits is vital for making a good purchase.
3. Feel Assured: Feeling assured about the quality and reliability of the solution is essential for a satisfactory purchase.
4. Feel Valued: It's important to feel that the seller values you as a customer, ensuring good service and attention to your needs.
5. Feel Satisfied: Satisfaction with the overall purchasing experience, from negotiation to final acquisition, is key.
6. Feel Supported: Feeling supported, especially in terms of after-sales service and customer support, is important for a positive buying experience.

Undesired Emotions:

1. Avoid Feeling Pressured: It's crucial to avoid feeling pressured into making a hasty or uninformed decision.
2. Avoid Feeling Misled: Avoid the feeling of being misled by false promises or inaccurate information about the product or service.
3. Avoid Feeling Regretful: It's important to avoid regret, which can stem from making a poor purchasing decision.
4. Avoid Feeling Ignored: Avoid feeling ignored or neglected by the seller, as it can lead to a negative purchasing experience.
5. Avoid Feeling Frustrated: Frustration can arise from a lack of clarity, support, or understanding, and should be avoided.
6. Avoid Feeling Uncertain: Uncertainty about the product, its benefits, or the terms of purchase should be minimized.

Social Jobs

Ditto emotional jobs

Positive Perceptions

1. Be Perceived as Informed - Being seen as informed implies you have done thorough research and understand the product or service you are purchasing.
2. Be Perceived as Decisive - Demonstrating decisiveness suggests confidence in your choices and the ability to make sound judgments quickly.
3. Be Perceived as Negotiation-Savvy - A good negotiator is perceived as someone who can secure the best deals, balancing cost and quality effectively.
4. Be Perceived as Trustworthy - Trustworthiness in business transactions fosters long-term relationships and opens up better opportunities.
5. Be Perceived as Professional - Professionalism indicates respect for the process and the people involved, and suggests competence in handling the purchasing process.

Negative Perceptions

1. Avoid Being Perceived as Indecisive - Indecisiveness can lead to missed opportunities and can reflect poorly on your decision-making skills.
2. Avoid Being Perceived as Uninformed - Lack of information can lead to poor decisions and can diminish your credibility as a buyer.
3. Avoid Being Perceived as Gullible - Being perceived as easily fooled or naive can lead to less favorable terms and may undermine your negotiating position.
4. Avoid Being Perceived as Unprofessional - Unprofessional behavior can damage relationships and hinder future transactions.
5. Avoid Being Perceived as Disrespectful - Disrespect can sour business relationships and negatively impact your reputation.

How this was made

I used the tools that I’ve shared in my Jobs-to-be-Done Masterclass: Eliminating Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews with Artificial Intelligence ⬅️ to build this entire catalog.

While it did take some time, that’s because there are 16 journeys and the catalogs are comprehensive. You will not find anything like this in the JTBD practitioner world.

Consultants make their money doing things. Innovators automate things. I hope Customer Experience (CX) professionals are able to leverage this work to accelerate their own.

Purpose

Journey Mapping exercises typically end with a visualization of a make believe journey with a smattering of pain points expressed by a smattering of real people.

Have you ever wondered why you constantly have to redo these?

What I’ve developed above may not be absolutely perfect for your situation, but with a few tweaks it will stand the test of time as the backbone of your prioritization of customer needs, and the foundation of your strategic roadmaps far into the future.

We don’t study solutions, we study the jobs your customers are trying to get done as they experience the lifecycle of ownership within your ecosystem.

Simple as that.

Now, go run a survey. I’ll be incorporating some accelerators for that very, very soon.

Contact

Mike Boysen - Managing Director

Practical JTBD, LLC

www.pjtbd.com | http://jobstobedone.substack.com

678-824-2789 | info@pjtbd.com

Copyright

The entire catalog is covered under creative commons….

The Customer Journey 2.0 Toolkit © 2024 by Michael A. Boysen is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International