Winning companies don’t just create a tight product/market fit; they also create a tight organization/market fit.

While new product developers attempt to create tight product/market fit, strategists attempt to create tight organizational/market fit. In both cases, every winning strategy and new product is the result of identifying an important unsatisfied need in the market and then addressing it with the firm’s relative strengths. That includes organizational capabilities as well as new product/service strengths

Research has repeatedly shown that the #1 reason why companies fail to achieve a tight product/market fit is because they don’t understand their target customers’ needs.

In my experience, the #1 reason why companies fail at strategy is also due to misunderstanding their target customers’ needs.

It’s difficult to make wise choices about “where to play” and “how to win” if you don’t know what your target customers are trying to accomplish.

It’s also difficult to make wise choices about “what capabilities must be in place” and “what management systems are required” if you don’t know what your target customers are trying to accomplish. This results in “strategic incoherence.” Capabilities and management systems should be chosen in part based on how well they can help your target customers get their jobs done, not just based on the internal productivity/efficiencies they provide.

The way to achieve a tight market fit with at the organizational level and with new products/services is to first identify:

–   Your target customers’ functional, emotional, and functional jobs to be done

–   The criteria they use to measure success

–    Where they struggle given the current product/service solution they use today

This information will then inform your choices about:

–    Where to play

–    How to win

–    What capabilities must be in place

–     What management systems are required

First diagnose the customers’ need, then treat it with the right capabilities and new products/services.

To learn more about how we help B2B companies differentiate and grow with deep customer insights using the JTBD innovation approach, visit What is Jobs-to-Be-Done?