The 4 "Modes" of Revenue Development using Jobs-to-be-Done

The Context vs. Mode thinking

The evidence shows that it’s more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep and grow existing customers. Then of course, there’s that last piece where you want to leverage your customer base as vocal advocates, or brand ambassadors. This means that sub-objectives supporting the Job-to-be-Done are slightly different depending on the mode you are in, as part of revenue development.

Note: I made an oopsy in earlier posts, which I’ve corrected here, and will fix elsewhere. Determining business objectives has been replaced with developing marketing capabilities. I’m not sure how that slipped past me. Too many versions?

Mode vs. Context

Context: the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

Mode: an option allowing a change in the method of operation of a device

The way I view this is that I might go running. Depending on the weather, the circumstance might be rain, freezing temperatures, high humidity, etc. I’m still running, but I may need different solutions to help me get the job done (comfortably).

Mode means I may have the same purpose, but I actually execute a slightly different process to achieve it. So, as we think about developing leads, which ultimately lead to additional revenue, the job changes slightly from net new customer acquisition to growing existing customers - even in a solution-independent way. The output is the same, but the mode of execution is different because a customer is in a different life stage of our relationship.

Note: Revenue Development has two parts. I’m address the marketing side here, although I will be publishing integrated maps at some point. Here’s a link describing this.

Here’s how I look at the modes of revenue development:

1. Acquire New Customers

2. Grow Existing Customers

3. Retain Defecting Customers

4. Leverage Existing Customers

Acquire New Customer

We’ve already been through this one, and as of this writing I’m still publishing the entire model piece by piece so it is survey-ready. Here’s a link to the TOC.

And once again, if you’re not familiar with Jobs-to-be-Done, this is a product and service innovation method, not a way to describe marketing campaigns. My goal is to help customers understand their objectives more clearly when developing their digital road maps, and to inform vendors what their customers really want to inform their product road maps. Both should be in complete alignment. Read more here.

Grow Existing Customers

The job shifts slightly here because we already know who they are, they’ve purchased from us before, and we want them to buy more! However, a customer and a lead are two very different things. Different systems handle the data model differently, but a Prospect (Contact) can have one or more leads associated with it, and so can a Customer. This may be why platforms like Microsoft Dynamics require that a Contact be associated with a lead, even if it’s not a customer (for most scenarios they require this).

We have different a starting point, and we’ll have more data to work with as we trying to identify good prospects and understand them. But, we are still developing a qualified lead for the purpose of converting that into (additional) revenue.

Below is a draft map (subject to change, e.g. order). Again, each step is a sub-objective supporting the larger Job-to-be-Done. Many of the outcomes will be different, even in steps that seem to be the same, and many will be the same. It’s a different mode.

Ask yourself which of the steps your current CRM/CX platform help you to accomplish, and how.

Retain Defecting Customers

It might seem odd that I consider this to be developing a qualified lead. However, something has to change in order to retain this customer. It could be that a concession needs to be made to maintain a subscription, or new value has to be introduced. Either way, it must become a qualified lead before the deal can be closed. If revenue is not preserved, the customer has successfully defected. This is a slightly different process, but we have a similar objective .

This leads to an interesting dilemma. Can marketing alone simply come up with new value to offer? Probably not. They like to fiddle with pricing, over-engaging, and sales copy 😁. This is actually where they should be responsible for feeding back to product planners because they are part of a group of enterprise functions working together toward a common goal (Achieve Profitable Growth).

One of the most interesting books I’ve read on this is called DRILLING DOWN: Turning Customer Data into Profits with a Spreadsheet. I read it quite a long time ago. It’s 20+ years old and going for $99 on Amazon (in paperback, $69 on Kindle)! Even though modern Customer Lifetime Value models have outperformed RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetory) in academic studies, this book lays out something that is actionable, where the bottom-up CLV modeling I’ve researched is extremely difficult to execute in the real world because of disconnected enterprise technology, and other such realities.

But, I digress…

Leverage Existing Customers

Frankly, I haven’t thought much about this one. Ultimately, it’s purpose is to leverage current customers to acquire a net new customer. There are things an enterprise has some control over with regard to influencing customers to promote their brand. However, there are a lot of things that I believe are beyond direct control. I’ll be thinking about how network effects should be incorporated in a solution-agnostic way. I know of at least one person who will likely chime in on this and tell me to research swarm warfare, etc. :)

That’s all for now.