---
title: Pain Point Analysis
summary: Use Jobs-to-be-Done and pain severity to find what customers truly hire your product to do.
est_minutes: 22
sort: 6
---

#### LESSON 1: The Jobs-to-be-Done Framework

Customers don't buy products. They hire them to get a job done.

Understanding the job your customer is trying to accomplish is more valuable than understanding demographic or even psychographic attributes.

Here's why Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) matters.

**The Jobs-to-be-Done Principle**

Core Insight:

People don't want a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.

Actually, they don't even want the hole. They want to hang a picture. Actually, they want their home to feel welcoming to guests.

That's the job.

**What Is a "Job"?**

A job is the progress a customer is trying to make in a particular circumstance.

Job Structure:

"When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]."

Examples:

B2C Example (Meal Delivery): "When I get home exhausted from work, I want to eat something healthy without cooking, so I can feel good about my choices without spending an hour in the kitchen."

B2B Example (Project Management Software): "When my team is scaling rapidly, I want to keep everyone aligned on priorities, so I can ship products on time without constant status meetings."

The "job" is not the product. The job is the outcome the customer seeks.

**Why Jobs-to-be-Done Matters**

Reason 1: Reveals True Competition

Your competition isn't just direct competitors. It's any alternative way to get the job done.

Example: Meal Delivery Service

Direct competitors:

- Other meal delivery services

JTBD competitors (all alternatives to "eat healthy without cooking"):

- Meal prep services
- Healthy restaurants
- Meal kits (still requires cooking, but less)
- Frozen healthy meals
- Eating out
- Not eating healthy (tolerating the pain)

Understanding the job reveals you're competing with behaviors, not just products.

Reason 2: Uncovers Non-Obvious Solutions

When you understand the job, you can innovate in unexpected ways.

Example: Milkshake Case Study

Fast food chain wanted to increase milkshake sales. Asked: "What job are people hiring milkshakes to do?"

Discovered morning commuters hired milkshakes to:

- Make boring commute interesting
- Keep them full until lunch
- Be easy to consume while driving
- Fit in cup holder

Competitors weren't other milkshakes. Competitors were:

- Bagels (messy, get crumbs everywhere)
- Bananas (gone in 3 bites, boring)
- Coffee (doesn't fill you up)
- Donuts (greasy fingers)

Solution: Thicker milkshakes (last longer), faster checkout (commuters in a hurry), move machine to front (no waiting in line).

Sales increased because they optimized for the job, not the product.

Reason 3: Guides Product Development

Features matter only if they help get the job done better.

Example: Project Management Tool

Feature request: "Add Gantt charts"

Without JTBD thinking: Build Gantt charts because customer asked.

With JTBD thinking: What job is the customer trying to do?

- Job: "Keep everyone aligned on deadlines"
- Current solution failing: "Can't see dependencies clearly"

Better solutions might be:

- Timeline view (simpler than Gantt)
- Automated deadline warnings
- Dependency visualization
- Critical path highlighting

Understanding the job leads to better solutions than just building requested features.

**The Three Dimensions of Jobs**

Customers hire products to do three types of jobs:

1. Functional Job (practical task)
2. Emotional Job (how they want to feel)
3. Social Job (how they want to be perceived)

All three matter. Most businesses only focus on #1.

**Functional Jobs**

The practical, tangible task that needs to be accomplished.

B2C Examples:

- "Get from point A to point B" (transportation)
- "Feed my family dinner" (food)
- "Stay warm" (clothing)
- "Track my fitness" (wearables)
- "Communicate with friends" (messaging)

B2B Examples:

- "Manage customer relationships" (CRM)
- "Track project progress" (project management)
- "Automate reporting" (BI tools)
- "Process payments" (payment processors)
- "Hire employees" (ATS)

Functional jobs are easy to identify. But they're insufficient.

**Emotional Jobs**

How the customer wants to feel as a result of getting the job done.

Emotional Job Examples:

Meal Delivery Service:

- Functional job: "Feed myself dinner"
- Emotional job: "Feel good about my health choices" + "Avoid guilt about not cooking"

Project Management Software:

- Functional job: "Track tasks"
- Emotional job: "Feel in control" + "Reduce anxiety about missed deadlines"

Luxury Car:

- Functional job: "Transportation"
- Emotional job: "Feel successful" + "Experience driving pleasure"

Peloton:

- Functional job: "Get exercise"
- Emotional job: "Feel motivated" + "Feel accomplished" + "Feel part of something"

Emotional jobs often drive purchase decisions more than functional jobs.

Example: Why Apple Succeeds

Functional job: "Use a computer/phone"

Emotional jobs:

- Feel creative
- Feel sophisticated
- Avoid frustration (simplicity)
- Feel confident (it just works)

Apple markets to emotional jobs, not functional ones.

- "Think Different" reflects identity, creativity, being special
- "It just works" reflects confidence and avoiding frustration
- Design emphasis reflects sophistication and taste

Competitors focus on functional jobs (specs, features). Apple wins on emotional jobs.

**Social Jobs**

How the customer wants to be perceived by others.

Social Job Examples:

Tesla:

- Functional job: "Transportation"
- Emotional job: "Feel environmentally responsible"
- Social job: "Be seen as innovative, forward-thinking, environmentally conscious"

Designer Clothing:

- Functional job: "Cover body, stay warm"
- Emotional job: "Feel confident"
- Social job: "Be perceived as stylish, successful, taste-maker"

Enterprise Software:

- Functional job: "Manage operations"
- Emotional job: "Feel in control"
- Social job: "Be seen as innovative leader who uses cutting-edge tools"

Consulting Services:

- Functional job: "Strategic planning"
- Emotional job: "Feel confident in decisions"
- Social job: "Demonstrate to board that we hired top-tier advisors"

Social jobs explain why people pay for brands, logos, and status.

**How to Identify the Job**

Method 1: The "When/I Want/So I Can" Framework

Interview customers:

"Walk me through the last time you [used our product / bought our category]. What was happening?"

Listen for the structure:

When: The circumstance/trigger

- "When I was overwhelmed with tasks..."
- "When I got the promotion and had a bigger team..."
- "When I realized I was eating takeout every night..."

I want to: The desired progress

- "I wanted to get organized..."
- "I wanted to keep everyone aligned..."
- "I wanted to eat healthier..."

So I can: The outcome/benefit

- "So I can stop missing deadlines"
- "So I can scale without chaos"
- "So I can feel better and have more energy"

This reveals the complete job.

Method 2: Struggling Moment Analysis

Ask: "What were you struggling with before you found us?"

Key phrase: "Struggling with"

Listen for:

- Frustrations
- Failed attempts
- Workarounds
- Tolerations
- Breaking points

Example Responses:

"I was struggling to keep my team on the same page. We were using email and spreadsheets and information was everywhere."

Job: "Keep distributed team aligned and informed without information chaos"

"I was struggling with guilt. I knew I should cook healthy meals but I was too tired after work."

Job: "Eat healthy without the time/energy investment of cooking"

Method 3: Alternatives Analysis

Ask: "What did you try before us? Why didn't that work?"

The alternatives reveal the job.

Example:

Customer tried:

1. Spreadsheets, too manual, error-prone
2. Asana, too complicated for team
3. Trello, too simple, couldn't scale
4. Monday, too expensive

Job revealed: "Manage projects with something powerful enough to scale but simple enough team will actually use, at reasonable price"

The pattern of failed alternatives shows what job they're trying to do and what constraints matter.

Method 4: Outcome Expectations

Ask: "What does success look like? How will you know this is working?"

Example Responses:

"Success is my team shipping on time without me micromanaging every detail." Job: "Enable team autonomy while maintaining quality and deadlines"

"Success is me eating healthy 5 days a week without thinking about it." Job: "Make healthy eating effortless and automatic"

"Success is our sales team closing deals 30% faster." Job: "Accelerate sales velocity without adding headcount"

Desired outcomes reveal the job.

#### LESSON 2: Uncovering Functional, Emotional, and Social Jobs

Most businesses only discover functional jobs. The emotional and social dimensions drive purchase decisions but remain hidden.

Here's how to uncover all three.

**Uncovering Functional Jobs**

Functional jobs are the easiest to identify because customers talk about them directly.

Questions That Reveal Functional Jobs:

1. "What task were you trying to accomplish?"
2. "What problem were you trying to solve?"
3. "What were you doing when you realized you needed a solution?"
4. "What specific outcome were you looking for?"

Example Interview:

Q: "What were you trying to accomplish when you started looking for project management software?"

A: "We needed to track who was working on what and make sure nothing fell through the cracks."

Functional Job: "Track task ownership and prevent dropped balls"

Functional Job Categories:

Get Something Done:

- Complete a task
- Create something
- Fix something
- Organize something

Avoid Something:

- Prevent errors
- Reduce manual work
- Eliminate waste
- Minimize risk

Monitor/Measure Something:

- Track progress
- Measure performance
- Stay informed
- Maintain visibility

Functional jobs answer: "What tangible outcome do they need?"

**Uncovering Emotional Jobs**

Emotional jobs are harder to identify because customers don't always articulate feelings directly.

You need to listen for emotional language and ask deeper questions.

Questions That Reveal Emotional Jobs:

1. "How did that problem make you feel?"
2. "What was the emotional impact of not having a solution?"
3. "How do you feel now that you're using [solution]?"
4. "What would you have felt if this didn't work?"

Example Interview:

Q: "How did it feel when tasks were falling through the cracks?"

A: "Honestly, it was stressful. I felt like I was constantly firefighting. I'd wake up at 3am wondering what I'd forgotten."

Emotional Job: "Reduce stress and anxiety" + "Feel in control" + "Sleep peacefully"

Emotional Job Categories:

Confidence:

- Feel assured
- Feel prepared
- Feel knowledgeable
- Reduce anxiety

Control:

- Feel organized
- Feel on top of things
- Reduce chaos
- Avoid overwhelm

Achievement:

- Feel accomplished
- Feel productive
- Make progress
- Win

Peace of Mind:

- Reduce worry
- Feel secure
- Avoid stress
- Sleep well

Energy:

- Feel motivated
- Feel energized
- Avoid exhaustion
- Maintain momentum

Status/Pride:

- Feel successful
- Feel proud
- Feel competent
- Avoid embarrassment

Connection:

- Feel understood
- Feel part of community
- Avoid isolation
- Belong

Autonomy:

- Feel independent
- Feel empowered
- Avoid dependence
- Self-sufficiency

Listening for Emotional Clues:

Words that signal emotional jobs:

- "Stressed"
- "Anxious"
- "Overwhelmed"
- "Frustrated"
- "Guilty"
- "Worried"
- "Confident"
- "Relieved"
- "Proud"
- "Exhausted"

When customers use emotional language, probe deeper.

Example: Meal Delivery Service

Functional Job: "Feed myself healthy dinner"

Emotional Jobs Revealed Through Interview:

Customer: "I'd get home exhausted and order Uber Eats. Then I'd feel guilty about spending money and eating unhealthy food."

Emotional Jobs:

- Avoid guilt (about not cooking, about unhealthy eating)
- Feel good about choices
- Reduce decision fatigue (what to eat)
- Avoid exhaustion (from cooking)

These emotional jobs explain why meal delivery wins over:

- Cooking (eliminates exhaustion and decision fatigue)
- Takeout (eliminates guilt)
- Meal kits (still requires energy to cook)

Messaging that hits emotional jobs:

"Eat healthy, feel great, zero guilt. Dinner handled."

vs. weak functional messaging:

"Fresh meals delivered to your door"

**Uncovering Social Jobs**

Social jobs are the hardest to uncover because people don't want to admit they care what others think.

You need to ask indirectly.

Questions That Reveal Social Jobs:

1. "Who else was involved in the decision?"
2. "What did your [team/boss/board/peers] think about this?"
3. "How did you explain this decision to others?"
4. "What would people have thought if you chose differently?"
5. "Does this affect how others perceive you or your company?"

Example Interview (B2B):

Q: "Who else was involved in the decision to buy this software?"

A: "Our board was asking why we weren't using modern tools. They saw other portfolio companies using [cutting-edge tools] and wondered why we were still on spreadsheets."

Social Job: "Demonstrate to board we're innovative and using best-in-class tools"

This social job might drive the purchase more than the functional job of "managing projects."

Social Job Categories:

Status:

- Be seen as successful
- Demonstrate sophistication
- Signal wealth/resources
- Show taste

Innovation:

- Be perceived as forward-thinking
- Demonstrate tech-savviness
- Show we're cutting-edge
- Avoid being seen as outdated

Responsibility:

- Demonstrate we care (environment, social issues)
- Show we're ethical
- Signal values alignment
- Avoid negative perception

Competence:

- Be seen as professional
- Demonstrate capability
- Show we know what we're doing
- Avoid looking incompetent

Belonging:

- Fit in with peer group
- Be part of community
- Align with tribe identity
- Avoid being outsider

Example: Enterprise Software Purchase

Functional Job: "Manage customer relationships"

Emotional Job: "Feel confident we won't lose deals to poor follow-up"

Social Job: "Be seen by leadership as running a modern, sophisticated sales org"

Why they chose Salesforce over cheaper alternative:

Not just functionality. The social job:

- "Salesforce = Industry standard"
- "Board expects enterprise companies to use Salesforce"
- "Using Salesforce signals we're serious/professional"

VP of Sales to Board: "We're implementing Salesforce" sounds better than "We're using HubSpot" or "We built custom solution"

Social job drives premium pricing acceptance.

Example: Tesla Purchase

Functional Job: "Transportation"

Emotional Jobs:

- Feel environmentally responsible
- Experience driving excitement
- Feel technologically advanced

Social Jobs:

- Be seen as environmentally conscious
- Signal innovation/forward-thinking
- Demonstrate success (can afford premium)
- Align with progressive values

Marketing that hits all three:

- Functional: "300 mile range, 0-60 in 3 seconds"
- Emotional: "Experience the future of driving"
- Social: "Join the movement to sustainable transportation"

People buy Tesla for social/emotional jobs, justify with functional.

#### LESSON 3: Pain Point Severity Assessment and Using Pain Points

Not all pain points are equal. Some drive immediate action. Others get tolerated forever.

Understanding pain severity helps you prioritize positioning and product development.

**The Pain Severity Framework**

Three Levels of Pain:

Level 1: Critical Pain (Urgent, Active)

Characteristics:

- Daily frustration
- Significant impact (time, money, stress)
- Getting worse over time
- Customer actively seeking solution NOW
- Willing to pay premium to fix

Examples:

"Our manual reporting process takes 15 hours per week and we keep making errors that cost us deals."

"I'm working 70 hours a week and missing my kids' events. Something has to change."

"We're losing customers due to slow response times. We need to fix this immediately."

Indicators of Critical Pain:

- "I can't keep doing this"
- "This is costing us [money/time/deals]"
- "We need to fix this now"
- "I'm desperate for a solution"

Critical pain drives immediate purchase.

Level 2: Moderate Pain (Annoying, Tolerable)

Characteristics:

- Recurring frustration
- Noticeable impact but not devastating
- Customer aware but not actively seeking
- Willing to solve if easy/affordable
- Can tolerate indefinitely

Examples:

"Our project management is messy. We use spreadsheets and it's not ideal, but it works."

"I should probably eat healthier but I'm getting by with takeout."

"Our reporting could be better but we make it work with manual processes."

Indicators of Moderate Pain:

- "It's not ideal but..."
- "We make it work"
- "It's annoying but not urgent"
- "We should probably fix this"

Moderate pain drives purchase when:

- Solution is easy to adopt
- Price is low friction
- Competitor creates urgency
- Situation worsens to critical

Level 3: Minor Pain (Nice-to-Fix, Low Priority)

Characteristics:

- Occasional inconvenience
- Minimal impact
- Customer barely notices
- Won't pay to solve
- Easily tolerated

Examples:

"It would be nice if the UI was prettier."

"Sometimes I wish the report exported in PDF instead of Excel."

"The loading time is a little slow but it's fine."

Indicators of Minor Pain:

- "It would be nice..."
- "Sometimes I wish..."
- "It's fine"
- "Not a big deal"

Minor pain rarely drives purchase. Don't build business around it.

**Assessing Pain Severity**

Ask these questions to assess severity:

1. Frequency: "How often does this problem occur?"

- Daily/multiple times per day = Critical
- Weekly/monthly = Moderate
- Rarely/occasionally = Minor

2. Impact: "What does this problem cost you?" (time, money, stress, opportunity)

- Significant measurable cost = Critical
- Noticeable but manageable = Moderate
- Negligible = Minor

3. Urgency: "How soon do you need to solve this?"

- Immediately/this month = Critical
- This quarter/this year = Moderate
- Someday/eventually = Minor

4. Workarounds: "What are you doing now to cope?"

- Complex workaround that barely works = Critical
- Tolerable workaround = Moderate
- No workaround needed = Minor

5. Willingness to Pay: "How much would you pay to fix this?"

- Premium price acceptable = Critical
- Moderate price acceptable = Moderate
- Only if cheap/free = Minor

**Example Pain Severity Assessment**

Problem: "Manual reporting takes too long"

Assessment Interview:

Frequency: "How often do you build reports?" A: "Every single day. My team spends 2-3 hours daily on reports." Daily = Critical

Impact: "What does this cost you?" A: "That's 15 hours per week. At $100/hour loaded cost, that's $75K per year just on reporting. Plus we make errors that cost us deals." $75K+ impact = Critical

Urgency: "How soon do you need to solve this?" A: "As soon as possible. Our board is asking why our operations are so manual." Immediate = Critical

Workaround: "What are you doing now?" A: "We've hired another person just to handle reporting. It's not sustainable." Hired headcount to work around = Critical

Willingness to Pay: "What would you pay for a solution?" A: "If it saves us 15 hours per week, I'd easily pay $2,000-$3,000 per month." Premium price acceptable = Critical

Overall Assessment: CRITICAL PAIN

This customer will buy. Soon. At premium price.

**Using Pain Severity to Prioritize**

Focus acquisition on Critical Pain customers:

Marketing messaging should emphasize:

- Urgency ("Stop wasting 15 hours/week")
- Impact ("$75K annual waste")
- Immediate relief ("Automated in 24 hours")

Moderate Pain customers need nurturing:

They're not ready to buy now. They need:

- Education (show them impact they're not seeing)
- Urgency creation (competitor pressure, market shifts)
- Low-friction trial (make it easy to try)

Minor Pain customers aren't your market:

Don't waste time on them. They:

- Won't buy
- Will churn if they do buy (not urgent enough)
- Provide misleading product feedback

**Using Pain Points for Messaging**

Lead with the pain, not the product.

Weak (Product-Focused): "Our software automates reporting"

Strong (Pain-Focused): "Stop wasting 15 hours per week on manual reports"

Weak: "We're a project management platform"

Strong: "Stop dropping balls and missing deadlines"

Weak: "Meal delivery service"

Strong: "Eat healthy without cooking. Zero guilt."

The pain gets attention. The product is the solution.

Pain-Focused Messaging Framework:

1. Name the Pain: "Spending 15 hours/week on manual reports?"
2. Amplify the Impact: "That's $75K/year wasted on busywork plus errors that cost you deals."
3. Show the Trigger: "And it's getting worse as you scale."
4. Present the Solution: "Automate reporting in 24 hours with [Product]."
5. Prove It Works: "Join 500 companies who eliminated manual reporting."

This structure resonates because it matches customer's internal dialogue.

**Using Pain Points for Product Development**

Critical pains = product priorities.

If customers have critical pain around:

- Manual processes, automate it
- Lack of visibility, build dashboards
- Collaboration breakdown, build real-time sync
- Slow performance, optimize speed

Moderate pains = backlog.

Build when:

- Critical pains are solved
- Moderate pain becomes common request
- Opportunity to differentiate

Minor pains = ignore.

Don't build features for minor pains. They:

- Don't drive purchase
- Don't prevent churn
- Distract from critical pains

Pain Point Prioritization Matrix:

| Pain Point | Severity | Frequency | Impact | Willingness to Pay | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual reporting | Critical | Daily | $75K/year | High | BUILD NOW |
| Messy collaboration | Moderate | Weekly | Frustration | Medium | BACKLOG |
| Prettier UI | Minor | Rare | None | Low | IGNORE |

Build roadmap based on critical pains only.
