Job Prioritization Criteria

Choose which customer job to focus on based on urgency, willingness to pay, go-to-market fit, and unfair advantages

Gia Laudi
Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)

Job Prioritization Criteria

"The way that you make a decision on which one you focus on is similar to best customers. So high willingness to pay. There's no question whether or not they would pay for a product like yours. The handholding that they would need would be minor or less so." - Gia Laudi

What It Is

Job Prioritization Criteria is a framework for choosing which customer job to focus on when research reveals multiple valid jobs your product could solve. Rather than trying to serve all customer jobs equally (which dilutes messaging and product focus), this approach provides clear criteria for prioritizing one job to lead with.

The key insight is that even though your best customers may have different jobs to be done, you should prioritize one job at a time. This doesn't mean abandoning other jobs—you can serve them later—but leading with one enables much stronger positioning, clearer messaging, and more focused product optimization.

This framework emerged from Gia Laudi's work with companies like SparkToro, where research identified two distinct customer jobs but business strategy required picking one to lead with.

How It Works

Evaluate each customer job against seven criteria:

1. High Willingness to Pay

  • There's no question these customers would pay
  • The value they receive clearly justifies the price
  • They're not price-sensitive or comparison-shopping

2. Low Handholding Required

  • They can succeed with minimal support
  • They don't require extensive onboarding
  • Compatible with your current go-to-market model (PLG vs. sales-led)

3. Urgent Problem

  • This is a painkiller, not a vitamin
  • They need to solve this problem now, not "someday"
  • The pain is acute enough to drive action

4. High Retention/Expansion Potential

  • They have a long-term need for this product
  • Their need could grow or evolve over time
  • Strong lifetime value potential

5. Easy to Reach

  • These customers congregate in reachable places
  • They're active in identifiable communities
  • Marketing to them is feasible and cost-effective

6. You Have an Unfair Advantage

  • Your product, team, or brand has special credibility with this segment
  • You can serve them better than competitors
  • There's something unique you bring to this job

7. Go-to-Market Alignment

  • If you're PLG, pick the job that works with self-serve
  • If you're sales-led, pick the job that benefits from high-touch
  • Match the job to your current capabilities

How to Apply It

  1. Complete JTBD research first — Survey or interview your best customers to identify distinct customer jobs

  2. List the jobs that emerged — There may be 2-4 meaningfully different jobs

  3. Score each job against the seven criteria on a scale (e.g., High/Medium/Low)

  4. Prioritize the job with the strongest overall fit

  5. Commit to leading with this job in:

    • Website messaging and positioning
    • Onboarding and product activation
    • Marketing campaigns and content
    • Feature prioritization

  6. Plan for secondary jobs later — You're not abandoning other jobs, just sequencing them

Example: SparkToro

SparkToro's research revealed two customer jobs:

  • Job A: Service providers/marketers seeking audience insights
  • Job B: Data analysts wanting verifiable research data

Applying the criteria:

Criterion Marketers (A) Data Analysts (B)
Willingness to Pay High High
Low Handholding High Medium
Urgent Problem High Medium
Retention/Expansion High Medium
Easy to Reach High (Rand's audience) Lower
Unfair Advantage Very High Lower
GTM Alignment High (PLG) Medium

SparkToro prioritized the marketer job because they had a significant unfair advantage—Rand Fishkin's marketing audience and expertise. Data analysts could still be served, but marketing would lead.

When to Use It

  • After JTBD research reveals multiple customer jobs
  • When deciding how to position a multi-use product
  • When team debates arise about "who is our customer"
  • When messaging feels unfocused or too broad
  • When different segments have different needs

Important Notes

  • This is not permanent: Prioritizing one job now doesn't mean never serving others
  • Jobs share the same product: The same product can solve different jobs—you're choosing which to lead with
  • Secondary jobs can be layered in: Think of this as sequencing, not exclusion
  • Research validates fit: You're choosing among jobs that already attract your best customers

Source

  • Guest: Gia Laudi (Georgiana Laudi)
  • Episode: "Customer-led growth | Georgiana Laudi (Forget The Funnel)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:24:23) - The prioritization criteria
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

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