B2B Jobs to be Done: The CRM Purchase

Chris shares the details of a shopping process that lasts over two years, as he pushes his company to increase sales through the adoption of a new customer relationship management (CRM) system.

When we apply Jobs to be Done in the B2B space it’s critical that we interview the person at the company who was truly driving the purchase and pushing the company to make progress.

Because these purchases can sometimes span multiple years and involve people from a variety of functions, getting to the right person can be difficult. Out of an attempt to be helpful more than out of malice, many people will raise their hand and proclaim, “Yes, I led the purchase of that product.” (finance, procurement, etc).

In this interview you’ll see what it’s like to talk to the person at a company who was pushing for progress.

You’ll hear Chris share the challenges that he and his team endured as Covid and a new remote work environment drove their sales down. He goes on to tell us how he formed a vision to turn things around, which included the purchase and rollout of a new CRM.

He describes what it was like to manage his way through competing projects and the challenges that came with securing budget for a large purchase at a time in the company’s history when sales were down.

In the end, he leaves us with insights that we can use to build, package, position, and sell products that can help people in his situation make progress.

If you’re applying Jobs to be Done in a B2B enterprise sale context, I hope this interview and the accompanying recruiting tips are helpful to you.