What is Segmentation By Struggle?

Segmentation By Struggle is a strategic approach that identifies and groups customers based on the specific difficulties they experience when trying to accomplish their Jobs To Be Done. Unlike traditional segmentation approaches that rely on demographic characteristics, firmographic information, or product usage patterns, Segmentation By Struggle directly addresses why customers seek new solutions - because they're struggling to make progress on goals that matter to them.

This approach recognizes that purchasing behavior is driven primarily by customers' difficulty executing important job steps, not by their age, industry, or other characteristics. By identifying patterns of struggle across job steps and needs, companies can discover naturally occurring customer segments that represent meaningful innovation and growth opportunities. These struggle-based segments often cut across traditional demographic or firmographic boundaries, revealing high-potential customer groups that might otherwise remain hidden.

Why is Segmentation By Struggle important?

Traditional segmentation approaches often fail to guide product development and marketing effectively for several key innovation.

1. Weak connection to purchase motivation

Demographic or firmographic characteristics have limited correlation with why customers actually buy products. Struggle with job execution directly drives purchasing behavior.

2. Insufficient innovation guidance

Traditional segments provide little direction for product development. Struggle-based segments directly identify what problems to solve for which customers.

3. Artificial boundaries

Conventional approaches often create arbitrary segment boundaries based on characteristics that don't reflect natural customer groupings. Struggle patterns reveal how customers naturally cluster based on shared challenges.

4. Limited pricing guidance

Traditional segments offer little insight into willingness to pay. Struggle intensity strongly correlates with price sensitivity, providing clearer guidance for pricing strategies.

5. Missed high-value opportunities

Conventional approaches often overlook valuable customer groups who share struggles but differ demographically. Struggle-based segmentation reveals these hidden opportunities.

What are the key components of effective Segmentation By Struggle?

A comprehensive approach to Segmentation By Struggle includes these key components:

1. Job Mapping Foundation

The foundation for meaningful segmentation is a clear understanding of customer jobs:

• The overall job customers are trying to accomplish
• The sequence of steps customers take to execute the job
• The specific needs within each job step
• The importance of different steps and needs to customers
• The context in which the job is performed

This job mapping creates the structure for identifying struggle patterns.

2. Struggle Measurement

Systematic assessment of customer difficulties:

• Qualitative exploration of job execution challenges
• Quantitative measurement of importance and satisfaction for each need
• Calculation of opportunity scores to identify struggle areas
• Capture of effort levels for completing job steps
• Documentation of workarounds and adaptations

These measurements provide the data for identifying struggle patterns.

3. Segment Pattern Identification

Analysis to discover natural customer groupings:

• Statistical clustering based on struggle patterns
• Identification of needs with high variation across customers
• Discovery of correlated struggles that define segments
• Recognition of distinct job execution approaches
• Mapping of segment boundaries and overlaps

This analysis reveals naturally occurring customer segments based on shared struggles.

4. Segment Profiling

Enrichment of segment understanding beyond struggles:

• Demographic or firmographic characteristics that correlate with segments
• Current solution usage within segments
• Willingness to pay across segments
• Size and growth of different segments
• Accessibility of segments through channels and messaging

This profiling creates a complete picture of each struggle-based segment.

5. Opportunity Assessment

Evaluation of segment attractiveness for targeting:

• Struggle intensity within each segment
• Segment size and growth potential
• Willingness to pay and economic value
• Competitive situation within each segment
• Organizational capability to address specific struggles

This assessment guides strategic choices about which segments to target.

How do you implement effective Segmentation By Struggle?

1. Start with comprehensive job research

Build the foundation for struggle-based segmentation:

• Conduct qualitative research to understand the customer's job
• Map the complete job including all steps and needs
• Capture variations in how different customers execute the job
• Identify potential areas of struggle through observation and interviews
• Document the context and constraints of job execution

This research provides the raw material for identifying struggle patterns.

2. Design quantitative struggle measurement

Create research instruments to measure job execution difficulties:

• Develop survey questions for each job step and need
• Include both importance and satisfaction measurement
• Incorporate job execution frequency and context questions
• Add questions about current solution usage
• Include demographics and firmographics for later correlation

This quantitative research enables statistical identification of struggle patterns.

3. Collect data from diverse customers

Gather information from a representative customer sample:

• Ensure adequate sample size for statistical validity
• Include both current customers and non-customers
• Cover various demographic and firmographic profiles
• Capture different levels of experience with the job
• Include users of different current solutions

This diverse data collection prevents bias toward existing customer profiles.

4. Apply statistical clustering methods

Use analytical techniques to identify natural segments:

• Perform cluster analysis on struggle pattern data
• Test different clustering algorithms to find stable patterns
• Validate clusters through multiple analytical approaches
• Assess statistical significance of identified segments
• Determine optimal number of segments to recognize

These analytical methods reveal naturally occurring customer groupings.

5. Create rich segment profiles

Develop comprehensive understanding of each segment:

• Identify the specific struggles that define each segment
• Determine demographic or firmographic correlations
• Assess current solution usage and satisfaction
• Measure willingness to pay across segments
• Estimate segment size and growth potential

These rich profiles create actionable understanding of struggle-based segments.

6. Validate segments with qualitative research

Confirm and enrich statistical findings:

• Conduct targeted interviews with customers in each segment
• Observe job execution by segment representatives
• Test segment-specific messaging and value propositions
• Explore buying journeys within segments
• Refine segment definitions based on qualitative insights

This validation ensures segments reflect genuine customer realities.

What are the types of struggles that create meaningful segments?

Functional Struggles

Difficulties executing the practical aspects of the job:

• Speed limitations that slow job completion
• Accuracy challenges that reduce quality outcomes
• Complexity that increases error rates
• Information gaps that impede decisions
• Resource constraints that limit execution options

These functional struggles often form the core of segment definitions.

Sequential Struggles

Difficulties with specific steps in the job sequence:

• Early job step struggles (planning, preparation)
• Middle job step struggles (execution, monitoring)
• Late job step struggles (completion, evaluation)
• Transition struggles between steps
• Integration struggles across multiple steps

These sequential patterns reveal how customers struggle differently across the job.

Contextual Struggles

Difficulties related to job execution circumstances:

• Time pressure struggles (urgency, deadlines)
• Environmental challenges (physical conditions)
• Resource limitation issues (budget, tools)
• Stakeholder complexities (approvals, collaboration)
• Scale variations (volume, frequency)

These contextual struggles often create distinct segment boundaries.

Expertise-Based Struggles

Difficulties related to job knowledge and experience:

• Novice struggles (lack of process understanding)
• Intermediate struggles (efficiency challenges)
• Expert struggles (optimization limitations)
• Transition difficulties between expertise levels
• Knowledge transfer challenges

These expertise variations create natural segmentation in many markets.

Objective-Based Struggles

Difficulties related to different job goals:

• Quality-focused struggles
• Speed-centered struggles
• Cost-optimization struggles
• Risk-reduction struggles
• Innovation-oriented struggles

These goal variations often define segments with different solution requirements.

What frameworks help with Segmentation By Struggle?

The Segment Opportunity Matrix

This framework maps segments against job steps:

• Rows represent customer segments
• Columns represent job steps
• Cells contain opportunity scores for each segment-step combination
• Color coding highlights high-opportunity areas
• Size indicators show segment revenue potential

This matrix helps companies identify which segments struggle with which job steps.

The Struggle Spectrum

This framework visualizes struggle intensity across segments:

• Horizontal axis represents customer segments
• Vertical axis represents struggle intensity
• Bars show struggle levels for specific needs
• Patterns reveal segment-specific struggle profiles
• Thresholds indicate actionable struggle levels

This visualization makes segment differences immediately apparent.

The Segment Willingness-to-Pay Curve

This framework connects struggle to economic opportunity:

• Horizontal axis represents number of customers
• Vertical axis represents willingness to pay
• Curves show different segments' price sensitivity
• Area under curves indicates segment revenue potential
• Intersections reveal pricing strategy implications

This economic analysis helps prioritize segments based on revenue potential.

The Segment Journey Map

This framework shows how struggles evolve over time:

• Horizontal axis represents job execution timeline
• Vertical axis represents struggle intensity
• Lines track different segments' struggle patterns
• Critical points highlight intervention opportunities
• Trends show how struggles evolve with experience

This temporal view reveals when and how to address segment struggles.

The Solution-Segment Fit Matrix

This framework evaluates how well solutions address segment struggles:

• Rows represent potential solution approaches
• Columns represent customer segments
• Cells indicate how well each solution addresses segment struggles
• Summary scores show overall segment coverage
• Gaps highlight unaddressed segment needs

This analysis guides solution development for target segments.

What are common challenges in Segmentation By Struggle?

Data collection complexity

Gathering comprehensive struggle data across many job steps can be resource-intensive. Focusing on the most important job steps first and expanding research over time helps manage this complexity.

Statistical significance concerns

Ensuring adequate sample sizes for reliable clustering can be challenging, especially for niche markets. Combining quantitative analysis with qualitative validation helps overcome sample limitations.

Overemphasis on current customers

Many segmentation exercises focus too heavily on existing customers, missing potential high-value segments. Including non-customers and competitor customers in research provides a more complete market view.

Overly complex segmentation schemes

Identifying too many segments creates implementation challenges. Finding the right balance between precision and actionability is essential for usable segmentation.

Dynamic struggle evolution

Customer struggles evolve over time as solutions improve and expectations change. Regular research updates and trend analysis help maintain current segment understanding.

How do you use Segmentation By Struggle to drive business results?

1. Guide product development priorities

Use segment struggles to inform development decisions:

• Focus features on high-opportunity struggles in target segments
• Sequence development to address segment-specific need clusters
• Design user experiences tailored to segment job execution patterns
• Develop differentiated solutions for segments with distinct struggles
• Test concepts with segment representatives to validate approach

These development priorities ensure products address genuine customer struggles.

2. Create segment-specific marketing strategies

Tailor marketing approaches to segment struggles:

• Develop messaging that speaks directly to segment-specific challenges
• Create content organized around struggle points that define segments
• Design demonstrations that showcase struggle resolution
• Focus campaigns on channels where struggling segments can be reached
• Train marketing teams on segment struggle profiles

These targeted marketing strategies connect more effectively with each segment.

3. Enhance sales effectiveness

Equip sales teams with segment struggle insights:

• Train sales on identifying prospect segments based on struggle signals
• Develop qualification questions that reveal segment membership
• Create segment-specific value propositions and talking points
• Design sales tools that demonstrate struggle resolution by segment
• Implement segment-based lead scoring and prioritization

These sales enhancements improve conversion rates for each segment.

4. Inform pricing and packaging decisions

Align pricing with segment-specific value:

• Develop tiered pricing based on segment willingness to pay
• Create packages that address specific segment struggle patterns
• Align feature bundling with segment need profiles
• Set price points that reflect struggle intensity and resolution value
• Design upgrade paths that follow segment struggle evolution

These pricing approaches maximize revenue while matching segment value perception.

5. Guide strategic investment decisions

Use segment opportunity assessment for strategic choices:

• Allocate resources based on segment growth potential
• Make build/buy/partner decisions based on segment needs
• Prioritize market expansion based on segment presence
• Guide acquisition targets based on segment coverage
• Develop long-term roadmaps aligned with segment evolution

These strategic choices ensure investments focus on the most valuable opportunities.

How do you measure the effectiveness of Segmentation By Struggle?

Segment Targeting Accuracy

These metrics assess how well you identify and reach struggle-based segments:

• Segment identification precision - How accurately you can identify segment membership
• Target segment penetration - What percentage of the target segment you're reaching
• Segment message resonance - How well marketing messages connect with segment struggles
• Segment conversion rates - How effectively you convert prospects within each segment
• Cross-segment clarity - How distinctly you can differentiate between segments

These metrics reveal whether you're effectively identifying and reaching your target segments.

Product-Segment Fit Metrics

These measure how well your solutions address segment struggles:

• Struggle resolution effectiveness - How completely your solution addresses segment challenges
• Segment satisfaction differential - How satisfaction varies across different segments
• Feature utilization by segment - How usage patterns align with segment struggles
• Segment-specific retention - How retention rates vary by struggle segment
• Expansion within segments - How effectively you grow relationships in each segment

These metrics show whether your solutions genuinely resolve segment-specific struggles.

Business Impact Metrics

These connect segment strategies to business outcomes:

• Segment growth rates - How quickly you're growing in target segments
• Segment profitability - How financial performance varies across segments
• Share of segment - What portion of each struggle segment you capture
• Segment lifetime value - How customer value differs across struggle segments
• Segment price realization - How pricing power varies by segment struggle intensity

These metrics demonstrate the business value of struggle-based segmentation.

Organizational Adoption Metrics

These assess how well the organization embraces struggle-based segments:

• Segment knowledge - Team understanding of segment struggle profiles
• Decision influence - How often segment insights shape key decisions
• Resource alignment - How resource allocation matches segment opportunities
• Cross-functional consistency - Whether different departments use the same segment model
• Segment evolution tracking - How effectively the organization monitors segment changes

These metrics reveal whether segmentation creates genuine organizational impact.

How does Segmentation By Struggle differ from traditional approaches?

Versus Demographic Segmentation

Traditional demographic segmentation groups customers by characteristics like age, gender, or income. Struggle-based segmentation focuses on job execution difficulties, which often cut across demographic boundaries while better predicting purchase behavior.

Versus Firmographic Segmentation

Traditional B2B segmentation uses company characteristics like industry, size, or location. Struggle-based segmentation identifies the specific job challenges that drive solution purchases, revealing opportunities across traditional firmographic boundaries.

Versus Behavioral Segmentation

Traditional behavioral segmentation groups customers by observed actions like purchase frequency or channel preference. Struggle-based segmentation reveals why these behaviors occur by connecting them to underlying job execution challenges.

Versus Psychographic Segmentation

Traditional psychographic approaches group customers by attitudes, values, or lifestyle. Struggle-based segmentation focuses on concrete job execution difficulties that directly drive solution seeking, providing clearer guidance for product development.

Versus Needs-Based Segmentation

Traditional needs-based approaches often define needs as product requirements or abstract desires. Struggle-based segmentation defines needs as specific metrics customers use to judge job execution success, creating more actionable innovation guidance.

How thrv helps with Segmentation By Struggle

thrv provides specialized methodologies and tools to help companies implement effective Segmentation By Struggle. The thrv platform enables teams to map customer jobs, measure struggle patterns, identify natural customer segments, create detailed segment profiles, assess segment opportunities, and develop targeted strategies for high-value segments.

For organizations struggling with ineffective traditional segmentation, undifferentiated market approaches, or low-impact innovation, thrv's approach to Segmentation By Struggle provides a clear path to more effective targeting based on a deeper understanding of what drives customer behavior. The result is more focused innovation, more resonant marketing, and stronger growth—all derived from understanding customers through the lens of their struggles to make progress on important jobs.