Official skill · Strategy
Jobs-to-be-done switch interview
Plans and synthesizes JTBD switch interviews: a timeline guide, a timeline and four-forces summary per interview, and a job statement across interviews with decisions. Use it when you're about to interview customers who recently switched to you, to a rival, or away.
AI skill
Have your AI find out why customers really switched
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Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.
When to use it
- You're about to interview customers who recently switched to you, to a rival, or away
- You have several switch interviews and need the job behind them
- Win-loss notes say price or features and you want the real trigger
What you give it
- The switch to study, from what to what
- Who switched in the last 30 to 90 days
- Interview notes or transcripts with quotes
- The decision the research informs
What you get
An interview guide on the switch timeline, a timeline and four-forces table per interview, a job statement with supporting counts, decisions with owners, and gaps.
How it works
- Pin the switch and the sample
- Write the interview guide on the timeline
- Add probes for each force without naming the forces
- After each interview, rebuild the timeline
- Sort what you heard into the four forces
- Write the job for each interview
- Compare across interviews
- Write the cross-interview job statement and decisions
Example
What you give it
Synthesize 4 switch interviews. Switch: small bookkeeping firms moving client document requests from email and shared spreadsheets to our portal, DocuNest. Decision: what our homepage should lead with. Notes: A (owner, 6-person firm, signed 21 Sep): first thought in March when a client sent bank statements to the wrong staff member and a deadline was missed. Browsed tools in April after seeing a peer post on a forum, did nothing. Active looking started after the June tax deadline, 'I spent the whole week chasing PDFs.' Compared DocuNest and one rival; chose DocuNest because clients don't need a login and 'everything lands in one place, not in whoever's inbox.' Worry: 'my older clients won't use another app.' Liked that the spreadsheet was free and everyone knew it. B (office manager, 9-person firm, signed 2 Oct): first thought before the June deadline, when staff spent days chasing clients for documents and a new hire couldn't tell which were outstanding. Active looking after the owner asked for a weekly status of missing documents. Wanted 'one list of what's missing per client.' Anxiety: moving 200 client folders. Habit: staff used email folders they'd built over years. C (owner, 3-staff firm, nearly switched, stopped 12 Oct): first thought after the June deadline, same chasing problem. Trial looked good. Stopped because setup meant re-entering every client and the busy season started. D (owner, 4-person firm, signed 1 Sep): wanted to look more professional to new clients; a client had commented that emailing tax documents felt unsafe. Chose DocuNest for the branded upload page.
What you get back (the start of it)
Switch interviews: from email and spreadsheets to DocuNest
Decision this informs: what the homepage leads with · Interviews: 4 (3 switched, 1 nearly switched) · Dates: 1 Sep to 12 Oct
Interview A: owner, 6-person firm (signed 21 Sep)
Timeline
| Stage | When | What happened | Their words |
|---|---|---|---|
| First thought | March | Client's statements went to the wrong staff member; a deadline was missed | [not covered] |
| Passive looking | April | Saw a peer's forum post about tools; did nothing | [not covered] |
| Event that started active looking | After the June tax deadline | A week lost to chasing documents | "I spent the whole week chasing PDFs." |
| Active looking | [check: dates] | Compared DocuNest and one rival | [not covered] |
| Deciding | By 21 Sep | Chose DocuNest: clients upload without a login, and documents arrive in one place | "Everything lands in one place, not in whoever's inbox." |
| Buying and first use | [not covered] | [not covered] | |
| Ongoing use | [not covered] | [not covered] |
Four forces
| Toward the switch | Against the switch |
|---|---|
| Push: missed deadline; a week chasing PDFs | Anxiety: "my older clients won't use another app" |
| Pull: "everything lands in one place"; clients can upload without a login | Habit: the spreadsheet was free and everyone knew it |
What tipped it: the June deadline week. Job: When a filing deadline is close and documents are scattered across inboxes, I want every client's documents in one place, so I can file on time; without making clients learn a new app.
The rest of this output, the full steps and the checks the AI runs before it answers are in your pod once you add the skill.
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Changelog
- v1.0.1 · · Example: A's notes now give the 'one place' pull, A's timeline has an ongoing-use row, the job is marked provisional below 5 to 8 interviews, decision 3 credits C only with a first thought after the deadline, C gets its own job line, decision 4 gets an owner, and the gaps flag that interview dates (recall within 90 days) are unknown.
- v1.0.0 · · First release.
Sources
- Know Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done - Harvard Business Review (read 2026-11-04)
- Jobs to Be Done Theory - Christensen Institute (read 2026-11-04)
- Competing Against Luck - Christensen Institute (read 2026-11-04)
- The Switch Interview - Jobs to be Done (Moesta and Spiek) (read 2026-11-04)
- Unpacking the Progress Making Forces Diagram - Jobs to be Done Radio (read 2026-11-04)
- 262 Bob Moesta: Sales is a timeline, not a funnel - Helping Sells Radio (read 2026-11-04)