Understanding What Customers Really Want: Wednesday, November 12, 2014

The November 2014 meeting of the St. Louis Product Management Group was held on Wednesday, November 12, 2014:

Understanding What Customers Really Want: Using the “Jobs To Be Done” Framework

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend. This meeting was held at the T-REX Technology Incubator in downtown St. Louis — see directions and details below. RSVPs were kindly requested (though not required) on our LinkedIn page

This event was presented in conjunction with Arch Grants​.

About the presentation:
You may have heard Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt’s famous quote that “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill — they want a quarter-inch hole.” The “jobs to be done” concept argues that people “hire” a product to do a job — a drill is hired to create a hole. This framework is a core principle in Outcome Driven Innovation (ODI). This presentation will highlight some of the key advantages of ODI, and experiences in implementing the “jobs to be done” framework at Parker Hannifin will be shared.

About the presenter: Jerry Fix, P.E., NPDP is currently the electronic controls product manager for climate control systems at Parker Hannifin. In this role he is responsible for guiding the NPD process, managing launch strategies and overseeing product marketing for enterprise climate controls. Prior to Parker Hannifin, Jerry was the Global Product Manager for specialty power and lighting products at Energizer Holdings. Prior to Energizer, Jerry held senior product management and marketing roles at Fellowes and Compaq-Hewlett Packard. Jerry started his career as an Electronics Engineer at McDonnell Douglas. Jerry has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech and a graduate degree in Business Administration from Saint Louis University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Missouri and has NPDP certification from PDMA.

About the event

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Important: The doors to T-REX lock at 6pm. You need to arrive by 6pm in order to attend. There will not be anyone staffing the doors to let you in if you arrive after 6pm.

  • 5:30pm: Informal networking and refreshments. Make sure to arrive by 6pm — if you arrive after 6pm, you will not be able to get in to the building.
  • 6:00pm: Introductions, announcements
  • 6:15pm: Meeting begins
  • 7:15pm: Meeting adjourns, stay for networking/discussion

Location
T-REX Technology Incubator
911 Washington Avenue
4th Floor, Suite 420
St. Louis, MO 63101

(See Google Map)

Parking is metered around the building, or paid at the Renaissance lot, which can be accessed at either 9th and St. Charles or 10th and St. Charles.

Important: The doors to T-REX lock at 6pm. You need to arrive by 6pm in order to attend. There will not be anyone staffing the doors to let you in if you arrive after 6pm.

RSVPs were kindly requested (though not required) on our LinkedIn page