Four Forces of Progress (Jobs to be Done)
When you need this method
You lose deals not to competitors but to "no decision": the prospect finds your product convincing and still sticks with the status quo. Classic sales argumentation only addresses the appeal of the solution, not the forces holding the buyer in place. Especially in B2B, the habit of the present is the most common invisible opponent.
Approach
- 1For the specific buying context, map all four forces: F1 push of the situation, F2 pull of the new, F3 habit of the present, F4 anxiety of the new.
- 2In discovery calls, ask deliberately about F3 and F4: what would the team have to give up, relearn, migrate? Who is worried about what, concretely?
- 3Actively reduce the blocking forces, through migration paths, pilot phases, references, and risk reversal, instead of only amplifying the pull.
- 4Analyze lost deals by which force decided them, and adjust messaging and sales process accordingly.
Typical application
A typical case: a B2B SaaS product replaces an established, internally maintained spreadsheet system. Demos go well, the value is undisputed, yet many prospects ultimately decide to "do nothing for now". The four-forces analysis shows: the pull is strong, but habit (the spreadsheet sort of works) and anxiety about data migration outweigh it. The vendor responds with a guided migration service and a pilot phase running alongside the old system, addressing, for the first time, the forces that were actually deciding the deal.
Limits and counter-indications
The model explains switching decisions but replaces neither qualification nor positioning. The forces are qualitative and open to interpretation, without real buyer interviews it quickly turns into speculation. For impulse purchases or forced procurement (regulatory, for instance), it has little explanatory power.
How to measure impact
Share of losses to "no decision" (rather than to competitors) in win-loss analysis. If that share drops after measures against F3/F4, the lever is working.
Related methods
Sources
- 1.Christensen, Hall, Dillon, Duncan: Know Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done, Harvard Business Review, September 2016 (opens in a new tab) · Harvard Business Review · 2016 · academic and scholarly literatureTrägt den theoretischen Unterbau: Kunden kaufen kein Produkt, sondern engagieren es für einen Fortschritt in einer bestimmten Lebenslage, weshalb die Umstände der Entscheidung und nicht Produktmerkmale den Kauf erklären.
- 2.The Four Forces of Progress, Jobs-to-be-Done (Bob Moesta, Chris Spiek) (opens in a new tab) · jobstobedone.org · undatiert · practitioner sourceTrägt die vier Kräfte im Einzelnen und die Regel, dass ein Wechsel erst stattfindet, wenn Druck und Anziehung zusammen größer sind als Sorge und Gewohnheit.
Origin: Moesta
Last reviewed: 2026-07-25 by Dr. Oliver Gausmann