Staging environment

From Struggling Moment to Hiring Moment: Mapping the B2B Buyer Journey

JOHN GUSIFF

Managing Partner - Customer Centric LLC

Jobs-to-Be-Done Meets GenAI: Navigating the B2B Buyer’s Hidden Journey

This course teaches you how to uncover the real forces driving B2B buyer decisions—by zeroing in on the Struggling Moment, understanding Customer Progress, and decoding the Switching Behavior that determines whether a buyer fires their current solution and hires a new one.

Using 30+ interactive ChatGPT prompts and an applied B2B case study, you’ll learn to “shine a light” on the parts of the buying journey that normally stay hidden in the dark funnel—where progress, motivation, hesitation, and language truly take shape.

By the end, you’ll know how to turn these deep insights into high-precision GTM strategy, sharper positioning, and messaging that resonates because it’s anchored in how buyers actually think, feel, and decide.

What you’ll learn

Learn customer JTBD principles & methods via an interactive B2B ChatGPT case study (30+ prompts) using The Wheel of Progress framework.

  • Pinpoint the real triggers, frustrations, and situations that push buyers out of the status quo and into the market.

  • Recognize early emotional and functional signals that shape how buyers define their problem and begin their search.

  • Use the Wheel of Progress® to understand how buyers move from first thought to hiring—and what creates momentum or stalls it.

  • Understand what reduces switching friction and increases confidence at each stage of the decision-making process.

  • Reveal the pushes, pulls, habits, and anxieties that influence whether buyers switch solutions, delay decisions, or stay put.

  • Understand what reduces switching friction and increases confidence at each stage of the decision-making process.

  • Turn causal insights into sharper messaging, clearer value propositions, and a GTM strategy aligned with how buyers actually buy.

  • Align your GTM motions to the buyer’s real progress, motivations, and criteria—not assumptions or personas.

  • Learn to speak in the buyer’s own words—capturing their struggles, desired progress, and decision language to build trust quickly.

  • Craft headlines, narratives, and proof points that resonate instantly because they mirror the way buyers talk, think, and evaluate options.

Learn directly from JOHN

JOHN GUSIFF

JOHN GUSIFF

John Gusiff is the Managing Partner at Customer Centric LLC.

Consulted with:
Ecobee
Wellhub
lululemon athletica
Humana
TransAlta

Who this course is for

  • The Early Stage Founder seeking to sharpen GTM strategy and positioning with confidence—not guesswork.

  • The GTM Leader who wants to understand the real forces behind switching behavior to improve conversion and accelerate deals.

  • The Product Marketer seeking to craft value propositions & positioning rooted in what buyers are actually trying to accomplish.

What's included

JOHN GUSIFF

Live sessions

Learn directly from JOHN GUSIFF in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Maven Guarantee

This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.

Course syllabus

4 live sessions • 25 lessons

Week 1

Dec 2—Dec 7

    Dec

    2

    Session 1: Introduction to Customer JTBD using The Wheel of Progress(R) Framework

    Tue 12/29:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    The Dark Funnel of B2B Marketing (the visible and unvisible)

    1 item

    Case Study: Customer JTBD "safeguarding my company from cybersecurity threats"

    1 item

    Job Theory (Customer Progress)

    3 items

    The Wheel of Progress® framework (Timeline and Motivational Forces)

    1 item

    The Twelve Elements of Customer Progress

    1 item

    The Cycle of Customer Progress (First Thought through Continuous Use)

    2 items

    Dec

    4

    Session 2: Uncovering the Twelve Elements of Customer Progress (using ChatGPT)

    Thu 12/49:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    Switching Behavior (Promoting Forces overcoming Blocking Forces)

    2 items

    Solutions and Constraints (internal, external, time-based)

    2 items

    Customer Jobs, Pains and Gains

    1 item

    JTBD as a Process (a series of steps)

    1 item

Week 2

Dec 8—Dec 11

    Dec

    9

    Session 3: B2B Buyer Persona and Language Market Fit

    Tue 12/99:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    B2B Buyer Persona (Five Insights)

    2 items

    Product Market-fit vs. Language Market Fit

    1 item

    Language Market Fit (Examples)

    2 items

    Dec

    11

    Session 4: B2B Value Proposition (40 Elements of Customer Value)

    Thu 12/119:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    B2B Elements of Value - Table Stakes

    1 item

    B2B Elements of Value - Functional Value (Economic and Performance)

    1 item

    B2B Elements of Value - Ease of Doing Business

    1 item

    B2B Elements of Value - Individual Value

    1 item

    B2B Elements of Value - Inspirational Value

    1 item

Free lesson

Fast Track GTM Positioning Using Synthetic User Research cover image

Fast Track GTM Positioning Using Synthetic User Research

The Difference Between Synthetic vs. Organic User Research

Understand how synthetic (right-to-left) & organic (left-to-right) research differ, and how they complement each other.

How to Turn Synthetic User Insights Into Positioning Clarity

Learn to extract actionable buyer needs & struggles from AI-powered research, and translate into sharp GTM positioning.

Case Studies That Show How It Works in Practice

Examples from Ramp, ClickUp, and Narrio AI using synthetic user research to study buyer journeys and customer progress.

A Repeatable 10-Day Sprint Framework

Walk away with a clear framework for running a Customer Intelligence Sprint that goes from interviews → patterns → GTM.

Schedule

Live sessions

4 hrs / week

Four LIVE Cohort Sessions - All Sessions Recorded

    • Tue, Dec 2

      9:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    • Thu, Dec 4

      9:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    • Tue, Dec 9

      9:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

    • Thu, Dec 11

      9:00 PM—11:00 PM (UTC)

Projects

1 hr / week

Async content

1 hr / week

Frequently asked questions

Save 25% until Monday

$625

USD

·
Dec 2Dec 11
Enroll