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The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior
A "detective story" that delivers key insights for any businessperson asking the who really are our customers, why do we lose them, how do we regain them?
Customers can be a mystery. Despite the availability of more data than ever before, everyone, from the CEO to salespeople in the field, struggles to understand who their customers really are, what they want, why they lose them, and how to regain them.
To crack the case, start thinking like a market detective.
David Scott Duncan shows how in his entertaining story of Tazza, a fictional chain of cafes with declining sales and leaders urgently seeking to understand why. The vivid characters of Tazza’s market detective force come to their aha moment when they finally understand why their most loyal customers walked out the door—and how they can get them back.
The core of the Tazza story is a simple, powerful idea that upends how most businesses view their customers. Customers have “jobs to be done.” They “hire” companies to solve a problem or fulfill a need and “fire” them when unhappy. Duncan’s fresh way of thinking about how to understand your customers’ secret lives provides an innovative path for solving whatever market mysteries you face.
Customers can be a mystery. Despite the availability of more data than ever before, everyone, from the CEO to salespeople in the field, struggles to understand who their customers really are, what they want, why they lose them, and how to regain them.
To crack the case, start thinking like a market detective.
David Scott Duncan shows how in his entertaining story of Tazza, a fictional chain of cafes with declining sales and leaders urgently seeking to understand why. The vivid characters of Tazza’s market detective force come to their aha moment when they finally understand why their most loyal customers walked out the door—and how they can get them back.
The core of the Tazza story is a simple, powerful idea that upends how most businesses view their customers. Customers have “jobs to be done.” They “hire” companies to solve a problem or fulfill a need and “fire” them when unhappy. Duncan’s fresh way of thinking about how to understand your customers’ secret lives provides an innovative path for solving whatever market mysteries you face.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 4, 2021
55 people are currently reading
453 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 7, 2021
I thought this book would be useful, especially since many of us small business owners have taken a financial hit in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Competition can get stiff when there are less customers and clients shopping for services than there were a year ago. Growth may slow and even backslide for some entrepreneurs. The book starts out conversational and provocative from page one and invites us to take a look at why customers are driven to choose as they do. It’s a quick light read with several practical tips to help business owners continue to orient themselves toward customers’ evolving desires and demands.
October 5, 2023
*2.5/5
December 4, 2024
LOVED IT! it’s a business book but stayed interesting-i liked that it was written as a mystery. cool theories i can bring to work
April 18, 2021
The The Secret Lives of Customers is divided into two sections: a short "novel" illustrating the application of Clayton Christensen's Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework through a fictionalized case study about a coffee shop chain trying to expand its business, plus a brief coda summarizing the techniques illustrated by the story. David Duncan was a coauthor of Christensen's Competing Against Luck, which is the primary reference on JTBD theory, and he has actively worked in this space for a long time, so I expected a pragmatic guide to this topic.
For those who are new to JTBD theory, The Secret Lives of Customers is a very gentle introduction to the theory, as well as to the "light ethnography" needed to implement it. If you've read Competing Against Luck, or if you've ever worked closely with Innosight, IDEO, Continuum, or any of the dozens of design firms that use these techniques, you won't find much new here, although the book's coda more or less stands on its own as a refresher.
Having read the original source, and having participated in many dozens of hours of customer interviews over the years, I didn't personally get much out of The Secret Lives of Customers, but I hesitate to send readers who are new to this area straight to Competing Against Luck. I think JTBD theory needs a book somewhere between these two--one that fleshes out a half-dozen case studies with description of how the insights were uncovered from customer interviews, ideally with somewhat less corny dialog than is found here. In the coda, Duncan lists six intriguing bullet points from his career--expanding on those might be the book that's needed in this space.
I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.
For those who are new to JTBD theory, The Secret Lives of Customers is a very gentle introduction to the theory, as well as to the "light ethnography" needed to implement it. If you've read Competing Against Luck, or if you've ever worked closely with Innosight, IDEO, Continuum, or any of the dozens of design firms that use these techniques, you won't find much new here, although the book's coda more or less stands on its own as a refresher.
Having read the original source, and having participated in many dozens of hours of customer interviews over the years, I didn't personally get much out of The Secret Lives of Customers, but I hesitate to send readers who are new to this area straight to Competing Against Luck. I think JTBD theory needs a book somewhere between these two--one that fleshes out a half-dozen case studies with description of how the insights were uncovered from customer interviews, ideally with somewhat less corny dialog than is found here. In the coda, Duncan lists six intriguing bullet points from his career--expanding on those might be the book that's needed in this space.
I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.
May 28, 2021
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The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior by David S Duncan is a business book with a unique way of thinking about tailoring your business to its customers and not the other way around. Mr. Duncan is a senior partner, executive, and advisor on strategy and growth.
This is a short book which follows around a “detective” hired to find out why a business is losing customers. The author shows how his ideas can be implemented through an alter-ego consultant hired by a small chain of cafes. Tazza has been losing customers and don’t know why, but they’re going to find out.
It was interesting that one of the lessons is that people want to feel as being a part of a community. After all, COVID this has been more prominent than before. From some reason I’ve been seeing this front and center and many articles.
Above all, through its story, shows the reader how to ask the right questions. Accordingly, one needs get the answers, and sometimes they’re not necessarily the ones you want. The author created several characters (consultant, data mining genius, owner, new executive, etc.) to illustrate multiple angles of an issue. The different roles also play into the discussion, with questions that might arise from the findings as pertaining to their own agenda.
The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior by David S Duncan finishes with the author reiterating, clarifying, and explain his method to elicit answers, and more importantly, figure out what the problem is in the first place.
The book was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. The parable of Tazza’s issues worked very well to bring across the author’s ideas and system. There is even a “Market Detective” website – https://marketdetective.com/.
I learned several things from this book, most importantly it reminded me to keep an open mind, as well as to try and think differently. Another key point, as in almost all industries, finding the root cause of the problem is the most difficult part,. Afterwards, the solution usually presents itself afterwards.
Extra bonus points for the Sherlock Holmes quotations throughout.
The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior by David S Duncan is a business book with a unique way of thinking about tailoring your business to its customers and not the other way around. Mr. Duncan is a senior partner, executive, and advisor on strategy and growth.
This is a short book which follows around a “detective” hired to find out why a business is losing customers. The author shows how his ideas can be implemented through an alter-ego consultant hired by a small chain of cafes. Tazza has been losing customers and don’t know why, but they’re going to find out.
It was interesting that one of the lessons is that people want to feel as being a part of a community. After all, COVID this has been more prominent than before. From some reason I’ve been seeing this front and center and many articles.
Above all, through its story, shows the reader how to ask the right questions. Accordingly, one needs get the answers, and sometimes they’re not necessarily the ones you want. The author created several characters (consultant, data mining genius, owner, new executive, etc.) to illustrate multiple angles of an issue. The different roles also play into the discussion, with questions that might arise from the findings as pertaining to their own agenda.
The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior by David S Duncan finishes with the author reiterating, clarifying, and explain his method to elicit answers, and more importantly, figure out what the problem is in the first place.
The book was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. The parable of Tazza’s issues worked very well to bring across the author’s ideas and system. There is even a “Market Detective” website – https://marketdetective.com/.
I learned several things from this book, most importantly it reminded me to keep an open mind, as well as to try and think differently. Another key point, as in almost all industries, finding the root cause of the problem is the most difficult part,. Afterwards, the solution usually presents itself afterwards.
Extra bonus points for the Sherlock Holmes quotations throughout.
December 24, 2021
I bought this book on a whim while browsing in Barnes & Noble and it was a good decision. While I do not work directly in market research, I do work in Pricing so I found value in Duncan's approach to understanding a market. I found the "jobs to be done" and "market map" concepts to be an interesting and intuitive framework for looking at your customers and better understanding how they value your products and services. This insight into customer value is very relevant to Pricing.
I also liked how Duncan illustrated his principles via an engaging story about the fictional Tazza Tea (a thinly veiled Starbucks). The story itself was a good read and made more accessible material that likely would have been dry were it presented in the style of a textbook. I recommend this book to all marketing and pricing professionals who may have an interest in different ways to think about their businesses.
I also liked how Duncan illustrated his principles via an engaging story about the fictional Tazza Tea (a thinly veiled Starbucks). The story itself was a good read and made more accessible material that likely would have been dry were it presented in the style of a textbook. I recommend this book to all marketing and pricing professionals who may have an interest in different ways to think about their businesses.
September 7, 2021
Light, easy read about how to understand customer behavior and a few market research frameworks to help solve for it. Refreshing read since most of the book is written as a fiction- storyline with characters make the ideas more fun and definitely makes it a page turner. Second section formally summarized the principles explored in the first section.
Overall would recommend if needing validation on why “small data” and market research is still valuable or a refresher on organized methodology for conducting user interviews. Downside to book is that it’s fairly intro and doesn’t get into many methods or examples, which may also be a great selling point if needing something high level. Fun read!
Overall would recommend if needing validation on why “small data” and market research is still valuable or a refresher on organized methodology for conducting user interviews. Downside to book is that it’s fairly intro and doesn’t get into many methods or examples, which may also be a great selling point if needing something high level. Fun read!
November 25, 2021
Marketing Read #1
This was a very insightful read, the book discusses Tazza, a fictional chain of cafés whose sales and customers have plummeted dramatically. As a result, Tazza CEO Cate Forrest recruits a specialist named Alex Baker to analyze the causes of the downturn by conducting several interviews with the chain's personnel. At the end of the story, David S Duncan makes it obvious that the skill of knowing what consumers want and why they do what they do has a lot in common with how a detective approaches a case.
This was a very insightful read, the book discusses Tazza, a fictional chain of cafés whose sales and customers have plummeted dramatically. As a result, Tazza CEO Cate Forrest recruits a specialist named Alex Baker to analyze the causes of the downturn by conducting several interviews with the chain's personnel. At the end of the story, David S Duncan makes it obvious that the skill of knowing what consumers want and why they do what they do has a lot in common with how a detective approaches a case.
August 14, 2022
I have been in the sales industry now for over 20 years and whilst what David Duncan had addressed was somewhat "common knowledge" and repeated in differing ways throughout my professional sales training years, the way these techniques were portrayed into a more investigative technique, easily filled 3 pages of tables based on his ideas in my "take home messages" book.
I enjoyed this enough to look up his business and inquire about consultancy employment!.
Simple book to read, using a fictional story to explain the numerous techniques of being a marketing detective.
I enjoyed this enough to look up his business and inquire about consultancy employment!.
Simple book to read, using a fictional story to explain the numerous techniques of being a marketing detective.
March 31, 2023
As someone who read a lot of books on Jobs to be Done methodology and has been practicing design thinking and UX research for a lot of time, I felt like I was the wrong audience. I thought this book would give me a fresh look on something a I didn't know on customers, PPM strategies or research methodologies. Competing Against Luck and When Coffee and Kale compete is vastly superior. I feel like this book should be called something like "My first design thinking" or "jobs to be done for complete beginners"
March 21, 2023
For anyone who is getting started or wants a refresher of the foundational elements of jobs to be done this book is for you. It’s told in a really meaningful and straightforward way. As a UX researcher who has only dabbled in JTBD I find this perspective refreshing. Many of the books on this topic focus on case studies and theory. This book by creating a fictional story is original and approachable.
October 19, 2021
Following the style of Blanchard and Lencioni, Duncan presents the "gospel" of customer discovery through an engaging story of Tazza Coffee.
As an entrepreneurship professor and coach, this is a simple, but relatable entrance into how both new and existing companies can learn the "jobs to be done" paradigm!
As an entrepreneurship professor and coach, this is a simple, but relatable entrance into how both new and existing companies can learn the "jobs to be done" paradigm!
November 20, 2021
Book is a good read if you have already read Competing against luck. It builds on the earlier book with one long running example of a cafe with some good recommendations to put the learning from competing against luck in practice.
May 31, 2022
El autor cuenta de forma entretenida su metodología para obtener información valiosa de los consumidores que permitan tomar acciones/ decisiones.
A mi particularmente me da ganas de aplicarlo en mi trabajo.
Muy recomendado !!
A mi particularmente me da ganas de aplicarlo en mi trabajo.
Muy recomendado !!
July 24, 2022
4-4.5. A unique case study look into exploring why customers choose businesses for their needs and what companies can do to reach new customers and retain current ones. (Equally applicable to employer employee relationship as well imo)
January 22, 2023
Easy to read but I didn’t like that the “solution” was so simple. I thought there was going to be something groundbreaking. Also the story part was easy to read and the last chapter reads like a textbook which was a turn off.
February 3, 2023
Entertaining and informative, with some good application. A little condescending in parts, but to be expected. Bottom line: listen to your customers, solve their basic problems, and hone your core competencies.
June 16, 2023
"Don't define your business by the products you sell, or by your business model, or by some set of customer characteristics. Define your business by the customer jobs you exist to solve, and let that be your North Star."
November 22, 2025
I really enjoyed the creative non-fiction aspect of this book, making it easy to imagine the scenes as they go over customer behavior and ways to find a target audience. This is one of the best marketing books i've read in a good while!
May 28, 2021
I enjoyed it because it showed in a very plastic way how to conduct field interviews.
June 13, 2021
rounded up to 4 stars. An easy read that clearly conveys concepts and actions to understand consumer behaivor.
October 13, 2021
Really really great book. Made me rethink some of my approaches.
February 4, 2022
I liked this book a lot since it teaches you where to focus while understanding your customers!
March 4, 2022
Good refresher on market research and the JTBD approach. I prefer the way this is written to other books of a similar subject.
September 26, 2022
This was a helpful practical discussion about and examples of the applications of the jobs to be done approach. Great supplemental book to 'Competing Against Luck'.
January 2, 2023
12/2022
February 13, 2023
Good guidance on jobs based consumer understanding
March 4, 2023
Solid fable conveying the power and value 9f jobs-to-be-done market research.
April 26, 2025
combines market research product design with a coffee shop in boston… what else can I ask from a career book
July 12, 2025
Pretty good insights in the form of a simple story that helped give perspective for the jobs we do daily. I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews