Choosing your clients
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Oct 30, 2008
Last week I wrote a post that asked the quesiton, “Why Should Customers do Business With You?”
In that post, I dared to ask: “If you don’t know exactly why, in the eyes of your market, your business should continue to exist (and thrive), why should your prospects and customers?”
This is a vital question to answer, and answer clearly. But first - it is very important that you have a clear picture of who you are communicating to. Namely, who your ideal client is.
Understanding the difference between a client (or customer) and YOUR ideal client.
Your ideal client is made up of much, much more than some demographic information. Your ideal client has a face and a name. They have hopes, dreams, wants, needs, desires and attitudes that distinguish them from the “everyone else” that makeup your not-so-ideal clients. They also have a distinct lifestyle, distinct pain, and a distinct amount of money they are willing to spend to deal with that pain (level of motivation).
Until you know who you are communicating to, it is very difficult (if not impossible - as you may have already discovered) to discover the message that will resonate with “them”.
Until your ideal customer is much, much more to you than a general, faceless spreadsheet of demographic information, your message will not be targeted enough to even reach them.
Let alone get their attention.
So… Can you describe exactly who your ideal customer is?
There are many ways to do this. Scroll through your list of current and past customers. Ask yourself who resonated with you. Who has seemed to get the most out of your product or service? If you had to hold up one person and say, “Here! This is the kind of customer that makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning just so I can work harder at solving their issues.”
That is your ideal customer.
Good. Now, you need to know what they want?
You might have to do a little research here to find out what you need to know. Give them a call and ask if you can conduct a 10 minute “interview”. (They’ll be flattered.)
Send out a survey. Ask them questions about what they are worried about, what their hobbies are, what they fear, what they read, what they wish they could do or have, what they are looking for but having trouble finding, etc.
While you’re at it, ask them this: “At this time in your life, what is the one thing you need most from me/ my company?”
And, “In the sea of options out there, why did you choose (and continue to choose) us?” You might be surprised at the answer.
Other ways to find out more and further define your ideal customer: Read their web sites, read what they are interested in, subscribe to their newsletters, and join the associations they belong to.
This is an important task - don’t overlook it. It’s not only important in the process of developing a core marketing message, it’s important for your own happiness, well-being and effectiveness.
If you don’t define the kind of person you want to work with, you might end up with a group of customers that drain you and that you aren’t well suited to help. You could end up burned out and with the damaged reputation of being mediocre. Nobody wants that.
This post is part of a free email course that shows you how to uncover the motivating factors that drive your ideal customers to buy, and then breaks down the process for creating a core message that will drive them to buy from you. Subscribe to this free course now.
Thanks Rebecca - good points across the board. All too often it is easy to get lost along the way about who your customers are. They may start out being a certain type, but as your products, services or marketing evolve, they will too. It is always of benefit to reach out and check who is coming to you.
I worked with too many orgs in the past who assumed what the client/customer wanted - and it happened to be the same thing the “higher ups” would want. That was what I called “flawed marketing” or Ivory Tower Thinking.
There are some good books on this topic including “Why We Buy” by Paco Underhill. Although it is a little dated, it shows some great ways to look at your customers and how to re-think your company by looking at it through the eyes of the consumer. (For example, never place product stands within 10 feet of the door - if you want to know why - read the book!)
On a related topic - do you choose your customer…or do they choose you? I’d love to hear your take on that issue in an upcoming post?
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Jeff. I agree that many organizations make too many assumptions on what their customer wants and what their target market is willing to spend money on. Also - I ditto the endorsement for “Why We Buy”. It is a good book.
Love your question at the end…. Perhaps that will be the topic for the next post!