Mar 10 2008
How to Identify Your Ideal Customer
Many small businesses operate under the assumption that any customer is good for business. It is only after a bad match or an unprofitable stretch that they begin to reconsider this approach.
Think about one of your difficult customers for a moment.
- Why did the relationship not work out?
- How did that relationship impact your business and your ability to work with other customers?
- Did the amount of money you made offset the time and effort you spent on the client?
If you are like most people who accept the wrong type of customer, the relationship does not work out, or it takes such an incredible amount of effort from you that it is more like working with 2 or 3 customers for the revenue of 1. In addition, working with a client who is not appropriate drains you of the energy and resources you need to maintain your good customers and attract others.
So, how do you avoid working with the wrong type of customer? By knowing your ideal customer and how to reach her.
Being all things to all people is not possible, or even desirable in most instances. Honing in on who you want to work with and how you want to work with them will transform your business. Narrowing your focus will expand your possibilities.
What does your ideal customer look like?
- Where does she live and shop?
- How does she make buying decisions?
- What is her age range and education level?
- Is she a mother or a wife?
- What need does your product or service fill for her?
Once you determine these things about your ideal client (and as many other questions as you can answer) you can then begin speaking to her in your marketing campaigns, your blog, your elevator pitch, and in how you structure your products and services. If you build it, she will come.
If you continue speaking generally in hopes of capturing as much business as you can you will continue speaking to no one and feel obligated to take whatever business comes your way, good or bad. And the energy you spend working with a client who is not a good fit for you will keep you finding your ideal customer.
In my business, I have an ideal client profile and seek to make an 80% match. There have been a few times that I did not follow this “red velvet rope” policy and every single time I regretted the decision (what can I say? I’m a slow learner). So I can say with quite a bit of confidence that turning away the wrong fit will open you up to accepting the right kind of customer for you, the kind that will energize you and remind you every day why you went into business. Accepting the wrong fit will make you question every day why you went into business.
It’s not a matter of getting customers, because you can do that either way. It is a matter of getting the right kind of customers so you can do your best work.
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