How to Unlock the Secrets of Your Ideal Customers
Sounds pretty SAUCY doesn't it, unlocking the secrets of your ideal customers.
However unless we completely understand who our ideal customers are, and what makes them tick, we'll never really be able to truly help them.
The other thing is that if we focus primarily on our "ideal" customers, chances are that we'll all be a lot happier running our businesses and actually look forward to going to work each day.
I'm sure that we're all guilty at one time or another of accepting work from a customer that we wish we never had.
It's not the customers fault, they want a job done and they have their own expectations of how much they should pay.
They also have an expectation of what they should receive.
The trouble is that those expectations are quite often completely out of whack with what you know and deliver.
The key here is to be very clear right from the get-go about what they will be getting for their money.
In short, set realistic expectations.
OK, so that's one example of what IS NOT your ideal customer (someone who doesn't see value in hiring you or what you offer).
What about the customers who are just plain rude and nasty people? That should be a no-brainer, in the nicest possible way you need to tell them to go away and annoy someone else.
If you look at your current customer base, your ideal customer is not just someone who needs what you have and has the ability to pay for it.
They are the customers who genuinely respect you and value what it is that you do for them.
Another good indicator is that if they're a business, they're profitable - for individuals, they have money in their pocket.
Most importantly, your ideal customers are the ones who openly refer your services to others.
The first thing that you need to do is spend some time reviewing who your regular customers are.
You should classify them into 3 categories - good, bad and OK.
The easiest way to do this is will depend on how many customers you have.
If you have lots of customers use a spread sheet, if you only have a few customers just use a pen and a couple of pieces of paper.
You will have your own reasons why you think they should fit into each category.
As a starter your "good customers" will be the ones who you consider to be really nice people that don't question how much you charge, and refer other customers to you.
Your "OK customers" will also be nice people however they don't really understand the value that you bring and they don't send much (if any) extra business your way.
Unfortunately, your "OK customers" are also the ones who can't really afford your services however, so long as they keep paying you on time keep them on the "OK" list because things might change and when they can truly afford you they'll appreciate you sticking by them during the tough times.
Finally, your "bad customers" are the ones who you always try to run and hide from.
You know who they are, get them on the "bad" list and be brutal.
It's really important that you take the time to do what I have mentioned above as it's the first step toward truly understand who you ideal customers are.
You then need to take your "Good" list and work out who are the most profitable to your business and who are the ones who refer your business to their friends.
They're the most likely candidates for those who make it to your ideal customer list and you need to work out how to get more of them.
Remember, at the end of the day we all need to be happy in our business.
What could be better than being profitable and working with customers who are an absolute pleasure to deal with? Thanks for reading, see you next time.
However unless we completely understand who our ideal customers are, and what makes them tick, we'll never really be able to truly help them.
The other thing is that if we focus primarily on our "ideal" customers, chances are that we'll all be a lot happier running our businesses and actually look forward to going to work each day.
I'm sure that we're all guilty at one time or another of accepting work from a customer that we wish we never had.
It's not the customers fault, they want a job done and they have their own expectations of how much they should pay.
They also have an expectation of what they should receive.
The trouble is that those expectations are quite often completely out of whack with what you know and deliver.
The key here is to be very clear right from the get-go about what they will be getting for their money.
In short, set realistic expectations.
OK, so that's one example of what IS NOT your ideal customer (someone who doesn't see value in hiring you or what you offer).
What about the customers who are just plain rude and nasty people? That should be a no-brainer, in the nicest possible way you need to tell them to go away and annoy someone else.
If you look at your current customer base, your ideal customer is not just someone who needs what you have and has the ability to pay for it.
They are the customers who genuinely respect you and value what it is that you do for them.
Another good indicator is that if they're a business, they're profitable - for individuals, they have money in their pocket.
Most importantly, your ideal customers are the ones who openly refer your services to others.
The first thing that you need to do is spend some time reviewing who your regular customers are.
You should classify them into 3 categories - good, bad and OK.
The easiest way to do this is will depend on how many customers you have.
If you have lots of customers use a spread sheet, if you only have a few customers just use a pen and a couple of pieces of paper.
You will have your own reasons why you think they should fit into each category.
As a starter your "good customers" will be the ones who you consider to be really nice people that don't question how much you charge, and refer other customers to you.
Your "OK customers" will also be nice people however they don't really understand the value that you bring and they don't send much (if any) extra business your way.
Unfortunately, your "OK customers" are also the ones who can't really afford your services however, so long as they keep paying you on time keep them on the "OK" list because things might change and when they can truly afford you they'll appreciate you sticking by them during the tough times.
Finally, your "bad customers" are the ones who you always try to run and hide from.
You know who they are, get them on the "bad" list and be brutal.
It's really important that you take the time to do what I have mentioned above as it's the first step toward truly understand who you ideal customers are.
You then need to take your "Good" list and work out who are the most profitable to your business and who are the ones who refer your business to their friends.
They're the most likely candidates for those who make it to your ideal customer list and you need to work out how to get more of them.
Remember, at the end of the day we all need to be happy in our business.
What could be better than being profitable and working with customers who are an absolute pleasure to deal with? Thanks for reading, see you next time.
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