Who is not a good customer?
By identifying who you don't want as a customer, it is great way to identify what would make a good customer. Think back to previous customers who have caused problems, whether that is how the customer communicates with you. It could be if they are unable to use the systems your product uses.
To get the most out of this exercise go in depth about the reasons behind why you do not want that type of customer. For example:
Low paying customers:
- Customers who haggle the price down to a point it is unprofitable
- Customers who refuse to pay the going rate for the work
- Customers who ask can you do it cheaper
- Customers who want more or extra than they are prepared to paying for
What does your ideal customer want?
How does the product or service you provide help them achieve what they want, do they want to lose weight and your product helps them do that. Do they want to buy a house?
What is the end goal of the customer when they buy from you? The person who buys a drill doesn’t want a drill, they want a shelf, they need the drill to make the holes in the wall to put up the shelf.
What is your current target market?
You can be general with the description, for example 35-40 men who are have recently purchased a motorbike and need to update their life insurance policy. The purpose of this question is to get you in a ball park area for your ideal customer.
- How old is your target market
- What is there gender
- Do you know their income
- What's their location
- Which social media do they use
- Do they read the newspaper
- Do they own a car
- Do they come to you or do you visit them
Get specific with it...
Once you have a rough idea of the type of person your customer is, now you need to get more specific. This is where you take that group of people and start to single out individuals that your product or service will be perfect for.
For example; 27 female with an established career but not a high wage, looking to get on to the property ladder with limited savings, current pays finance on a mid-range executive car (BMW or Mercedes). Appearance means a lot to her, and she spends a lot of time on Instagram, looking at luxury items and holidays.
- Where are they in their career
- What is their relationship status
- Are they a homeowner
- Do they go out regularly for nights out?
You are wanting to create an image of their life and mindset, once you have this you can then start to understand how best to approach them with a conversation about your product or service. Asking Mum who is on the school run if they have 10 minutes to fill out a survey isn’t a good idea. But asking them at 10:30 when they have go home and sat down with a cup of tea will get a better response.
Now it's time for your to pull it all together:
Remember to document; "my ideal customer is…" as well as; "who wants…"
and "who does not…"
Work With Us
Want us to help with your customer profiling strategy so you can work smart not hard, get in touch with the team to explore either our mentoring sessions to teach you the techniques in detail, or find out more about our managed services where we do all the heavy lifting for you.