Defining Your Ideal Client

In prior posts we have explained how important it is to identify your ideal target client.  Upon stressing this with our clients, the first question they ask is how should we define them?  I recommend that you define your target market according to the following parameters:

Demographics – These are the common physical characteristics of your target audience and they are what you will typically use when acquiring a mailing list.  For consumers, this includes things like: age, employment status, gender, occupation, income level, education and marital status.  For commercial or business clients, this includes: industry, type of business, number of employees, total revenue and geographic scope of the business.

Geographics – For many businesses, location is an issue. Retail businesses commonly have a defined trading area that their customers come from.  Other businesses find that cost of making a sales call beyond a certain area is cost prohibitive or that shipping costs play a big part in determining whether a customer is ideal.  It can be helpful to plot on a map the location of your current clients to determine if you have a trading pattern or if certain areas are more desirable.

Psychographics – Your client’s common complaints, frustrations & pain.  This is where the gold lies.  If you can discover a common frustration or a desire that is shared by your target market, and you find a way to solve that problem or capture that desire, you will have uncovered a golden opportunity to succeed in business.

The easiest way to discover these common complaints and frustrations is to ask.  Survey your current clients to uncover the things they have always seemed to accept but never liked.  Look at your industry and look at other industries for clues.  Find out the things that give your clients headaches.  Ask your clients why they left your competitor and came to you or why they left you and went to a competitor.

« Marketing Strategy Before Tactics – Identifying Your Target Market | Home | #1 of Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Selling Results… Now! »

• FREE Sales and Marketing Resources

  

  Download either of two FREE Reports:

  "How to Build a Lead Generation Machine"

  "The Power of a Process for Increasing Sales"

• Sign up to receive any of three different sets of sales and marketing tips:

  "How to Generate Leads Using the Internet, Social Media and Referrals"

  "21 Unconventional Ideas for Transforming Your Sales Results"

  "25 Things They Never Taught You About Managing Salespeople (That You Need To Know!)"