How to find your “people”
I’ve done a lot of work on Ideal Customer Profiles. Whether you’re in tech or retail, B2B or B2C, a solopreneur or an organization that’s ready to scale, everyone is looking for the “right” customers.
So, how do you go about finding these “right” or “ideal” customers? Here are 5 quick tips!
Know who the WRONG customers are: everyone in business has come across the wrong customer at some point. I’m talking about those clients that always feel HARD; hard to close, hard to deal with, hard to upsell, hard to get them to pay their bills. If our business was full of these customers, we would all start to hate our lives. So, as important as it is to define your ideal client, it’s equally important to create a profile of clients you DON’T want. This will save so much time and energy in the long run.
Solve a problem: when people have a problem that is causing them pain, they actively go looking for a solution to that problem. If you have a real solution to a real problem, you’re all set. The key is to get into the minds of your ideal customers so that you know what their real problem is. And beware, a problem can manifest in a variety of ways. Just like a sickness can have a variety of symptoms (I’m talking COVID here people), you have to connect with the ONE symptom with which your target client connects.
Communicate clearly: this is tightly related to #2. If you solve a problem, but you can’t clearly communicate that you solve that problem, no one will know about it.
Have a personality: people like to do business with people. And specifically for entrepreneurs, your personality has a big influence on your brand and your ideal client. But sometimes, in the fear that your will offend someone, companies decide that being generic is safer. But no one connects with generic on a deep level. So, while you might find clients, they haven’t chosen you because they have a value alignment, which is one of the stickiest ways to keep you clients. So, state your opinions! Share your passions. Being authentic will drive people to you.
Use your marketing (and sales) as a client-screening process: I always like to say that interviews are an opportunity to for both parties to figure out if they want to work together. Marketing can be looked at the same way. Can you identify with your marketing if someone is the WRONG client? Can you identify if they have a problem you can solve? Does their personality match your own? If you can do this, imagine how much easier it would be on a Discovery Call ;)
BONUS TIP: Feel strong saying NO!
If you’re not able to say no to the wrong clients, your ability to serve your ideal clients drastically decreases. If all your time is being taken up by people who are going to be “energy vampires”, everything will keep feeling HARD, and you won’t be able to have the impact on the people you can REALLY serve.
Which tip could you implement this week that could change how HARD finding the “right” people is for you?
