T3: Qualifying Customers
Thought 1: All businesses should have a process of determining if a customer falls in or outside of their target market.
Thought 2: Qualifying a customer is critical in maintaining quality customer service. The better a customer fits your business, the better the likelihood they will not only benefit from what you offer, but find other likeminded friends and associates to which they will refer your business.
Thought 3: Your branding and messaging are the key components of getting the customers that are right for your business to the door. If these elements are off, you will likely not be getting your idea customer.
Strategies:
Strategy 1: Take what you know about the customers you most love to work with and make it the focus of your brand. Make “the way we do it here” clear, concise and easily identifiable to your target market.
Strategy 2: Demonstrate your understanding of and benefits for your ideal customer in all of your marketing and messaging efforts. Reinforce it during the sales process and adjust it for customers as they move through their lifecycle with your business.
Strategy 3: Utilize likeminded customers to bring you more of the same through referrals and social proof. Incentivize your best customers to tell their friends about you and reward them when they do. Also encourage the customers you want more of to be the ones who provide the reviews and testimonials for your business.
Things you can do:
1: Make a list of the qualities of your ideal customer or customer avatar if you have one. Think about demographics and then go beyond the ordinary. Think about what emotional qualities make up your ideal client, consider their motivations, goals, and desired outcomes. Look at common personality traits and temperament. For example, some businesses are laid back while others exude organization — both approaches are great and absolutely correct. The happiness of your customer’s experience is often determined by the right fit. Like I’ve said all month, really get to know your customer so you can design everything in your business to attract and serve them.
2: Conduct a focus group to understand your best customers better. Usually, when we start a business or pivot a business we do a lot of customer research. Don’t stop there, however. Keep customer research as an important part of your business’ improvement practices. Focus groups are an excellent way to ask the questions you might otherwise just assume the answers for — and believe me when I say you’ll learn so much about the qualities of your best customers and be able to identify patterns you might have otherwise missed.
3: Really examine your branding and messaging to make sure it’s in alignment with your ideal customer. Does it speak to their pain points? Does it identify their ideal result? Are you providing social proof from customers in which your ideal customer can see themselves? Are you asking and answering the right questions to move potential customers into and through your pipeline?
In the end, the effort you put into establishing a quality customer base will pay dividends long into the future. Like attracts like — and you always want to attract the customers you want more of!
