How to Discover Your Ideal Customer

How many times have you said to yourself “I wish I could find the right clients so that my business would really get big”? Well you are not alone; there isn’t a business out there that hasn’t had that thought at least once.

One of the most important elements of a marketing strategy is the development of an ideal customer profile. When you effectively understand who your ideal customers are, you will be able to build your entire business, message, service/product, sales and support around attracting and serving the right customer.

Everyone is in the business of satisfying customers in some way or the other. The most important activity of any business is to clearly identify the very best customers for your product or service, and then focus all marketing, advertising and sales efforts on this particular type of customer.

This post is about how to discover the right people who will benefit from and pay for your products and services. From defining what exactly an ideal customer is to actionable tips you can use to discover your own, and also narrow your focus and refining your strategies. Let’s get started.

What is an ideal customer?

Without a clear understanding of who your ideal client is, and what they want, you are going to find marketing your business more difficult each and every time.

But before you can really start, you first need to have a solid handle on what exactly an ideal customer is.

Your Ideal Client is the type of person who discovers the perfect solution to their problems in your specific product or service.

How to Discover Your Ideal Customers

Step One: Know Your Product or Service

First, you need to have an understanding of your business. And we don’t just mean knowing the ins and outs of your finances or being able to recite your vision in your sleep. Instead, you need to have deep knowledge of your business from your customer’s point of view.

· What problems do you solve for them or what challenges do you address?

· Why should people buy from you instead of your competitors?

· What sets you apart from your competitors?

· What does your product do for your ideal customer?

· What problems does your product solve for your customer?

· What needs of your customer does your product satisfy?

· How does your product improve your customer’s life/work?

· Who actually benefits the most from your product or service?

When it comes to these questions, you need to be honest with yourself. It’s not enough to determine who you want to benefit most, you also need to identify who is actually finding value in your offerings right now.

Step 2: Understand Your Competition

There’s no such thing as an original idea anymore and that’s true of most products and services. Whatever you’re doing, someone else is probably already doing it too.

Having competition isn’t an issue because the truth is, there is more than enough for everyone. However, you’ve have to stand out from the crowd so the right people can find you.

The good news is, even if you can’t really pinpoint your unique selling point, once you are able to discover who your ideal customer is, you will be able to tweak your products so they are suited to those exact clients.

Step 3: Create your customer profile

Now that you know your products and understand your competition, you are now ready to build your customer profile. This process involves answering some questions cover everything from basic demographics to what influences your customer’s buying decisions. Answering the questions below is a great way to get started:

· How old are they?

· Where do they live?

· Where do they work?

· What careers are they in?

· What are their hobbies and interests?

· What are their hopes, dreams, and aspirations?

· What are their fears?

· Do they have any common health, wellness or mindset troubles? (i.e. weight problems, mental health concerns, confidence issues, etc.)

Your customer profile will depend entirely on the answers you come up with.

The idea is to see them as a real person. Someone you could take out to lunch for a chat. Because that’s basically what you’re going to do, every time you need to know what direction to take in your marketing.

Another way is to pick a few of your current customers and set up a time to chat. Ask the right questions, and you’ll learn what they love about you, what they don’t like about you, as well as what inspired them to choose you over your competitors.

Final Thoughts

Identifying your ideal customer can seem like an overwhelming task. However, it’s an important step in growing and improving your business, and with these three steps, the process doesn’t need to be overly complicated.

Follow along and you’re well on your way to not only reaching new customer, but the right ones.

We’d like to hear from you. What are your experiences with getting the right customer?