How to Identify Your Ideal Customer or Client
Doesn’t everyone need my solution?
You may believe that your product or service or opportunity is for EVERYONE on the planet. But…try to think of something that everyone likes…essentially impossible. The same is true with your business. Not everyone will see the benefits of the solution you provide. The most successful entrepreneurs and businesses recognize this, and work hard to find their ideal customer or client. They know that their ideal customer is the one who will be interested, resonate, and have success with their solution.
To find that person, you must first be able to identify that person. Here I share with you exactly how to identify your ideal customer or client.
Why Do You Need to Identify Your Ideal Customer?
You are in the business of customer satisfaction. You create satisfied customers by solving specific problems for people who see and are open to the value, benefit, and results of your solution (product, service, or opportunity). Unfortunately, that’s not everybody, even if YOU believe everybody can and will benefit from your solution. It’s not everybody, because its NOT about YOU or what you believe. It’s about THEM, and what THEY believe.
Therefore, to be successful, you must FIND the people who will see the benefits and the results that you are providing. To find them, you must start by identifying them. Once you’ve learned how to identify your ideal customer, then you can create marketing and advertising campaigns to go find them. That is how you get your solution in front of the people that can benefit.
The 6 Steps to Help You Identify Your Ideal Customer
Identifying that ideal customer is all about being able to visualize who they are, his/her specific needs, and how your product, service, or opportunity can provide the solution. The more narrow you can focus, the more effective you will be. You can identify this person by simply answering a series of questions designed to you help very clearly understand who they are.
Here are those questions, with examples from my own health and wellness business.
With What does He/She Struggle?
You are solving a particular problem for your customer or client. What is that problem? The purpose of your solution is to produce a result for this particular problem.
An example, from my health and wellness business:
My customer struggles with getting or remaining healthy in general, or possibly with a specific goal such as weight loss, better sleep, overcoming allergies, or perform better. My customer may also struggle with overcoming a specific medical condition such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, Lyme disease, seasonal allergies, etc
Why does He/She have this Struggle?
Your solution is providing a method to overcome the struggle, therefore, you must identify why the struggle exists.
An example, from my health and wellness business:
My customers struggle with this because of massive confusion, and generic, one-size-fits-all recommendations from the market. Confusion is caused by conflicting doctor recommendations, confusing science, marketing and sales techniques in the food industry, marketing and sales techniques for diet plans, and personal lifestyle.
What is the Result that He/She Desires?
Your solution will provide a specific result that must match up with your customer’s desire. This MUST be customer focused, not YOU focused.
An example, from my health and wellness business:
My customer’s desired result is to feel, look, and perform better, or to overcome the specifically identified issue.
What Method Will He/She Use to Purchase a Solution?
Your solution must be able to be purchased with a method that makes sense and is easy for your customer. You must also identify if there are any specific extenuating circumstances or expectations associated with a purchase, such as if customer support is required.
Is a human sales person or negotiations necessary, such as with real estate or cars sales? Does your service require a personal exchange, such as with one-on-one coaching, or a service like massage therapy? Is a purchase made online or at a retail establishment?
An example, from my health and wellness business:
The method for purchase will be online, retail, or in-person. In addition, my customer would assume that their purchase is personalized to them and a human support system could be relied upon for answering questions about the products or dealing with order issues.
What are the Personal Characteristics of Him/Her?
The closer you can visualize this person, the more successful you will be, because the more “correct” your solution will be for this person. Define anything you can about his/her personal characteristics.
- He/She?
- Age?
- Economic status?
- Education?
- Location?
An example, from my health and wellness business:
My customer can be male or female, any age (but likely an adult), reside in any location within the US and Puerto Rico (because this is where our company is today). My customer would typically have a middle to upper income and a college education, because people with these characteristics are more willing to invest in their health.
What are other Identifying Characteristics, Such as Profession or Recreation?
What are they or what do they have? And just as important: what are they NOT or what DON’T they have?
Do they come from a particular profession, or engage in a particular recreation?
An example, from my health and wellness business:
My customer is NOT simply someone who IS unhealthy or HAS a particular issue. He/She must ALSO possess a personal desire to make a change to get healthy, or to overcome their specific struggle, and simply doesn’t know how to do it because of confusion. My customer is looking for a real and sustainable way to invest in their health.
Conclusion
We’ve all been taught that profiling is wrong. Certainly profiling is wrong when it comes to law enforcement, education, and many other civic services and situations. However, you are in business. Specifically, you are in the business of customer satisfaction. To create those satisfied customers, you will need to find the potential customers that will most benefit from and resonate with your solution. The first step in the search is to clearly identify your ideal customer. The good news is that identification can be accomplished through a series of questions that you can find here.
