How to Attract the RIGHT Customers
No one wants to work with crummy customers. You know the ones. They're the people or companies who don't value your work, complain about your costs, and just flat out make you not want to go into work in the morning.
So, how do you attract customers you'll love working with?
Step one to attracting the right customers is to define who those dream customers are.
Defining Your Ideal Customer
Many businesses think their products or services is for anybody. However, even if anyone can be a potential customer doesn't mean you'll want to do business with just anybody.
It's most effective to focus your finite time and resources on customers who'll benefit the most from what you provide. They'll, in turn, provide you and your business the most benefit. They'll have a greater lifetime value as they'll be more likely to come back as return customer. They're also more likely to generating referrals for your business. And they'll just flat our be easier and more enjoyable to work with.
So let's walk through a thought exercise that will help you identity your ideal customer so you can get more of them walking through your door (or website for you ecommerce folks).
Start by thinking about a customer you just loved working with. One you'd like to multiple if you could. Ask yourself:
- Where do they live?
- What's their family status?
- What's their profession?
- What's their household income?
- What do they value?
- What are their goals?
- What challenges are they facing?
Same general thought if you work in a business-to-business (B2B) setting. Some additional B2B-focused questions you'll want to ask yourself when thinking about the ideal company you'd like to work with are:
- What is the size of the company?
- Who make the buying decisions for your product or service?
- What department does that decision maker work in?
- How do they make buying decisions?
- What problem is the organization trying to solve?
Attracting Your Ideal Customer
Now that you have a clear picture of who your ideal customer is, it's time to take action to attract customers that fit that description! How to go about that will, of course, vary from business to business, but some high-level tactics to think about include:
Personalizing your messaging
Having already identified your dream customers' values and goals will help you align the language you use so it speaks directly to them. And in terms, makes them want to stop and read/listen to what you have to say.
Think through how you would have an actual conversation with them. Would it feel more fitting to keep the conversation fun and casual, or would it feel more natural to keep it structured and sophisticated. Whatever approach you land on should come through in your advertising, sales materials, website, etc.
Both the tone and the actual words will make a big difference in capturing your ideal customer's attention and make them feel like your business is the right one for them.
Target the Right Audience
This goes directly back to the demographic information you outlined on your ideal customer. Knowing where they live, how old they are, etc. will help across all of your marketing efforts. It will help you know what is the most effectively place to buy that billboard all the way down to how to set up your pay-per-click digital advertising campaigns.
Network with Your Ideal Customer
Knowing more about your dream customer will help you know where to find them. Are they members at your city's most elite country club, or do they regularly hang out
Ask for Referrals
Finally, your ideal customer will know other people similar to them (like attracts like!) They're likely to know a bunch of other people that could be great customers for you. So ask!
We hope you find this helpful and start putting it into practice in your own business. Here's to filling your day with dream customers!