Do you know your target customer inside out? Do you know where they hang out? What media they consume? How they spend their weekends?
Lamborghini doesn’t waste money on TV adverts because they don’t attract their target customer.
You need to make sure you’re not wasting your time, effort and money on marketing that doesn’t attract your target customer.
You build your very own ‘Ideal Customer Profile’ (ICP)
How do you do this?
Well, you need to take some time to sit down and really explore who you want to work with. If you’re an established business, you’ll be able to draw on some of your experience here. Ask yourself which customers you enjoyed working for the most. Which jobs were most profitable? What sort of work do you find most fulfilling?
If you’re only just starting your business or perhaps you’re looking to change direction, you can still get answers to some of these questions.
An ICP is something you’ll continually tweak and evolve over time. So, don’t worry if it doesn’t become immediately clear.
Once you start delving into this process the key is to get as specific as possible and start building an avatar who almost seems real.
Example:
Let’s say you’re a decorator who is looking to change direction slightly. You’ve recently completed a few kitchen refurbishments and you found the work to be not only profitable, but very fulfilling. You decide you want to start specialising in kitchen re-finishing and so, you start thinking about what your ICP might look like.
You name your avatar ‘Harriet’:
Harriet is 50 years old; she works full time, earns £45,000 per year, she’s married and has two teenage children. Harriet lives in a detached house in a nice area of town where the average property price is £350,000.
Harriet’s interests include gardening, hosting dinner parties and keeping fit.
When Harriet is not acting as her teenage children’s personal taxi service, you’ll find her in her garden, at the gym or catching up with friends at a local coffee shop or restaurant.
Starting to sound like a real person yet? Maybe you even know a ‘Harriet’! You may have even worked for one before.
Take the time to build your own ICP and you’ll soon stop wasting time and effort trying to sell your ‘Lamborghini’ quality decorating service to people who aren’t a good fit for your business.
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