How much do you know about your customers? I mean really, how much do you really know about them? I am not talking about a generic customer description, demographics, or “I am my market”.
No I am talking about something deeper and more meaningful.
What I am talking about is really understanding the personality, characteristics, drivers, and behaviors that shape how your customers make a decision to buy your products and services.
Having a deeper understanding of your customers will:
- Increase your inquiry to order ratio.
- Allow you to make more effective investments with your marketing budget.
- Create a more predictable income stream.
- Filter out unproductive tire kickers (prospects) who never buy.
- Increase customer loyalty and repeat orders.
- Help you serve them better.
- Give you more constructive feedback to improve customer relationships.
- Increase your average size sale.
Not only will this knowledge increase your revenue, it is the key to increasing the effectiveness of your business. Which is exactly what I have been doing since 1990 with more than 2,000 entrepreneurs and business owners in 33 industries in seminars and my coaching clients.
I used to train my clients to create an “ideal customer profile” and knowing as much as possible about your “ideal customer” is still relevant but I no longer coach my clients to target markets, rather to target needs - of their ideal customer.
Personas are how your customers character is presented and is what makes them unique and identifiable - this is why I call them Personas.
You will be able to learn more about these personas in our Gateway Blogging book or read an example here.
Live Large!
One Comment
“I am my market”
NO, YOU’RE NOT! If there’s one thing I wish people would understand (well, that particular list has about a zillion items on it, but whatever) it’s that you most definitely are not your market. The reasons are so simple and obvious it slays me that people don’t know them:
You’re running your own business. Most people are not. Probably your customers are not, which means you are not like them in significant, fundamental ways.
You are an expert at something for which people pay you–they are not experts, therefor you are not like them. The difference is astounding. In my business of blog consulting, I deal with clients who know very little about what they’re getting into. They’re not like me at all!
And let’s not forget that the whole point of really knowing who your customers are is so that you know exactly what to say to them on your blog (and in all situations, really, but of course we’re talking about Gateway Blogging here). This means your blogging has a higher ROTI and general ROI.
I think I’m going to have to write a post on this.