Many business owners haven’t taken time to define who their ideal client is, and this can lead to problems. Identifying who your ideal client is can make doing business so much easier, far more profitable and way more enjoyable! I speak to so many frustrated owners who are trying to accommodate clients from every age, gender and lifestyle. In my experience, this approach means they will never succeed at building a strong business identity.
When you are trying to accommodate everyone you usually end up with overstocked shelves with slow selling lines, equipment that sits gathering dust ,and far too much money wasted on the ‘next best solution’ in an attempt to fill the appointment book. It’s simply not possible to appeal to everyone, no matter how hard you try.
Building a loyal, strong client base is a bit like building an exclusive club. You need to know who you want in your club and what their likes and dislikes are. If you’re just starting out in business, then you have a great opportunity to get this correct right from the beginning by simply imagining who your ideal client would be, and marketing directly to that one person.
You could model your ideal client on a person you already know, or a combination of all of the elements of their lifestyle such as workplace, preferred restaurants and shops, income and other personal information. The more detail you go into when you’re compiling your ideal client, the more certainty you have to build your treatment menu and branding to accommodate this ideal client.
If you have an established business, then you really need to drill into your statistics around your clients to find the main client type you are naturally attracting, then establish why they chose you over and above your competition. You’ll find that the majority of your clients will have clear similarities and have been attracted to your business from the message you are sending out, even if you are oblivious to this. The message you are sending out is based on how your business looks and conducts itself, along with your price point.
If you examine any one treatment in the marketplace, you will find it with at least 3 different price points, different marketing, quality expectations and branding around it. Each seller of that item knows exactly who they are marketing to, and also how the treatment should be priced and presented to their target market.
Businesses spend thousands of pounds getting their message just right for their intended customer, because they know it will save them far more money, time and effort giving them a long term successful business. We must send the same consistent message to the right audience we have identified.
Your loyal clients feel part of your business, so the easiest way to build and expand your client base is to collect as much data as possible on them so we can attract more of these people. You can then easily direct your marketing to your ideal client, which in turn will attract similar like-minded new clients to you.
You will also keep your existing clients happy, resulting in natural recommendations to their like-minded friends, family and associates for long-term business growth and stress free stability.
