In order to serve the right customer, you have to know everything you can about them… and we mean everything! What do they like? Where do they hang out for fun? What does your product solve for them and how?

It’s time to take a radically different approach to understanding and identifying your ideal customer. All too often, businesses fail because they are trying to be all things to all people. They focus so hard on pleasing the masses or “having something for everyone” that they lose sight of the power of niching down. When you have a clear, ideal customer, you can communicate more effectively with them and streamline your business in all aspects. The Problem with “Something for Everyone”

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➤ The Problem with “SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE”

How can your messaging resonate deeply with a customer when you’re trying to broadly appeal to everyone in a newspaper ad, radio ad, or local magazine? How can you get more interested eyes on your Facebook ad when you’re not sure if your ideal client is 18 years old or 60 years old?

The answer; you can’t! (Well, you can, but it’s going to cost you a lot of money with very little results)

Not only will it take valuable time away from you as you scramble to purchase products that appeal to everyone… It’s going to cripple your ability to create content that resonates with your specific market. And probably worst of all, it’s going to CONFUSE YOUR CUSTOMER. When a customer is confused, they search elsewhere. They don’t buy into you, your mission, your culture, or your products. There’s really nothing that makes them want to come and shop with you on repeat. Your store becomes a number and gets lost in the noise. And, so do your customers.

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Now, some of you might be wondering what to do because you actually have 2 different ideal customers. For example, maybe you have a kids store that caters to new moms AND grandmothers. There are many cases where you really might have 2 very different ideal customers.

One will be your TARGET CUSTOMER (also known as the customer with the most revenue potential). This will be where the majority of your sales come from.

The other one will be your SECONDARY CUSTOMER. It’s recommended that you do the exercise down below for both customers. This will help you get some valuable insight and information, as well as be able to identify the differences between your demographics. If you are unsure of which customer is which, dive into your reports, look into your online analytics, and/or survey your customers to get more insight into your market.

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Identifying your ideal customer does not mean you will no longer get customers outside of that demographic. The main difference now is that you will move forward with a stronger grasp on your ideal customer…the one who makes 80% of the purchases…the one who drives your business…the one who is going to most buy into your vision, mission, and values. This will dictate which items you bring into the store, the brands you carry, the way you merchandise, which ads you purchase and where you advertise.