Not every client is yours
Knowing your ideal client is not an easy task. Usually as small business owners we think every customer or opportunity we can cater for as we have a fear of missing out. Most businesses find out the hard way that NOT every client is for them!
For product, retail and transnational based businesses this may not be such a big problem as a service-based businesses.
But for those of you who own a business to business organisation, based on services and long term contracts you need to ask yourself a these questions:
- How do you know who your ideal clients are?
- Do they fit the core business values you have or key services you deliver?
- Do these clients inspire and uplift you or do they drain you of energy and waste your time?
- How many of your clients happily pay on time, every time verses those who pay late and begrudgingly?
- Are your clients making you work harder than you need to?
- Are they showing up for your appointments on time?
- Do they value the expertise you bring or are they continuously shopping around and always haggling for a lower price?
- Or personally, is there something that just doesn’t click?
Take a look at your client and customer set. How many of them do you enjoy working with? How many of them really understand the value you bring to their business or are you just a business expense? Does your smallest client demand more of your time than your larger clients? Where are your client’s coming from? Are they from existing clients who are happy to refer new business to you? How are you rewarding those client who do refer more business to you?
Create your own criteria of what is important to you and your business when. What does your ideal client look like? What industry are they in? What demographics should you look at (age, sex, marital status, social economic status, buying behaviours etc.)? This will help you define the target clients you wish to engage with and the kind of clients that motivate you to help your business grow.
Open, honest communication is the best foundation for any relationship, but remember that at the end of the day it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you make people feel that matters the most - Tony Hsieh
Your ideal client should be a good fit for your business model. The right clients should make you feel more energised and excited that you are working with them. They should inspire you to provide your best work and the highest standard of service you can deliver. You will find that your ideal clients are pleasant and easy to deal with, pay on time and do so happily. The right clients would want to build a long lasting working relationship with you and your business, and you will find that they would be your biggest advocate in promoting and referring your business and services to others.
Get focused and start landing more clients that are a perfect fit for your business.
Written By Emerald Firli