If you don't know who you're selling to, how do you know what to sell?
When you're in business, you must understand that your customers have a strong influence on how far you can go especially if you're based in the kind of industry where the customer's buying power is strong i.e. they can drive your prices down or easily switch to your competitors at no cost to them.
This is where being able to win the loyalty of your customers becomes a necessity. Winning the loyalty of your customers is easy once you invest time in developing a strategy for ensuring your service to them is unrivalled, from service delivery to after-sales care.
But before attempting to become the preferred choice of your clients, you have to understand them thoroughly - this is where having a customer profile comes in.
A customer profile is the documentation of your understanding of your ideal customer. This will include their demographics (e.g. age, location, profession etc.) and psychographics (e.g. beliefs, interests, values etc.). This documentation will capture their needs and problems as well as their wants and desires, all from THEIR perspective, not yours.
How do you develop a simple customer profile? You usually would have already performed your market research and identified your target market before developing your profile. Subsequently, the following questions will help:
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What type of person will buy your products/service? Who exactly are they? Think of them as an individual!
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What do they do, how old are they and where are they based? Be as specific as possible!
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How much spending power do they have? How do they make buying decisions? Basically, can they afford you?!
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What concerns are keeping them up at night? This is likely a day-to-day issue for them!
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What do they value the most? What do they consider important to be, do or have?
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What's their approach to shopping for products/services? e.g. Google, Word of Mouth, Shops etc.
Thinking through these questions will help you put yourself in your ideal customer's shoes and be better able to cater to their needs and wants, get their money and increase brand loyalty.
