Get Clear About Your Clients: 3 Influential Factors Every Small Business Owner Must Know

One of the biggest challenges for today’s small business owner is that there is a volume of information that’s out there and your prospective clients are bombarded with that information every day. Today’s small business owner needs to be more laser focused than ever to target their market effectively.

Experts estimate that only 4% of your prospects are willing to buy your product or service right now. The rest of the prospects you may need to nurture over the next 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months or 5 years depending on what you are selling and who you are selling it to.

Since people make decisions to engage based on emotion, it is more important than ever to make sure you know who your client is, their struggles, frustrations, likes and dislikes. Savvy small business owners in today’s market place know they must be clear about who they are serving so they can develop messages that target their ideal clients and create systems that stay in touch with them.

Clarifying your ideal client is one of the first steps in growing your business. Clearly target your ideal client by taking these three influential factors into consideration:

General Factors

If you are saying that your services are good for “anyone who…” stop there. This is not specific enough for you to develop an effective marketing mix or for your referrals who want to send you good referrals. To be successful in today’s marketplace, you must be specific. Start by identifying their:

• Type of Industry
• Type of Company
• Type of Market
• Stage of life
• Gender
• Income range, revenue
• Title
• Geographic Location
• Marital Status, or
• Any other relevant demographic information

These are just some of the areas you need to consider. Armed with this data, you can more effectively target what they read, where they gather, and where you should be executing your marketing plan and networking .

Personal FactorsConnecting with your clients is just as important as the niche you select. Small business owners often overlook the simple fact that they should enjoy the people they work with. An important part of your ability to serve your clients with sustained enthusiasm will be your skill in building close personal relationships. If you don’t enjoy them as people, this just won’t happen. Describe the characteristics or personality traits you prefer in your ideal clients. When you get clear on those features, those features should be included in your marketing materials to attract those clients with whom you prefer to work.

Emotional Factors

Your clients will make decisions to engage based on emotion so it is important that you understand their biggest frustrations, struggles and problems. When you know those struggles, you can place them in your marketing materials. Every single buyer has a decision making process they go through and you have to insert your message in front of them in the way they will identify with it.

When you speak to your ideal client’s pain, they connect with your message. You begin to create that relationship with them because they feel you know all about their frustrations and see you as the trusted advisor. With your stay-in-touch vehicles, they will see consistent messages from you and you develop this trust over time with them. Keeping these factors in mind will help you in marketing, networking and growing your business.