The marketer who said “Everyone is my ideal client” is an arrogant fool.
We, who have product or service to sell, in today’s attention-challenged world, can realistically only capture the attention of the few who really matter.
Those who matter aren’t the lazy ‘likes’ - “There you go, I’ve liked it. Now I’m moving on.”
They aren’t the unknown, mysterious ‘views’ ‘claps’ or other numbers stacked against your content.
They are those who have clearly resonated with your content because you have spoken directly to them.
You know they have resonated with you because they have asked for your kind, helpful complimentary offer that gives them immediate value.
They feel you have already understood them and customised your gift specifically for them.
They have given you permission to send the gift to their email address.
Because you are both wise and caring, you’ll now continue to help these people unconditionally.
You’ll earn their trust and respect, by being of value to them, based upon your deep understanding of them, your patient listening to them and your unconditional respect for their time.
At the right time, chosen by them, they’ll ask for your help and expect to remunerate you as an act of honour.
All because you first and foremost did the work to deeply understand who your ideal client is.
So, who is your ideal client?
Can you describe them in detail?
Below is a description of my ideal client, laid out so that you can follow the headings and fill in those details that describe your ideal client.
If it so happens that your ideal client is identical to mine, no problem. I have no sense of competition, though I do have a sense of collaboration, or even better, co-creation.
My Ideal Client
Overview: Business owner or managing partner with between 50 and 150 staff, who desires to become the first-choice employer and provider in their market, not the biggest. They believe that being the preferred employer and provider in their market makes them more resilient, more sustainable and more likely to withstand recession. It then values them best for sale, scale or some other exciting plan!
Age Range: 35 – 65
Gender: Any – I have an equal number of male and female clients and for me gender is not an issue. I have no gender bias, conscious or unconscious. As an executive coach and leadership consultant I’ve been fortunate to work with brilliant competent leaders of both genders for over 20 years.
Assets: The business is their primary asset, plus a mortgaged house in a good middle-class neighbourhood and a retirement fund that hasn’t yet reached the right level.
Family: Has a life partner and children who may or may not yet be independent. Family is used to the partner not being there often enough but would prefer more time together.
Personal Characteristics:
- A strong sense of loyalty
- prefers a harmonious workplace
- understands that the staff are crucial but is very careful about initiating staff development in case of rejection or abuse of the intention
- is kind, but wary of being taken advantage of
- has a deep sense of responsibility to both the staff and the business processes
- has a strong sense of the values that the business should have but uncertain about how to implement them without causing a backlash
- prefers to go inside self to seek answers to issues, problems and challenges, rather than to reach out to others for help
- tends to go into the details because of the desire to be fully and correctly understood
- prefers to let the assertive members of the team discover the need to change or improve or alter their direction themselves, to avoid conflict
- recognises that the above preference can be a problem at times
- holds back from responding to emotional conversations, to avoid being mistaken or exacerbating the situation
- is reluctant to change direction once a decision has been made, though knows that it is sometimes necessary
- believes that the business must innovate to stay relevant, but not sure how to do it well
- has a sense of the benefits of striving to become the employer and provider of first choice in their market but reluctant to embark upon it in case of making errors and damaging the business
- would welcome the right help, but hasn’t yet found the right party to ask, and not sure about a reliable way to do that
- would love to have more time to spend with family or personal interests beyond the business, but now is not the right time
- would love to get physically fitter but haven’t found the right time or activity to engage in it
- hasn’t yet determined what to ultimately do with the business, or how do go about that determination, but has a sense of knowing that it is an important consideration
- despite automatically going inside self for answers, is coachable and will listen to respectful, competent, evidence-based guidance
Personal Interests
- golf, fishing or some other outdoor activity, even though they rarely get the time to do it
- follows a professional sporting team but not obsessively
- they take an annual two-week holiday, but take work with them
- personal and professional development, with rarely the time to do it
- a desire to be more philanthropic but lacking the time and financial flexibility to do other than donate at a subscription levels to organised charities
- a desire to travel when more time becomes available
- enjoys fine food and wine but without being obsessed with it
- more spiritual than religious
Social Network
- They are on LinkedIn and maybe Facebook
- They subscribe to business and personal interest podcasts so that they can keep in touch with what’s happening whilst they’re driving or doing other things
- They attend the odd networking event in their locality
- They’d like to attend business relevant conventions, but often don’t
- They have a handful only of close friends
- They have a slightly larger group of friends made through their children’s school years and business associates
- They see their extended family mainly on festive events
- They’ve tried regular business mastermind type groups such as TEC and BNI but found it inconvenient and whilst they enjoyed the people, found that it didn’t meet their outcome expectations
Business Issues They’ll Face
- whilst they have key performance indicators or key results areas, they are logical and can be improved
- The actual results themselves can be improved
- the culture isn’t right yet
- staff retention could be better
- staff selection process can be improved
- process and systems seem inconsistently effective
- there are some bad habits staying stuck
- some staff aren’t pulling their weight
- leadership quality is not consistent through the business
- customer experience is not yet where it should be
- the values aren’t being lived yet
- cash flow can be a problem at times
- they feel that costs and overheads can be improved
- they struggle to work on the business in a systematic way, needing to firefight issues instead
- it feels like the staff lack of clarity about the business goals, purpose and vision
- business development feels like it’s coasting along without major gain
- there are opportunities not being taken
- innovation and change feel stuck
- the leadership team don’t seem to be as united as they could be
- they recognise that most of the above challenges could be resolved by having the right conversation with the right person at the right time, then the whole business gaining a fresh perspective about their mindset and attitudes, supported by more effective leadership behaviour
- How to customise that for their business is their challenge
Conclusion
This knowledge of my ideal client means that only one in thousands resonate with me, my service, my ability to help them.
That’s very OK with me.
It means I can have a sniper-like focus instead of a shotgun approach.
It means I can speak to them in their language, about what matters most to them.
It means that we get the results we aim for.
It means I’m very grateful and I absolutely love my vocation.
Most of my clients have become my friends.
Where are you at with describing your ideal client?
What else could I have included?
