(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Determine what kind of clients you wish to attractYour Ideal Client - A Key Concept for Solo and Small Business Marketing"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."--Bill Cosby Have you ever had clients that were more trouble than they were worth? Maybe they were always late to pay, or didn't do what they said they'd do. Maybe you just had a personality clash, or they expected more than you were able to offer. Whatever the situation, chances are you had an inkling when you first met that client...a tiny voice that you didn't listen to, that was probably overshadowed by the bigger voice that said, "Hey, it's business; I'll take it!" Drawing The Line Learn to say no to those clients, before they start draining your energy! The key to being able to do this is to understand Your Ideal Client. Once you know how to recognize who is ideal and who is not, you can practice turning down business from the latter. If you have trouble saying no, you'll need to learn this critical business skill, and what to do to get rid of problem clients you already have; see the resources at the bottom of this article. If you have a coach, ask them to help you complete the Ideal Client exercise, or to role-play those "saying no" conversations. How to Discover YOUR Ideal Client There are many ways to approach the Ideal Client/Customer Profile. You can sit down and imagine the best, most wonderful client you could have--whether that is an abstract entity, a celebrity (what writer wouldn't want Oprah as a customer, for example), or a specific demographic profile. If your customers are more likely to be companies, you could look at your current client list, and pick the company that gives you the most business, the most joy, the least heartburn. The Ideal Client Profile Whoever you pick, start a profile matrix with two columns: "My Ideal Client Is:" on the left; "My Ideal Client is Not:", on the right. In the column on the left, list all the characteristics of that type of person or company. Use the questions below as prompts to get you thinking about all the different aspects of each client. Then, either think of the opposite of all those aspects, or pick the "client from hell" and fill in corresponding traits in the right-hand column. Be really honest with this exercise! If you'd rather only have clients who make over $500,000, put that down! Your clients who don't fit your Ideal characteristics, whether you write them down or not, will eventually know it. May as well get that over with early! Prompts: Consider these aspects of your Ideal Customer or Client: -- What career or business are they in? -- What demographics do they fit? (age, sex, race, religion, income, marital status, etc.) -- What do they think is important in business? In life? -- What do they like most about you and your business, products and services? -- What is the nature of their relationship with you? (transactional, long-time customer, acquaintance, friend, refers others to you, etc.) -- How do they do business with you? (by phone, in person, on the Web; quick transactions, takes time to negotiate; pays early, on-time, at 30 days; etc.) -- What personality characteristics do they have? -- What do you get from them (besides payment)? Now What? Compare your current client list to the two columns in The Ideal Client Profile. How many have the characteristics of your Ideal Client? If the answer is "not many," you may need to work on firing some of your clients! Check out some resources below on how to do this. Next, post your Ideal Client Profile somewhere you will see it often. Every time a new potential client comes along, start looking for those Ideal characteristics...and beware the non-ideal! If that little voice starts to tell you something might be wrong, check in with the non-ideal list--and be ready with some ways to turn away non-ideal clients. Offer them other options--refer them to someone else who is a better fit, and make two people happier! Ideal Clients--For Life There are many ways to leverage the work you have just done with the Ideal Client Profile. Here are some ideas: -- Audit your marketing materials. Do your business cards, brochures, ads and website appeal to your Ideal Client? Are you sending the right message, to the right potential clients? Hone your materials, and start seeing better-qualified potential clients walk in the door. -- Consider your marketing channels. Based on your Ideal Client profile, where would you expect to find these clients? Is that where your marketing efforts are focused? If not, figure out a way to get in front of them! -- Review your contracts, policies, terms and conditions. Are they set up to be friendly to your Ideal Clients? Do they give you clear avenues for dealing with non-ideal clients? If not, update them, and you might see non-ideal clients take care of themselves. Start attracting your Ideal Clients today! Copyright 2004, Terri Zwierzynski - Accel Innovation, Inc. _________ Terri Zwierzynski is a coach to small business owners and Solo Entrepreneurs. She is also the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary Ideas) at Solo-E.com and the author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small Business. Terri is an MBA honors graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill. Terri has been coaching for over 10 years in a variety of settings, including 6 years as a senior-level coach and consultant for a Fortune 500 company. She opened her private coaching practice in 2001. You can reach Terri at http://www.TerriZ.com. _________ ***** Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com - Keeping Solo Entrepreneurs Juiced in Business and in Life. Our team of Solo Entrepreneurs are comprised of small business experts who support others in finding business success with the flexibility and freedom to have a life, too. Network with other freelancers, self-employed and Solo Entrepreneurs in our forums, enjoy our articles and newsletter, and find other online training opportunities. *****
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Ask SmallBiz: Leadership Training - Hawaii Business Magazine Oregon Small Business Fair planned Helping small biz grow - Denver Daily News Survey: Small biz still slow to hire - Boston Herald Small biz getting lower health care costs - Queens Courier Rockford business owner talks about small business tax break benefits SmallBiz Guide to Power - Hawaii Business Magazine Small Business Jobs Bill: No 'Itty Bitty' Thing Small Business Marketing Tips: Accepting Failures |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Accounting and Billing Procedures for Small Business No matter how small your small business is, it is essential to have some sort of accounting and billing police and methodology. This will prevent you from making mistakes and upsetting vendors or even bouncing checks. Temporary Staffing Agency: How to Start The temporary staffing industry continues to expand, with yearly double-digit growth being commonplace. Companies find it convenient and cost-effective to work with a temporary staffing agency to fulfill unforeseen demand, fill short-term vacancies, and assist with changing workloads due to restructuring or mergers. Should I Franchise or Not? A reader of one of my online sessions asked should he franchise his business or not. He had set up a service business and was getting ready to expand and wanted to know if franchising was a good potential strategy for this. Money Series 1: Who Takes Your Money Your business is making profits, but where is the cash? It seems that someone has taken away your money. Your bank account is still the same, and your personal wealth is still the same. Franchising Companies Relationship Strategies Franchising Corporations need to maintain an iron fist when it comes to certain things in order to maintain absolute integrity of the system; Consistency, Quality, Cleanliness and Customer Courtesy or Service. Ray Kroc in his book; "Grinding it Out" made that point perfectly clear, some called him a hard ass on the details and indeed it served him well and turned 11,000 franchisees into millionaires along with some 1500 executives early on. Why You Need A Virtual Assistant How much is your time really worth? Is it worth 50 an hour or 100 an hour? YOUR time is most valuable because it is your responsibility to generate new revenue for your business. Doing small and often trivial admin chores yourself does not really add value to your business and the sensible solution is to delegate those less profitable tasks by hiring someone more than capable of carrying them out, but who's hourly rate is somewhat less than your real financial worth. The Workers' Compensation Situation in this Country is Nuts, Arnold in CA Takes Action The Workers' Compensation situation in this country is unbelievable. Why, well because of lawsuits and attorneys mostly. Successfully Adding a Service To Your Business There will come a time in your business where you feel ready to add another service offering. To make this successful, there are ten tips to consider before moving ahead. Entrepreneurs and Franchisors Watch Out New Franchisors and Entrepreneurs need to watch out as they enter into the world of franchising. What advice can I give to a new franchisor, I was asked today by another entrepreneur with a wonderful new concept; what are the tiger traps that lay ahead?So you are a new franchisor? Who can you trust? Can you trust FranData? The Industry's information source was thought to be a friend, is it? Well they can get you on a list so that SBA Loans for your new franchisees go smoothly. Do You Need Accounting Software for Your Small Business? If you're anything like me then you dislike with a vengeance doing your accounts and taxes.So how can you make this process easier, less painful and cut your accountancy fees?Well buying an accounting software package is one way. Lubbock TX Good Market for a Service Business We very much like what we see in Lubbock, TX as a good place for a service business. The city is a very well designed and laid out town with growth in the 4-5% per year range, growth in the Northwest quadrant of the city is steady and good. Mobile Detailing Expansion Considerations Expanding your business requires you to take a good hard look at your business (checking under the hood). You need to ask yourself. Self-Employment: Do you know the Difference between Rates and Wages The difference between rates and wages is not always clear to newly self-employed people and their wage-earning clients.Both look similar on the surface; both are expressed in dollars and cents per hour. Failure is not an option You may find this Newsletter a little long winded but it's for a good cause: It's all designed for Your Success!One of my favorite quotes is by Alfred d'Souza. It goes like this:"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin, real life. Routine Maintenance of High Pressure Hot Water Motors If you run a pressure washer business you need complete uptime on your equipment, break downs can be costly if your billing rates are $100 to $150.00 per hour. Finding the PERFECT Alliance Partner Where do you look for the appropriate alliance?One of the most asked question is "Where do you find a good alliance partner?" It is actually fairly easy. You can find potential alliances by taking some time to research potential partners. Concrete Cleaning Discussed at World of Concrete Expo 03 If you are in the pressure washing business and are serious about what you clean on the ground floor, I suggest you attend the WOC. The WOC is the World of Concrete Expo in Las Vegas, which is held once per year. Are You Ready to Own and Operate a Business? How often has someone thought of starting a business based solely on the fact they think it will be easier than working for someone else. Fact is, owning and operating a business can be one of the most grueling experiences you will have. One Of The Best New Business Opportunities May Be Right In Your Home - A New Daycare Business The day care industry is expanding. There are now more than 100,000 licensed child-care centers and 250,000 licensed family day care homes across the United States. Financial Dose for Business The goals of businesses have undergone much evolution from the times when entrepreneurs were content with anything that they received above the capital invested. Businesses now want to expand their reach globally, riding on the wave of technology.
|
| home | site map | articles |
| © 2006 |