Presented at Sage Summit 2013. How to figure out what is the best type of client for you to work with to profitably grow your business.

1. Figuring
Out
Your
Ideal
Client
#SageSummit
@LeadingResults

2. Leading
Results
Core
Marke7ng
Mantra
• Don't
talk
about
the
products
you
sell;
talk
about
the
problems
you
solve.
• Then
talk
about
the
remarkably
different
way
that
I
will
experience
working
with
you
as
you
solve
those
problems.
• Be
sure
you
tell
me
what
I
get;
NOT
what
you
do.
Because
I
don't
have
7me
to
figure
out
if
what
I
need
is
what
you
do.

3. Defini7on
of
Marke7ng
Know
Like
Trust
Buy
Repeat
Refer
TRY

4. Marke7ng
is
a
System
1.
Strategy
before
tac7cs
2.
Fill
your
marke7ng
hourglass
3.
Publish
educa7onal
content
4.
Create
a
total
web
presence
5.
Use
a
lead
genera7on
trio
6.
Make
selling
a
system
too
7.
Live
by
the
calendar

5. Marke7ng
is
a
System
1.
Strategy
before
tac7cs
2.
Fill
your
marke7ng
hourglass
3.
Publish
educa7onal
content
4.
Create
a
total
web
presence
5.
Use
a
lead
genera7on
trio
6.
Make
selling
a
system
too
7.
Live
by
the
calendar

6. Strategy
before
tac7cs
•
Define
your
Marke7ng
Purpose
•
Narrow
your
focus
•
Differen7ate
and
dominate

7. Narrow
your
focus

8. Why
Narrow
Your
Focus?
• Profitability
• Customer
Sa7sfac7on
• Employee
Sa7sfac7on
• Referrals
• Reduced
Cost
per
Customer
Acquisi7on

9. I
am
NOT
saying…
…Don’t
sell
to
someone
who
wants
to
buy

10. Ideal
Customer
(aka:
target
market)
• What
it
should
not
be:
» Anyone
with
money
» Anyone
in
a
certain
city
or
town
» Anyone
that
wants
to
buy
x
» Anyone….

11. What
is
ideal?
•
Values you
• Profitable
• Refers

12. What
is
ideal?
•
Values you
• Profitable
• Refers

13. It
is
easier
to
do
business
with
people
who
believe
what
you
believe

14. Get
to
the
Y

16. Take
minute
–
write
it
down

17. Clarity
becomes
strategy
@LeadingResults!

18. Passion
ques7ons
1. What
do
you
want
in
your
life?
2. What
don’t
you
want
in
your
life?
3. What
are
you
willing
to
give
up
in
order
to
have
what
you
want?

19. Passion
Purpose
[Value]
Proposi7on
Personality

20. “A
ship
in
port
is
safe
but
that’s
not
what
ships
are
built
for.”
~
Grace
Murray
Hopper

21. “Each
time
you
see
a
successful
company,
tell
yourself
it’s
because
someone
in
the
company
took
a
brave
decision.”
~
Peter
Drucker

22. “Lead
with
why
and
let
those
attracted
to
that
why
create
their
own
deEinition
of
what.”

23. “Live
by
a
tangible
set
of
daily
habits
and
processes
that
offer
proof
of
purpose.”

24. Ques7ons
to
be
Asking

25. • What
do
you
want
in
your
life?
• What
don’t
you
want
in
your
life?
• What’s
really
holding
you
back?
• What’s
your
superpower
Passion
ques7ons

26. Purpose
ques7ons
• What’s
your
purpose
story?
• Who
do
you
want
to
see
your
business
as
a
hero?
• How
can
your
business
serve
your
(team’s)
passion?
• What
are
the
2-­‐3
highest
payoff
ac7vi7es?
• What
do
your
clients
tell
you
they
value
most?

27. [Value]
Proposi7on
ques7ons
How
do
we
find
a
unique
posi7on
for
our
business..
• doing
something
that
nobody
is
doing?
• solving
frustra7on
of
our
customers?
• by
crea7ng
an
obvious
innova7on?
• by
crea7ng
a
totally
unique
experience?

28. Personality
Ques7ons
• How
do
we
want
our
customers
to
experience
us?
• What
words
do
we
want
them
to
use
when
they
talk
to
colleagues?
• If
my
company
was
a
person,
would
I
want
to
be
friends
with
it
based
on
the
exhibited
traits?

29. Being
Inten@onal
about:
u Passion
u Purpose
u [Value]
Proposi7on
u Personality
….Leads
to
Clarity

30. Culture
is
clarity
amplified
• Shared
stories
• Shared
beliefs
• Shared
plans
• Shared
planning
• Shared
outcomes
• Shared
ownership

31.
Clarity
communicated
leads
to
Community

32. Clarity
is
focused
strategy
Culture
is
clarity
ampli2ied
Community
natural
outcome
of
clarity
communicated

33. Focus on the ideal client
ProfitableNot profitable
Don’t Refer
Refer

34. Ideal
customer
• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Geographics
• Behavior
• Triggers

35. Demographics
These
are
the
sta7s7cal
characteris7cs
of:
• Gender
• Race
• Age
• Company
type
• Company
size
• Employee
count
• Industry
/type
of
business
• firmographic
variables
(such
as
industry,
seniority,
and
func7onal
area)

36. Psychographics
These
are
any
ajributes
rela7ng
to:
• Personality
• Values
• Aktudes
• Interests
• Lifestyles
• Usage
rate
• Loyalty

37. Geographic
• This
is
where
your
ideal
customers
are
located
» Actual
address/city/town
• Style
of
building
(office
park,
strip
mall,
and
so
forth)

38. Behavior
• How
do
your
ideal
clients
act?
» Use
Credit/Lease
or
Pay
up
front
» Focused
on
return
or
cost?
» Peer
Influenced
» What
is
their
company
culture?
» Their
aktude
toward
employees?
» Their
aktude
toward
customers?
» Their
aktude
towards
technology?

39. Triggers
This
is
what
causes
them
to
take
ac7on
Examples:
» New
CFO/CEO/VP
Sales
» Genera7onal
Shin
» New
Product
Line/Product
mix
change
» Other
Management
change
» Regulatory
change
» Geographic
expansion

40. Finding
More
Ideal
Customers…
You
have
to
know
more
about
them..
3
groups
of
ques7ons
which
will…
…uncover
your
uniqueness
(or
lack
of)
…help
iden7fy
market(ing)
opportuni7es
…help
inform
on
internal
alignment
issues

41. Ask
Your
Ideal
Customers
-­‐
Uniqueness…
• Why
did
you
chose
us
in
the
first
place?
• What
are
our
strengths?
• What
do
we
do
that
others
don’t
or
didn’t?
• What
is
the
biggest
problem
we
have
solved
for
you?
• If
I
were
to
ask
you
one
word
that
best
describes
us
what
would
it
be?
• Would
you
refer
us
and
what
would
you
say?

42. Ask
Your
Ideal
Customers
-­‐
Opportunity
• What
changed
that
made
you
want
to
contact
us?
• What
frustrates
you
about
_YOUR__
industry
as
a
whole?
• If
you
were
going
to
go
out
to
the
internet
today
and
start
looking
for
__YOUR
PRODUCT/SERVICE__,
which
search
engine
would
you
use
and
what
would
you
type
in
that
you
are
looking
for

43. Ask
Your
Ideal
Customers
-­‐
Alignment
• Where
have
we
let
you
down?
• What
types
of
communica7ons
or
interac7ons
with
us
do
you
think
would
make
your
job
easier
and
increase
the
value
of
the
rela7onship
between
our
companies?
• What
3
things
would
you
tell
another
business
person
that
is
looking
for
___YOUR
PRODUCT/
SERVICE___
today
to
make
sure
they
understood,
before
they
bought.
• If
you
ran
our
business,
what
would
you
do
differently?

44. My
Ideal
Client
–
Autobiography
Intro,
Timing,
Frustra@ons,
Solu@ons,
Benefit
Paragraph
one
-­‐
Introduc@on
Hi
my
name
is
(and
then
talk
about
some
common
characteris5cs
such
as,
demographics
and
geographics)
Paragraph
two
–
Timing
What
was
my
5ming
trigger
that
set
off
my
need
to
look
for
your
product
or
service?
What
solu5ons/benefits
am
I
now
seeking?

45. My
Ideal
Client
–
Autobiography
Paragraph
three
–
Frustra@ons
What
are
frustra5ons
am
I’m
having
as
I
search
amongst
your
compe5tors,
what
do
they
ALL
say….
what
don’t
ANY
of
them
say
that
I
would
really
like
to
hear
Paragraph
four
-­‐
Solu@on
In
other
words
what
I
would
really
like
is
a
company
or
someone
who
can
______________________
Paragraph
five
-­‐
Benefit
Because
if
you
gave
me
this,
it
would
allow
me
to
__________

46. Picture
This
Can
you
put
a
customers
picture
on
a
wall
and
put
the
autobiography
under
it?

47. Leading
Results
• Marke7ng
services
agency
–
coaching,
consul7ng
and
doing
u 1:1
Coaching
&
Consul7ng,
Group
Coaching
u Frac7onal
VP
of
Marke7ng
u Public
Rela7ons
&
Social
Media
Consul7ng
u Referral
Marke7ng
Coaching
and
Strategy
u Leading
Results
Sales
and
Marke7ng
Academy
u Hubspot
Cer7fied
Partner
• Authorized
Duct
Tape
Marke7ng
Consultants
• Offices
in
Los
Angeles,
Boston,
Philadelphia
and
Charloje
• Clients
through
14
7me
zones
• Our
clients
put
POWER
in
their
WOW
(process,
organiza7on,
why,
exper7se,
referability)

49. Your
ideal
customer
profile
will…
• Be
easier
to
market
to
(you
know
them)
• Be
easier
to
sell
to
(you
understand
them)
• Appreciate
you
more
(and
pay
a
premium)
• Be
a
pleasure
for
your
staff
to
work
with
• Refer
you
• Help
you
grow
your
business
long
term

50. Offer
Customer
Autobiography
Worksheet
We
help
small
businesses
stop
was7ng
money
on
marke7ng
Contact
Us
Web:
www.leadingresults.com
Email:
dkraus@LeadingResults.com
Phone:
704-­‐875-­‐1188
Twijer:
@LeadingResults
FaceBook:
facebook.com/DFKraus
LinkedIN:
linkedin.com/in/LeadingResults