Beyond social media, word of mouth has always been one of the simplest ways to grow your business. It’s the recommendation you get from real-time customers.
Impress your customer, and they’ll usually share their experience with friends and family. Simple. You’re building a business. It’s a dream come true.
So, knowing this, is your business ready to impress? Are you ready to attract the kind of customer who becomes a raving fan, leaves 5-star reviews on Google and shares their experience with anyone who’ll listen?
If you want to inspire your newly acquainted customers to spread the word, then it’s a good idea to get clear on who you are and who you’re trying to attract to your business.
Take a quiet moment, close your eyes if it helps, and think about the kind of customer you’d like to attract to your business.
Stepping into the shoes of a customer can be a revelation and give you a newfound perspective on your business.
One way to get perspective is to be a customer in someone else’s business. A competitor or a business that’s similar to your own.
- How did they answer the phone? How does your business?
- Was their email communication timely and accurate, or a rushed email via their smartphone?
- How difficult was it to make a booking online? What obstacles or frustrations were there?
- How did they greet you when you arrived and what happened during your experience? Were you made to feel comfortable?
- Was your service or treatment explained so you knew what to expect before and after? Did you feel confident in their abilities?
- What happened at the end of the service? Were you rushed out to reception in time for their next customer? Or, lulled gently back to reality?
- After you left? Did anyone follow up on your experience?
This is an exercise in objectivity that can teach you a lot about your own business, how to make your customer experience exceptional, and leave a lasting impression that encourages repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Once you’ve taken a cold hard look at your own business, it’s time to think about two key points that will set you apart and inform every decision you make in your business.
Those two points become important questions you should ask yourself when building your business.
Firstly, who is your ideal customer and secondly, who are you? Or, to put it another way, what’s your point of difference, those things that make your business unique?
#1 Who is your ideal customer?
Your ideal customer is precisely that; ideal. They are the kind of customers you’d like to attract to your business consistently.
Once you’ve created an image of your ideal customer, every decision you make in your business springs forth from your clear understanding of this one customer.
Without this clarity, all your attempts to grow your business can become too generic and general, even a little vague or confusing.
If you’re trying to please everyone, you’re pleasing no one. In business, it’s exhausting, and your communication will be diluted.
#2 Getting clear on who you want to attract to your business.
If you’re clear on who you want to attract to your business, your branding, marketing promotions, and how you communicate will speak to their needs, wants, and desires.
We all love to be seen, heard and understood and creating an ideal customer profile allows you to become razor-sharp in how you serve and retain a loyal customer following.
Knowing your ideal customer helps you create communication, both written and verbal, throughout your business, on social media and across your website that speaks directly to them. They’ll feel that you get them. And if you’ve done your homework? Well, you do.
Creating an ideal customer profile needs to be detailed. Take the time to really think about who this person is. Get specific. What are their likes and dislikes? Married or single? How many children? How old is your ideal customer? What movies do they watch, and what types of books do they read? Who do they follow on Instagram? What makes them laugh? And, what worries them or keeps them up at night?
But wait, your client base is diverse, and your service offering is for all ages and gender. Single, married or divorced. Career woman, stay-at-home Dad. And you greet them all with open arms.
Sure, most businesses will have a diverse range of clients, and that’s great. However, getting clear on precisely who your ideal customer is will keep you on track.
If you’ve ever been to a restaurant where the menu resembles last week’s to-do list, you know what I mean. It’s just too long, and you don’t know where to start. Yep, it’s not great, is it? And you’re left feeling frustrated and overwhelmed just thinking about it.
Once you know who your ideal customer is, you’ll know what they want and the best way to communicate your offering in a way that influences, engages and persuades them. The rest will follow.
Remember! If you’re trying to reach or please everyone, then you’re probably not reaching or pleasing anyone.
Take some time to develop your ideal customer profile and become familiar with this customer. Make them your imaginary best friend. By doing this, you’ll be well on your way to attracting the customers you want, and you’ll love the thriving business you’ve created.
#3 Who are you?
Once you’ve determined who your ideal customer is, you can begin to formulate who you are based on who they are.
Sure, you know who and what your business is, and you’ve analysed the competition. You know your industry inside out. You’ve even got a business plan somewhere, in a draw, filed away.
But what makes your business different?
Rather than dust off your existing business plan, why not grab pen and paper and wax lyrical for a moment and create a one-page document that communicates what your point of difference is?
What makes you unique from your competitors? Perhaps it’s you? Or your many years of experience, or the type of services you offer? Is it the vibe in your business? Clinical and a little bit serious, fashionably sophisticated or fun and relaxed?
It doesn’t matter in what way you’re different as long as it’s a unique selling proposition that differentiates you from the competition and your ability to communicate this point of difference in a way that inspires your ideal customer.
It may take a bit of time to create, but it’ll be worth it. Think of this; if we met in an elevator, could you honestly tell me what’s special about your business? Or would it be a generic description of what your industry does? Get clear, and then go build that business.
Whether you’re a sole trader or a company with a team of employees, knowing your business and what makes it unique will inform how you promote, grow and build your business.
Think about it for a moment. What’s your unique point of difference?
Knowing all this allows you to create and build a business you’ll love and will make how you communicate who you are so much easier. It will become second nature to you. But, just like your ideal customer, get clear and be specific.
If you’re clear on this, you and your team will know which products and services fit in with your unique selling proposition and are able to consistently communicate what makes you special.
Every aspect of your business will begin to exemplify your unique selling proposition. And the best part? Your ideal customer gets you as much as you get them.
Everything you do in your business becomes relevant to your perfect customer. It means you keep impressing the pants off your customers time after time, and they’ll happily recommend you.
You’ll be happy, your customers will love you, and your internal customers, your team, will know precisely the who, what, and why of the business they work in. You may even find your employee retention improves.
It’s a big juicy win for everyone.
Of course, there’s a lot more to building a business, but getting clear on these two key fundamental elements will help you build a solid foundation for your business.
Want help with your unique selling proposition and creating an ideal customer profile?
Booking a complimentary beauty audit might be a good place to start.
You can get in touch with me here.
Let’s get started,
