Tips on How to Locate Your Ideal Customer


As much as we all follow the saying “the customer is always right”, it is essential to know that having bad customers can eventually hurt your overall business. These customers could pull your business goals in a totally different direction and drain your resources.

Drawing that line or boundary can prove to be a daunting task for business owners, as what defines “good customer service” can vary widely. Providing exemplary customer service that makes loyal customers out of the people who buy your products and services is not something that just happens. There are some keys ways to methodically figure out who your ideal customers are so you can consistently provide the quality of service that will help attract and keep customers.

Here are 3 tips to help you grow your business:

1) Understanding What Makes an Ideal Customer

Before you open your doors, it is crucial to understand who your ideal customer is. Start by asking yourself: what do you want from a customer? Do you picture somebody who is polite, responsive and patronizes your business regularly? Ideally, you want a person will go on to spread word of your business to other potential customers, thus increasing the demand for your product or service. This person is not just an occasional patron, but also, a regular source of business for your company.

To find your ideal customer, it is crucial to understand the demographic they belong to – you want to not just know about who they are, but what they want from your business. A good example I’d like to use is McDonalds – their ideal customer is what they call a heavy user- a person who eats at McDonalds at least 3-5 times a week and is likely to order the largest portions off of the menu. This group consists of about 20% of its customers but accounts for at least 70% of their sales. These people are generally either mothers or 20-something young male professionals, and as such McDonalds tailors its advertisements towards these groups. Why? These two demographics groups are their ideal customers, the people who form the core of their customer base.

2) What Challenges Are Your Customers Facing?

People want to be felt and heard. Your customers may tell you what issues or problems they may have, but other times, the clues can only be discerned through their body language or tone of voice. If you sense something is wrong, ask them! If you see a customer who is disgruntled or dissatisfied with their experience, you have an opportunity to get to understand just why and provide some alternatives or options. Communicating with your customers is vital to understanding the challenges they have, and what you can do to help overcome them. Furthermore, it makes them feel appreciated and cared about.

An excellent way to do this is to create customer profiles. This involves creating descriptive blurbs describing the categories of customers you can expect to receive. This will help you gain insight into their motives from buying your products and services as well as what they hope to get out of your business. It will also help you in tailoring your solutions to their unique needs. As an example, a person who works for a large corporation will have different needs and wants than a person who is just opening up their own business for the first time.

One example of a challenge is the proliferation of online forms of media. Because customers find it more convenient to read and access news articles online as opposed to buying a printed form of the articles, print subscriptions have plummeted for nearly every major newspaper and publication. As a result, most of them have responded to this challenge by creating websites where their articles can be viewed. Some have gone further and opted to discontinue print media altogether. For example, in 2012, Newsweek cited a steep decline in its print subscription base and decided to only continue an online business model. Customers preferred easily accessible online media and Newsweek overhauled its business model to accommodate this need.

3) Understand Where to Locate These Customers

Depending on the service or product that you are selling, the profile of your clientele will vary. Take note of the people who buy from you. Once again, you are trying to fully understand your target market.

Some questions to ask:
  1. Are they predominantly male or female?
  2. What age group do they belong to?
  3. What professions are they likely to work in?
  4. What are their personality types and preferences?
Asking these questions can give yourself a good idea of where your potential customers lie, as well as how they can be reached. A person who owns a coffee shop in a trendy neighborhood will likely see a different set of customers than somebody who offers professional business services.

Once you have this data in hand, you can target your advertisements to the demographics you know are most likely to buy from you. For example, if your target demographic consists of 18-35 year old males, focus your advertising efforts on places and websites where they are more likely to be. Creating SEO (search-engine optimized) headlines and articles using keywords related to the demographic you are targeting is a good way to generate interest for your product or service as well.

And of course, remember your customer profiles. Knowing what your average customer wants is every bit as important as understanding your target demographics. If you know what your ideal customer wants and needs, it will go a long way towards being able to find and locate them.
Once you have followed these three steps, you should have a strong idea of how to do about finding and keeping your future customers. These three steps are just the beginning, but you never want to start a business without a game plan, and these steps can help put you on the path to success.

Source: Tips on How to Locate Your Ideal Customer

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