Each New Year we make resolutions to lose weight, stop smoking, save more money, and a whole host of personal self-improvement proclamations. This is great! Anytime is a good time to take measures to improve your life. What about taking measures to improve your customer base? Take advantage of the New Year and create a strategy to attract your ideal customer. Here are 4 steps to get you started:
Vision Statement
The first step to your New Year, New Customers resolution is to create a vision statement. In this statement, you will write an intention for your business. This may include goals or it may be a brief paragraph about where you want to take your business. It’s also a great idea to visualize, in writing, what your business looks like now that you’re working with your ideal customer. How has your business changed?
Ideal Customer
Step two is to decide who your ideal customer is. That may be an easy decision or it may take some time to clarify. Is it someone who has more money to spend? Someone who has a firm commitment to improving their life? A customer who really wants to get involved in your community? Someone who has the same beliefs and aspirations you do? Take some time to outline your ideal customer.
- You may want to go so far as to create an identity for them.
- Give them a name and age, outline their habits and why and when they’d use your products and services. Best Buy is a great example of how to create a customer profile or identity. Some of their customer profiles include Buzz (the Techy), Barry (Wealthy Professional), Ray (Family Man) and, Jill (Soccer Mom). From these personas, they have created individual marketing strategies, which takes us to the next step.
Market To Your Ideal Customer
Your third step is to outline how to market to your ideal customer. Ideally, if you’re stepping up your chosen customer, you’re going to also want to step up the emphasis on your credibility and authority in your industry. Depending on your industry this can be accomplished in a number of ways.
Some possibilities include:
- Speaking engagements
- Publication
- Testimonials from experts in your industry
- Partnerships with experts in your industry
- Case studies and white papers
Create Targets and Strategies
Finally, create targets and strategies to achieve these goals and systems and metrics to measure success. This is an important final step to achieve your New Year, New Customers resolution, and it’s often where people drop the ball when trying to achieve their resolutions. We’re great at setting intentions and improving, and often not so good with the follow-through. Entrepreneurs are a different breed; of course, you know how to make it happen!
Next Steps
To help you execute your New Year, New Customers! resolution join the free 7 Day Business Planning Challenge. You will get actionable emails to help you make 2021 a year of planned growth in your business. Click here to join.
