The First Rule of Marketing--Know Your Customers

The first rule of effective marketing is to know your customers. You need to know them better than they know themselves. What do they like and dislike? What do they believe? What are their dreams? What are their thrills and their disappointments? Why do they buy and how do they buy? Every business has an ideal customer, someone who is perfect for our business. If you have not completed a written description of your ideal customer, take 15 minutes today and complete it. Then keep it in a place where you will see it often to remind yourself this is the type of customer you want coming to your business. You need to do this for your business. You also need to do this for your network group. You need to teach them who is your ideal customer. Knowing who you want us to refer to your business is more important than telling us the details about your business. If we do not know your ideal customer we cannot refer anyone to you. Worst yet, we can refer the wrong person and then you waste your time. May I make a suggestion? Instead of a business commercial at a networking meeting, take the same time to with the group a picture of your ideal customer. It could be a description of them from your mind, a composite of a number of customers, or a story of an actual customer. Tell them exactly who you want referred to your business. With this in hand, they will give each other better referrals.