PROFILING YOUR CUSTOMER

In order to see things from your customers point of view you have to think the way your customer thinks.

To do this you have to know your customer - intimately and ...you can't know them intimately unless you know - exactly who they are!! In order to do this you may need to 'profile' them. Using the following model will help you to achieve this.

Gender - Male / Female

Age - Range

Socio Economic Group

Interests

What do they read / listen to / watch

Where do they live / work

Where do they go for shopping / leisure

What are their needs and wants

What are their problems

What turns them on

Identifying your customer base

A narrow band, approximately 20%, of your potential customers will produce an enormous number of your successful sales (approximately 80%). Therefore it makes sense to spend some time in identifying exactly who these people, or companies, are.

By 'profiling' this band the greatest results for effort will be obtained.

Clear identification of potential customers leads to cost effective promotion, saves money, time and effort and makes for higher profits.

In addition, most publications produce a 'Media Pack' which profiles their readers. Matching your customer profile to their reader profile ensures you are getting your sales message to the right audience

In order to practice this let's look at some simple examples of customer 'profiling'

Example of profiling

Imagine that you are selling used / exchange computer games from a town centre shop - profile the 20% band of clients and then decide on a suitable means to promote your new shop - type your thoughts in the boxes below and then scroll down to check out the answer

This is by no means definitive, however by assuming that they are 18 -28 we have discounted the younger age group. This is because customers younger than 18 may not have the amount of disposable income to become main stream customers. This information was used to place two young ladies, with leaflets, at a distance from a town centre computer shop. They simply smiled and passed a leaflet to every male, 18-28 year old coming out of the shop - less expensive and more targeted than newspaper advertising!

For more examples of customer profiling - click here

Remember that every type of customer, even commercial companies, can be profiled. If you are selling to companies are your most profitable clients established or new? Are they big or small? Are they in a specific industry sector?

By thinking carefully about the narrow band of main stream customers you can start to develop an image that will appeal to them and promote your service or product in a way that reaches them cost effectively - in terms of your potential customers, try to complete the following.

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