The Six Key Ingredients to Identify Your Dream Customer
When I meet a business owner for the first time, I often ask them the following question, “If I was able to refer someone to you, what would the dream customer look and feel like?”
So, when I ask you that question, what is your answer?
I remember asking a business owner last year that same question, and at the time, I could tell he was in a desperate frame of mind. His response was, “Anyone with money!”
Now, that's a bit like asking, “When you go fishing, what are you out to catch?” And for me, because I don't go fishing that often, if I catch anything, I'm happy.
And in all seriousness, if I could arrange ten dream customers for you, back-to-back for the year ahead, how clearly could you describe who that customer is.
I'm going share with you the Six P’s that we use at PROTRADE United to help our clients clarify the dream customer for their business. Read on to discover the Six P’s below, and match them against the customers that you're working with to help you identify the best customers for your business moving forward.
- PROFITABLE
The first one is they are profitable. When you price the work, it generates the Gross Margin that you require for your business. You obviously are required to know what your target Gross Margin is!
- PAY ON TIME
Secondly, once they're profitable, it’s important that the customer pays you on time, according to the terms and conditions that you agree upon. Maybe they pay upfront, or they pay on a time frame from invoice, however they're easy to deal with from a payment perspective.
- PLEASANT
The third P is, it's a pleasure/pleasant to do business with them. We have a mantra at PROTRADE United; “We only do business with the people that we want to do business with.” I'm going to suggest that you look back and those jobs that have flowed easily. The customer's been happy, and the team have enjoyed doing the work. What stands out? There's also been a great relationship built because of it.
That's the type of customer that you want to work with all the time. Again, you get to choose!
- PARTNER
The fourth P is that the dream customer is a silent partner in your business. And what I mean by that is they're happy to refer people to you. It's almost like they want you to succeed as much as you want to succeed. They want to refer people to you because of the experience they've had with your business.
- PATHWAY
The fifth P is that there's a pathway of least resistance to the decision-maker. When working with the ‘mum & dad’ or the consumer market is quite simple because you can easily talk to the decision-maker who's paying you. As the projects get larger and the organisations that you work with get more complex, e.g.: a tender process, there is less of a clear and simple pathway to the decision-maker. It becomes complex to talk to who's making the decisions, and work through any pricing objections or challenges. So that pathway becomes important to consider.
- PROCESS
And last and by no means least, the dream customer is prepared to follow the sales process that you have created. This is why having a sales process is so important. When you explain to the customer your process, they are happy to follow along. People love to be led if they have confidence in the leader, and sales is a leadership process. Yet, if you've got someone who challenges the process, and wants to do things their way, I'm going to suggest that you will know soon that they're not a fit as a dream customer.
So, there we have it, the Six Ps that you can use around designing and creating the dream customer. All the best, and if you would like some help in even clarifying the dream customer for your business, please be in touch.
Written by Jon Mailer
CEO of PROTRADE United
Author of ‘Not Just a Tradie’
