We know in the SOS Bookkeeping office that customers form the beating heart of your startup. Without a stable customer base, you can’t generate sales, bring in income or create a viable business model. So, it’s vital for your new business to have a very clear and fleshed-out idea of your ‘ideal customer’.
Your perfect customer may well evolve and change over the life of the business, but it’s important to define your initial customer audience right from the outset. Here are some tips from the SOS Bookkeeping team to define your perfect customer.
Who is the end customer for your products and/or services?
Whenever you create a new product or service, you should have a very specific idea of who your target customer will be. Understanding that customer profile is incredibly important.
What are the key needs of this demographic?
A good business model provides a solution to a given customer’s need. Understanding that needs in forensic detail is what gives you the power to customise and tailor your offering. Is your ideal customer a high-street consumer, or a procurement manager in a business? Will your audience be younger or older, at the top end of the economic spectrum, or someone with limited cash to spend? Think about the full demographic breakdown of this perfect customer and make as detailed an outline as possible, so you know exactly who you’re targeting.
How does your product/service meet these needs?
Knowing your customers’ key needs is only half of the conundrum. What you have to do now is offer a product or service that actually MEETS these needs, at a price the customer will pay.
Ask yourself, ‘what does the customer want, and how can we provide it?’. If you can design the right solution, you’re already halfway to creating a new customer.
How do you intend to reach this customer audience?
To sell your products, customers must be aware of your brand. So, an important part of your customer research will be understanding which marketing and promotional channels to use.
Knowing where your customers hang out – both online and in the real world – is a critical piece of information when it comes to promotion. In the digital age, there’s a baffling mix of different online channels and social media platforms to navigate. But by doing your research carefully, you soon start working out whether your target audience is Facebook fans or Twitter or Instagram lovers. The more detailed you can be about these customer preferences, the better you’ll get at choosing the right promotional and marketing routes.
Bringing it all together into a customer profile.
By combining all the information you’ve gathered into one concise customer profile, you give your sales and marketing team a very clear picture of who to target.
If you would like to discuss your business needs. Call SOS Bookkeeping on 01 849 5131 or email shane@sosbookkeeping.ie For the latest business/practice news, taxation/financial resources and our Newsletter, visit https://sosbookkeeping.ie/