Who Are You Here To Help?
Description:
In this episode seven, I talk to you about your ideal clients and why it’s important to really get under the skin of the people that you're here to help.
I look at:
- what is an ideal client and what does that mean for your small business?
- the concept of finding your specific niche and how it can help you to grow your business.
- the perfect activity to help you to work out who your ideal client is and who are the types of clients you don’t want to work with.
And finally, I will take you through the key steps to help you really get under the skin of your ideal client, and why that matters, why that's important to your business.
Here are the highlights from this episode:
(04:22) What was your ideal client when you first started out?
07:03) To niche or not to niche?
(14:41) You don’t have to say yes to working with everybody.
(20:43) Get to know your clients inside and out.
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I'm Lucy Rennie, and welcome to my Future Proof your Business Podcast.
The podcast that provides you with everything you need to know to build solid foundations and ultimately Future Proof your business.
I'm on a mission to share my love for small business with you and help you to enjoy the extraordinary ripple effect that comes through harnessing the power of people and relationships.
And I want to make sure that you can reap the benefits of being a business and a brand that people know, like and trust.
I'm a huge champion for small business and a massive believer in the fact that people do business with people.
This podcast is here to inspire you, encourage you and support you on this roller coaster ride that is building, growing and Future Proofing your business.
Hi and welcome to the Future-Proof your business podcast, this is episode seven and I'm Lucy Rennie. And we're going to be talking today about your ideal clients and really getting under the skin of the people that you're here to help.
So a couple of things we're going to be looking at is starting off with what is an ideal client, because lots of people talk about this, don't they? But actually, what does that mean?
We're going to look at the idea of niching. And what we mean by that and we're going to look at ways to work out who your ideal client is.
And then I'm going to take you through a few steps to help you to really get under the skin of your ideal client, and why that matters, why that's important to your business.
So that's what we're going to be looking at today. Before we start, I just wanted to touch base really, and let you know that I think I have just about over the excitement of last week, which was I don't know if you've followed that, but it was the launch of my book, Clarity, Communication and Connection, Three Clear Steps to Future-Proof your Business.
And I just want to thank everybody, thank you all for all your support. And yeah, love and encouragement that you gave me last week. It was incredibly exciting. I'm not going to lie, it was really nerve wracking as well. And there's something strange about writing a book and then thinking that people might be actually reading what you've written. It's a little bit I suppose, like this podcast? Yeah, it's kind of putting yourself out there and opening my soul to everybody. So that was, yeah, it's been quite exhilarating, I think and exciting. But I would definitely recommend the experience to you to try to, and to do it too.
02:35
You know, if that's something that you've always wanted to do, then absolutely go and do it. And I'd be really happy to have a chat with anybody who fancies it and would like to learn a little bit more. And obviously, I've done that through Authors and Co, with the brilliant Abigail Horne and her team. So I'd be you know, I'll put the link to Abi in the show notes as well. But yeah, it was just a great experience. I just want to thank you all for that. And of course, I can hear me ask I tell you, but what about your book? So I will also pop the link to my book in the show notes at the bottom of this episode as well.
So do let me know if you have if you buy it and what you think of it if you've read it. So yeah, let's get cracking.
And let's start thinking about what is your ideal client? Okay, so what do we mean by that?
Because I suppose really, when we start out on growing a business and whether that's right at the very beginning, or, you know, we might be 10, 15, 20 years in, understanding who our ideal client is essential, really, it's key, because, you know, ultimately, that's who we want to be attracting.
So if we don't know who they are, then we can't communicate in the right way, we can't connect in the right way, and we can't show up in the right way and deliver in the right way.
So it really is fundamental to understand, you know who it is that is our ideal client. And so, you know, we've talked over the last few episodes about what we do, what our vision is, what our values are, who we are as a brand, what we want to be recognised for what we want to deliver.
And I suppose now it's important to understand, you know, who we are serving, who are those people? And, you know, who are those, those guys, those are the people that are going to buy your products and services from you.
I think at first, I remember when I first started out seven years ago, I kind of had an idea in my head about what I wanted to do. And I sort of knew there was a gap in the market. And I knew it was small business owners that I wanted to work with. And for me it was, I was coming from a corporate world where I was, you know, Head of Communications and looking after hundreds of sites all around the world, in terms of strategy, marketing, PR, all those good things. And it was almost I suppose for me at that time when I was working in that corporate world because I had so many different sites all around the world. Those who spoke different languages, had different cultures and different ways of working. It was almost like I was working with lots of different small business owners. And so when I left that world seven years ago, when I had my daughter earlier, and I realised I knew that I wanted to start this crazy journey of being a small business owner, and you know, jumping on this roller coaster ride. I had an idea in my head about being able to, I suppose, provide that service of strategy. And yeah, strategic thinking and communication, more than necessarily marketing to small business owners. Because I think in the world today, there's lots of marketing support, lots of PR support, etc. But there's no one really that can help you to think holistically in terms of, you know, communication and thinking about the different people that you should be communicating with, and how that impacts on your own business. So that was kind of my idea in the beginning. And so I suppose for me, my idea at that time was small business. But actually, you know, what did that mean? Because there's kind of this, you know, there's over 2.5 million small businesses in the UK. So that's a massive network of people. And I was just a tiny fish in that. So how was I going to find a way? How was I going to kind of stand out from the crowd with that, and I think that's, that's the thing that we want to be thinking about.
It's that sometimes we can get scared, or we can feel the pressure from everybody who's telling us, you need to niche down, you need to drill down and be really specific and get really clear on what your ideal client looks like. And sometimes when we start off or anything, you know, when we're 7, 10, 15 years in, it can be really hard. We don't want to niche down, because we want to, we want to sell to everybody, we want to help everybody, and anybody who wants to buy from me. And I think I know that that's what a lot of people think or a feeling. And so we can get this resistance to kind of honing in on what we do. And what our specificity is, is that a word and our speciality.
07:03
And so I think if we can look at it in a different way, if we can look at the question of whether to niche or not to niche, I think in America they say a niche, don't they, which is, obviously was put into me, especially as I'm a French speaker, which, but yeah, so if we can think of it in a different way. So as I said I was going right, this is who I want to work with, and drilling down. And kind of, yeah, spending too much time worrying about it, and maybe not getting it right.
Let's look at it from a different perspective.
And let's think of it from our ideal client's point of view. So put yourself in their shoes, and maybe think of it when you're looking for a specific product or brand. And what you do to find the right product or service for you and your needs.
So what I mean by that is, what's the criteria that helps you to narrow down your search when you're looking for a particular product or service, when you don't really know, you know, which brands you need to work with? Or buy from? How do you choose where to start? How do you choose which one is the best suited for you? And just think about it? And just yeah, how do you go about doing that? So an example might be, let's say, you decided to run the London Marathon, which actually was last week, wasn't it? And let's say it's Christmas, and we know we've got 10 months to get fit and get ready to complete the London Marathon. But actually, you haven't run ever. Okay, so you probably haven't exercised for ages, you've probably put on a few pounds, your diet is not that good. And you’re basically going from couch to marathon in 10 months. So you need some help. So just think about that for a second.
How would you go about finding what you're looking for? You know, if you were going to go on to Google, or you were going to ask friends and family for a recommendation, what would you put into Google? What would you be looking for? In terms of support? Okay? And it might be that you just want a fitness instructor. Okay. And so you type into Google, I need a fitness instructor or I need a coach, a fitness coach to help me. And what happens is over, you know, hundreds and 1000s of different fitness instructors or coaches come up in that search, and you kind of look at it, you get that overwhelming feeling where there's no way you can get in touch with all 100 of them or 1000 of them. So how are you going to hone in on that? How are you going to narrow down your search and how are you going to choose between them all? And that's where I want you to think about it for your business. Okay, so what are the things that you want people to think about that allow you to choose you?
So what are the specificities that you do in your business that will help people to drill down and it is the same.
So continuing with that, that coach, you might actually then look for a coach for running, a running specialist or maybe even a marathon or a long distance runner. And then you might think, well actually do I want to meet them face to face? In which case it might be local running coaches or local long distance running coaches or actually do you want to be able to do it online? Do you want to be able to have them talking, I don't know talking over there, on Voxer with you, or whatever that might be. So depending on how you want to interact with that coach is what you're going to use to refine your search as you're looking for them. And it's exactly the same thing that you can apply to your business as you start to drill down and think about who your ideal client is.
Another example, as I was thinking about this morning, one of my friends is an electrician in Whaley Bridge. And he's built a brilliant reputation as one of the best electricians pretty much in sort of Derbyshire, Cheshire, but it started out really local, he started out as the electrician in Whaley bridge, and then he became the best electrician in the High Peak, and then Derbyshire, then Cheshire and then….. so starting out small, and growing into that, into that bigger field is exactly what you should be doing. And it's the same, you know, we've heard that analogy about the heart surgeon or the generalist, so I know who I'd rather have carrying out open heart surgery on me, if I ever needed it. It definitely wouldn't be my GP, it would be the most experienced heart surgeon who's done that procedure 100 times before. And this is what I want you to think about in terms of being in the shoes of your ideal client, what is it about them, and what they're looking for that will help them to choose you. And this is how you can drill down on what are the types of clients that you want to be working with. And so the more that you can hone in on that. The more you can think about the criteria that you can use to niche or to be specific, the easier it's going to be to understand where you add the best value to your different clients. And even the criteria can be geographical like we talked about, it could be on different quality or pricing, on the way that you deliver, it could be on your values, it could be on all sorts of different things. And it might actually be a mixture of all of those, okay? So just be aware, and make sure that when you are kind of selecting those different criteria that you're choosing one that works for you, and that's the right fit to you.
Okay, so making sure it fits in with, you know, your joy, what you love, but also kind of your experience and making sure that your skill set fits that brand. And, you know, those products and services in that claim.
An important part here that I want to really emphasise is, I remind my clients of this very often, because sometimes it can, you know, we can forget this. But actually, no, there's a really famous phrase, it says that the customer is always right. And I 100% agree with that in terms of customer service and retention and looking after that leaky bucket and delivering, you know, above and beyond all the time. But I also, really believe in the fact that you get to choose too as a business owner.
So this is why this is really important, you get to choose the type of clients that you want to work with, and that you want to attract to your business. And so yes, maybe in the beginning, we say, you know, we're open to all sorts of people, because really, we're finding our feet, and we're working out what works best and who we work best with and how that works. And you know, we're trying whenever and we're testing out things. But ultimately, it works both ways. And we want to find a balance, we want to find that kind of perfect magic in the middle of attracting those clients that really get us, that understand us and that get the value and need our help and need our products and services. But we also want to find the right clients that fit with who we are. And that become that joy to work with or that are a pleasure to work with. Because what happens when we can find those two halves to this magic circle. And that's when for me, the magic happens. And we can really deliver the results that we want to deliver and that we can deliver, because it's a perfect match. So really getting clear on who our ideal client is and how we can add value is really important. And obviously, and meaning this from a completely ethical place and one of integrity. So of course we're never going to discriminate against anybody. But what I want to remind you is that, you know, we don't have to say yes to working with everybody. And so if you've got a feeling sometimes that maybe something's not a good fit, or maybe you've got you know that that sort of instinctive feeling sometimes where you're not quite sure that you're going to be able to help them or you might think actually you know what this person needs more support, more hand holding or more intense guidance, etc. than may be your product or service can cater for, then, you know, be brave and actually learn to say no, because the more we can say no to people in the long run, I promise you, it's going to be the right decision.
Because it's going to be allowing that space for the right kind of clients to come and work with you.
Okay, so don't be saying yes to everybody, when ultimately, you know that, it's not the best way to be doing that. So, with all that in mind, I want you to be really intentional about choosing who your ideal client should be. And there's a couple of ways that we can do this. So again, if you're in the first stages of building a business, and you know, you're trying it out, then obviously, this might not apply to you yet. But keep trying and keep testing and seeing where you're going. If you have been working, you know, for a while and you have got a nice bank of clients and some experience there, then a great exercise to to help you with this and really hone in on who it is that you want to be attracting is to basically take some time out and think about all those different people, those customers that you've worked with over the last few years, and think about who they are. And then I want you to make a list of. So yeah, I've got a couple that pop into my head as I explain this activity.
But basically, what I'd like you to do is make a list of your top 10 clients, and your bottom 10, your worst clients. Okay? And as you do, I want you to really think about why you've added those particular clients to those different lists. Okay, so really be specific about this. And obviously, you're not going to share this with anybody, this is just for you. And maybe, you know, obviously, if you have a partner or a team, it's a great exercise to carry out with them. I would recommend you do it individually first, and then share your answers and see whether they're the same or have some discussion on that. So thinking about who would you place? Who are the clients that you've worked with that you would place in the top 10? Okay, so who are they? And who are those ones that actually, do you know what, it's not been great with them for various reasons, and you place them in the bottom 10. Okay. And then I want you to ask yourself these questions.
So you might want to make a little table with four columns in the left hand side column, you might put the name of the client, and then I want you to think about how easy are they to work with?
Okay, so did it go well? Was it they understood what they needed? Did the experience go well for them? Or were there lots of questions? Did they come back? Were there things they hadn't understood where they may be asking you for more information or more support? Or, you know, how easy were they to work with? Was it a pleasure? Were they grumpy? What was that?
Then, what do you think about value for money? So did they question your pricing? Or actually, did they not question your pricing? And maybe actually, you know, they didn't even quiver over the price? Can you deliver excellent products and services to them within that money, in the money, in the price that they're paying for their investment? How easy was that to do? Okay, or did you find yourself actually going above and beyond, you know, in many different ways that meant that actually the value for money was great for them, but hard for you in terms of profit and all those things. And then finally, think about the joy or the PITA tax. And for those who don't know what the PITA tax is, it's that (Pain In The Ass) tax. So the tax that you need to add on because people have just been a pain in the you know, what? Yeah, it's just been tiresome, or it's been exhausting, because they've not really understood or it's not been a good match. So those are the four things: 1) ease of working with them 2) value for money 3) And then were you able to deliver excellent service and results to them? So did they do the work? Maybe? Or did they implement the things that you were asking them to implement? Or did they use your product in the right way? And then finally, 4) was it a joy or did you have to apply a PITA tax?
and what I want you to do is just simply score those clients with high, medium and low for each of those different elements. And ultimately, at the end of this, you're going to come out with your sort of top client, which will be based on real substance, real experience and a real kind of objective way of analysing who that is. Again, the same thing for the bottom end of your clients, because it's just as important to know who we don't want to be attracting. So once you've identified you know who your top, maybe one or two clients are out of your top 10 Then that's who we can then hone in on and really get to think about Getting under the skin of them. And then I really mean, I want you to know them inside out. Because the more you can do that, the more you can get under the skin of your idea client, the people that you want to work with the people, that you want to attract, then not only are you going to be able to add more value, and better the experience that you provide, and, you know, go above and beyond in so many ways because you know exactly what they're looking for. But also it means that in your communication, in the way that you're showing up as a brand, because you know exactly who you serve, and you're going to be able to attract more of those people to your brand, much more easily. So I want to encourage you to really get to know them inside out, get into every detail. So thinking about where they live, what they do for a living, what they like to eat on a Sunday morning, how they like to spend their Saturdays, I want you to think about, you know, do they have children? Where did they grow up? Where do they hang out on social media? What makes them tick? What is it that makes them choose your brand over a different brand? What is it that they look for? What are the deal clinchers, I want you to just be able to know exactly what they're thinking, what their challenges are, what's keeping them awake at night, and really just be inside their heads to know them that well.
21:24
And so this is going to help you obviously to tweak your products and make sure that you are creating the right things that they need. But again, as we start to talk and create content and tools or resources for them, and you're starting to show up on social media, etc. I want you to be knowing and talking in such a way that they feel like you're inside their head, that they're saying, oh my gosh. You know, because you're saying and doing so much that really resonates with them, okay, we want to be able to stop them in their tracks. And we want to be able to become this magnet that's going to bring them to your brand.
And so that's your homework for this week really. I want you to first of all map out and understand as much as you can about your clients from what you already know. But then I don't want you to stop there, I want you to deep dive and I want you to actually go and find out even more information about them. And the best way to do this, the best way to avoid making assumptions is to ask them, it's to interact with them. And it's to get to know them first. So as individuals, the best way to do that is to ask questions, be genuinely interested in them and listen to what they're saying, what they're sharing, go and check them out, follow them on social, ask them how they're finding working with you, ask them about their life, ask them about what they're doing, ask them about what's keeping them awake at night, what challenges they're facing, and all these things. Okay, so and we talked about this in the in a couple of episodes ago, where we were looking at getting client feedback, well, this is another opportunity to conduct more research, and really get to know them to get to see what's important to them, where they hang out, and you know what they're looking for from your brand. And again, we can use lots of different formats for that, whether that's focus groups, we can use online questionnaires, we can pick up the phone and have a conversation, we can use DMS. Make it a game that it's your job to find out everything you can possibly know about them and more. And I promise you that if you can do that, the more you can understand them, and the more you can get under their skin, it's going to be easier to serve them to help them and ultimately to attract them to your brand. Okay. So yeah, that's my challenge for you this week is to bring it all together, have the idea in your head of let's call him Dave. And I want you to pull together what we call a persona poster of Dave. So you might find a picture of him. And I want you to pull together all the information that you know, capture all the details about Dave on one piece of paper so that it's in one place, keep it in a prominent place in your office, by your desk or wherever it is that you're creating content or thinking about your business and working on your business.
You've always got Dave in mind as you're building that and as you're doing that. And that might even be simple things like when you write an email to your customers or to your audience or to your email list. I want you to think of Dave every time, address it to him. So just have him in mind as you're talking to him. And I promise you that's going to really help you to then connect with your ideal client, with more of them, so that you know you're resonating and attracting the right kind of people. We want Dave to stop in his tracks and go oh my gosh, that's exactly what I need. She gets what I'm saying. And I need to speak to that person or I need to engage with that brand because I can tell that they, you know, they're going to offer the value and deliver in the way that I want them to. So there's your challenge for today, let me know how you get on, I would love for you to send me through
25:15
maybe a paragraph or two that describes your ideal client, what they're looking for, the key things that make them unique, and why they are your ideal client, why it is that you can help them in that way.
And yeah, I'd love to hear how you get on with this. If you would like to get in touch, you can follow me and come and join me. In fact, on social media, I’m on most channels, at IamLucyRennie, I'd love to have a conversation about this and chat through and see how you get on. Or simply email me at lucy@lrcomms.co.uk. And if you're struggling, or you have any questions about this, then you know, get in touch and I'd be really happy to chat through. And I know there will be one, there will be one thing that will come up where you might say, you know what, it doesn't work for me, because I've got lots of different clients or lots of different people that I work with. And there's not just one unique, ideal client.
So with this in mind, I get that and i'm with you on that. But let's start with one. And then once we've done one, we can replicate the same exercise and the same activity to guide your client number two for that different product or service. Okay, so don't think that this doesn't apply to you. If you have different clients or different ideal clients for different products or services. We have to start somewhere. So get one down, get one sorted out, and then we can work on the next one. Again, any questions please get in touch. I'd love to hear from you. In the meantime. Yeah, keep going. Come and say hi, and I will see you next week for another episode of the future proof your business podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Future Proof Your Business podcast. I've been your host, Lucy Rennie, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, then I'd love you to head over to Apple Podcast, Google Play, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcast and hit the subscribe button. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review and a rating and help me to reach even more small business owners like you who want to build a business they love.
And don't forget, you can head over to iamlucyrennie.com and sign up to my email list as well as find more tips and tools to help you Future-proof your Business on my website and in the show notes.
Finally, I'd love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you. In my free Facebook group, Communicate with Purpose.
You can find all the links on my website and in the Show Notes.
Resource Links:
I would love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you in my FREE Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CommunicatewithPurpose