Many «advanced» firms make a portrait of the client. Many other less «advanced» firms do not make up a client profile.
After we have identified the leading need that your business product must satisfy, you need to understand who your customer is with such a need. As a rule, similar people have a similar need.
For example, make-up is applied mainly by women, and vodka is mainly drunk by men, etc.
The analysis of the client can be deepened. The more detailed the image of the future client is, the more effectively you can build an advertising campaign in the future.
What is a client profile?
A customer portrait is an image of your future or current customer.
You say:
— our customer will always be different. Sometimes it’s a woman, and sometimes it’s a man. Sometimes it’s a rich person, and sometimes it’s a poor person. How can you make one portrait for hundreds and thousands of different people.
This is a very fair remark. Nevertheless, this portrait can be made. Large firms, such as automobile manufacturers, make portraits of their customers, made in great detail.
Client Profile Example: Car Showrooms
I once read an interview with the sales director of a Honda car in Russia. Even then I knew that portraits of clients are compiled, described, systematized. But I never thought about the fact that people are doing all this so seriously.
In his interview, he (now I don’t remember at all who and in what magazine) spoke in great detail about who buys a Honda Accord in Russia.
It turns out (at least it was a few years ago), this car is bought mainly by:
— men,
— age 38 years old,
— living in large cities
— having a family
— earning from 60 to 80 thousand dollars a month.
This portrait by the car dealer has a lot more data and details, but I can’t remember everything.
But the bottom line is different: large companies spend a lot of money to describe the portrait of their client.
How can customer profile writing help a start-up business?
“All this is good, but only large companies that have specially trained people do this,” one can say in response to the car example.
Yes, of course, car dealerships and other large firms have enough money, people and other resources to do serious research on their customers, incl. make their portrait.
And yet, a careful study of customers is required for businesses of any size. It’s just that the ways of drawing up a portrait of a client will be different.
An example when a client’s portrait helped at the start of a business?
I’ll tell you one interesting example of how a client’s portrait helped a start-up business.
A small firm started making aquariums. Large, beautiful, expensive fish tanks. The product itself was excellent: the aquariums looked 100%.
There was a question about sales. Through acquaintances, sales were insignificant. And then we decided: we need to sell where there are a lot of people. The more people see beautiful aquariums, the more likely it is that some of them will want to buy one for their home.
And so they did. Where are the most people? In the mall! There, thousands of people come every day for shopping, walk around the floors, look at the interior around, just sit and relax.
If you put an aquarium in a shopping center, it will automatically attract attention. Adults and children will come up to him and look at the fish. Children will ask adults to:
— Mom, dad, let’s buy home such wonderful fish! And this aquarium.
And what could be more effective than asking a child? And we’ll stick a phone number on the aquarium here so that you can immediately call and order. And then sales will flow.
It seemed like a great strategy. But she didn’t work. Sales increased slightly. For several months, there were only a few calls on the phone from the mall. People crowded around the aquariums, stared at the fish, the children were delighted. But nobody bought aquariums.
And then we decided to interview potential customers — those people who crowded around the aquariums. They were asked a question
— Would you like to buy such an aquarium?
And people said no. Because the apartment has already been renovated, and such an aquarium will not fit into the interior of the apartment.
And then the question of the portrait of the client came up by itself. It turns out that this is not just a visitor to the shopping center.
The portrait of a typical buyer of an expensive aquarium turned out to be this:
Aquarium buyers are families who have recently purchased residential property, moved or renovated. They are wealthy enough to buy an apartment with an area of 80 m2 or more to place an aquarium on it.
The key condition in this portrait is a renovation, a move or a new apartment.
There are not many such customers among the visitors of the shopping center. Therefore, sales from this channel will never be high.
After a new client profile was drawn up, the concept of sales was radically revised. Aquariums began to be placed where people look after things, furniture for the new interior of their apartment:
— furniture stores, salons, shopping centers;
— stores selling various interior items, mostly premium.
We negotiated with the owners of these stores, rented a place for an aquarium and placed it. Sales have grown significantly.
Conclusion:
The moral of this article is simple — if you do not represent your client, his habits, lifestyle and preferences. It is almost impossible to achieve good sales results. Your sales will be episodic compared to what can be achieved with a customer profile.
To be continued …
