Wouldn't it be nice if all of your customers respected you, paid on time and were your biggest advocates? Having a customer database like that should be one of the ultimate goals for a business of any size. Maybe you won't ever get there completely but you can get pretty close. The fastest way to achieving it is to know your IDEAL PROSPECT inside and out.
Here are 3 steps to finding your ideal prospect.
1. Start with your current customers.
Arrange your customers in revenue value from greatest amount of money coming in to the least. Do you see any similarities in the companies you're making the most of your money off of? I know it sounds crazy, but a lot of businesses take on customers that end up wasting too much time and money.
2. "Referability."
After you have taken away the list of customers that are time wasters and aren't making you as much money as you want, start a new list from this list. This tighter list contains customers who are not only making you money but have referred you...or have the affinity to refer you out. This is your sweet spot.
3. Buy a hound dog and start sniffing around.
By now you have a list of customers that make your business money and that refer you or that would be very willing to be an advocate to your business. Don't stop here. If you're a smart marketer and you're using Inbound Marketing Techniques or tapping into the vast quantities of data we have now, you have another list to start building. Find out where these specific customers came from. Find out what web pages they viewed on your site. Find out what they downloaded. Knowing these things may help you design other content and user experiences for potential customers just like them.
Now that you have a list of money-making advocates, every one of your marketing decisions should revolve around your ideal prospect. You'll start seeing more qualified and more ideal leads coming though your pipeline. Yes, there may be less of them coming through your online channels at first, but they will be easier to close and more apt to refer you other people that are more like your ideal prospect. Win Win.