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Who Are Your Customers

Written by: Rodger Blaker

Article Overview: Unless you can answer these questions, the best products and services in the world will not be enough to make your business successful. Focus on the customer!

Who Are Your Customers

We laugh at the compliment that someone could "even sell ice in Alaska", but in fact, that is rarely true. No matter how good the ice, in some markets, it's a tough sell.

In their enthusiasm, entrepreneurs often fail to ask hard questions about who is going to buy their products, and whether there are enough customers willing to buy at a reasonable profit.

Some great products are simply no longer in demand. Buggy whips and horse blankets come to mind. Other products are highly prized, but are out of reach for most people – luxury yachts and private aircraft might be examples.

I believe Psychologists provide a tremendous service but many of the people in that profession are impacted by a perceived value. No one questions that most therapists are superbly trained, and that many people could benefit from their skills. The problem is price, availability and perception of value.

In a society where "talk is cheap", and there continues to be a bias against counseling, many therapists cannot fill their practices and make a living. Both the therapists, and our society,
suffer as a result, but from a business standpoint, the problem is clear.

Not enough customers value the service highly enough to buy it. Period.

As a business owner or manager, here are four questions you should ask at least once a year, or every time you review your business strategies:

1. Who, exactly, are my primary customers?
2. Where are they and how can I reach them?
3. Do they understand and need the benefits I provide?
4. Are there enough of them and will they buy at a price that permits a profit?

Unless you can answer these questions, the best products and services in the world will not be enough to make your business successful. Focus on the customer!

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Article Tags: alaska, bias, buggy whips, business owner, business standpoint, business strategies, compliment, horse blankets, luxury yachts, perception, price availability, private aircraft, profession, psychologists, tough sell, tremendous service



Related Forum Posts
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.
How to Do Great Marketing with (Amost) No Money - I've given this presentation to CEOs many times. Now i can share it with you. But I cannot because I do not yet have 20 posts. Jeff Ogden, President Find New Customers
Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog - [quote:140e27hj]Customers Pick Static Documents over Blog Entries 8 to 1 on Average[/quote:140e27hj] Interesting study. Just as a commenter said on your post... don't call it a blog. I agree.
Re: pitching - Friendliness is closely related to the concept of "permission marketing" as articulated by Seth Godin. The subtitle of his book says it all: "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers." The old method was "interruption marketing" where you suddenly get an ad in your face whether you want it or not...
20% increase - One of my businesses uses a system to help business owners manage customer relationships and encourage more referrals. I'm finding that this economy is making business owners take a second look at their business and it's assets (aka customers) to see how they can leverage them. Make those Customers (one-time sale) into Clients (repeat sales). I'm finding them more open to having this discussion with me and the results are speaking for itself. Everyone I've worked with so far has seen at least a 20% increase in sales or referrals within 4-6 months all done by managing an existing relationship.


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