What does YOUR ideal customer look like?

Back in 2013 my quote “Know EXACTLY what your ideal customer looks like. Otherwise, how will you know when you’ve met them?” made the Women’s Advantage calendar.

Here we are in 2019 and I JUST had this conversation with another inside sales organization.

The salespeople are using the lowest barrier to entry to search for new prospects. UGH

Don’t get sucked into “at least” as your target.

Instead take the time to figure out what IDEAL is.

> demographics – know the the statistical characteristics that will make you the most successful; size, industry, revenue, ect.
> psychographics – what attitudes, aspirations, beliefs will make an organization and the people in it your ideal prospect?

Then start looking for all the organizations that look MOST like that ideal to prospect.

In training classes I use 10 characteristics as an example because it’s easy to think about.

1. The closer an organization is to hitting your 10… 7-8-9-10, the better off you’ll be putting in all the time / energy / effort to earn their business.
2. Those in the middle 4-5-6 need to be judged by the ease of earning business, before you begin!
3. At the bottom; organizations who only meet 1-2-3 of the ideal customer criteria, plus miss out on even making the “at least” list will probably be easy to dismiss.

NOTE: if they meet all of your “at least” characteristics and only a couple ideal criteria…
BEWARE; make sure you judge how EASY it will be to earn their business before you spend your valuable time!!!

The first step I’d suggest is to look at the accounts you’re currently prospecting into, reevaluate if they are worth your prospecting time / energy / effort.