Hard Truth: Your Ideal Client is Not “Everyone”

Recently, I worked on a marketing strategy for a new client, and one of the first suggestions I put into it was, “determine who you want to work with most.”

This client, a photographer, has been in business for a few years now – so why would I tell her to work on this? Because she is in a growth phase and trying to figure out what’s next.

The development and use of an Ideal Client Profile (aka an Audience Persona or Buyer Persona) is an important tool in this decision-making process, and she didn’t have one.

What is an Ideal Client Profile?

Simply put, it’s a filter through which you run important decisions for your business. It helps to determine if those decisions are going to appeal to the person that you most want to work with.

Here’s the hard truth: your ideal client is not “everyone.” Just because you can serve a large majority of people with the service you offer, doesn’t mean it’s going to work or be right for everyone. You’re wasting time and energy trying to appeal to ‘everyone.’ You’d be better served by fine-tuning your messaging and decisions to the people who it makes the most sense for, and who you most want to work with.  

How do you use an Ideal Client Profile?

I’ve found that using your profile is kind of a subconscious thing, but having it written out and handy makes it easy to reference as needed.

Basically, when you’re considering something for your business – whether that’s a new service, updating pricing, changing contact information, or even making a new hire – you run your choice through the filter to see if it’s something that would appeal to your ideal client. If it doesn’t, then it might not be the best decision.

Dream Clients vs. Ideal Clients: Understanding the Difference

There are two kinds of profiles you can create: a dream client, and an ideal client.

A dream client is someone that if you hit the “client jackpot,” they would be the best version of your ideal client. This is the kind of person who is in the perfect role in the perfect industry, with money to burn, who doesn’t care about budgets, and just wants to give you creative license and a blank check, and will follow all of your guidance to the letter. They likely don’t exist in the way you imagine them, but it would be a dream if you could work with them.

An ideal client, on the other hand, is someone who does likely exist. You might already even be working with them! They’re someone who you find joy in working with, the type of person you “got into this job” to help, the one that you’re excited to rave about to your spouse… you get the picture.

Understanding the difference is important because while I’ll never discourage someone from chasing their dream (clients), if you use that dream profile for everyday decisions, you’re likely going to turn off the ideal clients who are waiting and wanting to work with you. It will be obvious that they’re not the person who you want to be working with.

Likewise, making decisions with your Ideal Client Profile will help people to self-qualify whether they’re going to be a good fit, ultimately leading to more people you actually want to be working with.

How do you create a Client Profile?

Start by finding some time and space to think. I would recommend putting yourself in a situation where you can make notes and be distraction free.

Then, you’re going to consider your ideal client, and round them out in your mind. This should be a person you know intimately. If you’re already working with someone who fits the profile, you can use them as inspiration, but don’t just stop there. Create an all-new profile and consider traits that would improve upon that client. This should take about an hour.

Flesh out the details about this person, and get all your notes down in an organized fashion. Give your Ideal Client Profile a name, and in the best-case scenario, find a photo online that can represent them – put a face to the name. The more “real” you can make this person, the easier it will be to say, “would this decision appeal to [insert Client Profile name here]?”

Getting Started

Here are some questions to get your mind turning about your Ideal Client:

• What do they look like, and how old are they? (hair, skin, and eye color, physique)

• What do they do? (industry, role, company size, employee count, who is their ideal client, how much do they work, how much do they make)

• What’s life like outside of work? (do they workout, do they have a family, what are their hobbies)

• What do they drive? Where do they live? (type, size, age of vehicle/home)

• What are their weekends and vacations like?

• What’s their family like? (spouse, kids, married/separated/widowed, pets)

Expand upon these questions as needed. For example, if it would be helpful in your decision-making to note that their kids are teenagers and looking at sports scholarships, include it. If that kind of information is irrelevant to your decision-making process based on the service you’re offering, then just note that they have two kids.

Understanding the Persona

Some of your answers are going to be very sort of ‘tangible’ – for example, “[Name] is 43 and drives a black midsize SUV.”

Others are going to be more abstract – for example, “[Name] is bringing home six figures, but lives in a modest suburban home and drives a 10-year old midsize SUV.”

Both can be great bits of information that help you to determine what’s right for them. If you consider something like increasing your prices, the fact that your ideal client brings home six figures but drives an older car can imply that they’re likely more budget-minded, and this new price point could drive them away. It could also imply that they’re willing to spend their hard-earned money on things that really matter and make a difference, so maybe you need some more ROI examples to back up the increase.

Having a good understanding of why your ideal client is the way they are is powerful for decision making.

One Last Step…

Before you finalize your persona and (if applicable) roll it out to your team to leverage, consider introducing your persona to someone.

This sounds a little crazy, but by introducing your persona to someone you trust, you can find the gaps that need fleshing out a lot easier.

Explain what you’re working on, and then tell your trusted someone all about this person. Let them ask questions and then adjust accordingly. For example, if you’re describing ‘Frank,’ and all you’ve talked about is how many TPS reports he does a week, your friend might ask about Frank’s social or family life, and help you to see that you missed identifying those facts.

Putting Your Ideal Client Profile to Work

Now that you’ve developed your Ideal Client Profile, you can put it to work for you. The next time you need to make a decision about your business, ask yourself / your team if it’s something that would appeal to your Ideal Client.

This can apply to strategic decisions like raising prices, or it can appeal to marketing decisions, like choosing stock photos. Consider connection points that your ideal client might make. For example, if your ideal client is an African American female who is 45 years old, it would likely make sense to put photos of people that she would relate to in your marketing. That kind of connection builds trust, and may ultimately help your ideal clients to hire you.

To take it a step further, consider where your ideal client spends time, and put yourself in situations to encounter them. If they’re a golfer, you should be on the golf course with business cards!

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If you’re looking for someone to introduce your profile to, you need help creating it from scratch, or putting it into play, schedule some time to chat below!