21 Steps: 2. - Know your Perfect Customer

"How often are you, your employees and your co-workers operating like lighthouses standing securely on the shore, attracting and safety guiding the boats (customers) that need your business with your light? 

How often do you run up and down the beach frantically looking for boats (customers) to serve?"
Reference - Attracting Perfect Customers -  
The Power of Strategic Synchronicity by Stacey Hall & Jan Brogniez

Another quote from the same book "Our business now attracts Perfect Customers only" also from the book above and thought it would be an excellent mantra or affirmation to use when starting your venture or new business.

What if you are still deciding or can't make up your mind?  You may think "I want to help everyone - by defining my niche I won't be able to help as many people."  

It may sound crazy but by defining your niche and being very specific you will be known as the expert or the go to person for solving a specific problem.   This helps create your identity and makes you stand out from the crowd.  A quote from Alex Mandossian "Be like a well - narrow and deep".

If you could spend all day, every day working with a particular group of people, who would it be???

It is often said you don't find your niche but your niche finds you.  If you are unsure ask some of your friends, work colleagues what they think you are good at.  You may think that you haven't got a particular skill or have actually taken something you do well for granted and it is not until someone gives you praise or asks for advice or help that you may realise your worth.  

What do you like to do?  

You may start off more generalised but find that certain types of people actually make you feel drained whilst others will make you feel vibrant and alive.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What am I good at?
2. What areas am I confident in?
3. How have I been asked to help someone else?
4. Who and what makes me feel alive and vibrant?

Demonstrate how you can help someone either solve a problem or how they can benefit from the solution or tools they are getting from you.

By being clear on who you are, what you do and who you serve you will attract your perfect customer. 

Spend some time on this as this is the most important aspect to get right, to be in alignment with yourself and your core values. 

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Some questions you can also ask yourself

1. What problems do they have (big problems that keep them awake at night)?
2. Can they pay?
3. Do you have the experience or the contacts?
4. Where do they hang out offline and online?
5. What are they deeply passionate about?
6. How would they find more about you?
7. What value will you be giving them?

"My job isn't to convert everyone out there to like me. My job is to stand up, share my light, share the truth of who I am and help as many people that I can." 
Reference:  Quote from Leonie Dawson - Amazing Biz & Life Academy

Mind map out your potential Niches

This template can be used to drill down and identify your niche by working out your potential target markets, their problems they face and the solution or benefit that you can give them.  

This can then be further broken down or you can use the same template once you have identified your niche to expand on how you can help or serve them.  See how you go otherwise jump into our forum and ask for help.

Another alternative is by saying it in the positive:

1. I help (my target market)
2. To (whatever benefit or result you give people)
3. By (doing coaching/what service/products)

(Ref:  Leonie Dawson's Double Your Biz)

Be really specific - no more than 60 seconds.  This is your 'elevator script' - The message that you can say when someone asks you "So, what do you do?".  

Check out this inspiring article from Entrepornography.com 
deliver-perfect-pitch-three-easy-sentences

Get even MORE personal with your list.

Once you have your ideal client framework, let's go even deeper and get to know them on an individual basis. Lisa Lachusa suggests creating an 'Avatarget' (Avatar + Target Market). Create a fictional character who personalises your client wishlist and is your 'Perfect Customer'.
Feel free to give this character a name, age, fears, worries and even a family. 
Later when we start our marketing section, you'll be able to write directly to your 'Perfect Customer' and copy will flow a lot more easily! Thanks Lisa, for the great idea!

I hope these ideas have started your mind ticking over and you're ideal 'Perfect Customer' is taking shape. Remember, just chose some characteristics for now. As we continue through this challenge, you can add to your list! As Marla Cilley - Flylady says "Progress, Not Perfection"

Create an 'Elevator Speech'

Break it down into three steps - it will make it easier to identify who your perfect customers are. 

Those three steps are:

1. I help (What type of people) 
   
2. Who (problem, be specific, drill down)
3. To (solution - do what)

(Ref:  Nicola Bird - Jigsaw Box - 50 days to $50K's Bootcamp)

Colleen's Vision for Niche Networkers -Online Coach Support

*We help new overwhelmed and stressed start up coaches, who have techo & marketing fears learn the basic skills, to get set up and move forward in their new business by giving them the experience to try different platforms and have a place to share their ideas with each other.*


What's YOUR elevator pitch for what you do? (Or want to do!)

Today's Tasks

• Brainstorm who my 'Perfect Customer' is
• Get personal and create a character who embodies your 'Perfect Customer'
• Write an 'elevator pitch' to your character

Blog Post adapted from the work of Colleen Roberts - Co-Owner of OnlineCoachSupport.com
It was originally found at :
www.onlinecoachsupport.com/discovering-your-niche.html