This week, I have been re-reading a great book that Clay references often in the business coach meetings. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes is a fantastic book that deep dives into how to find your ideal and likely buyer and what to do once you determine who that is. One of the moves from this book that Clay preaches in our business coach one on ones the good news about this thing called the Dream 100. This move is a great way to reach out to your 100 dream clients on a regular basis, build a rapport with them, and eventually sell them your product. This is a productive way to reach your dream clients but there is a step that is often missed before we even start reaching out to those potential clients. We have to determine exactly who your ideal and likely buyers are.
Sometimes it is so easy to think… “Everyone needs my product/service!” and although most people might need your product or service, that doesn’t mean that they are your ideal and likely buyer. For example, Apple is not targeting the advertising of its AirPods to the elderly. Apple is targeting the younger crowd who are more interested in buying that product. In the same way, a high-end custom home builder is not going to target their advertisements to people from the ages of 18-25. They are targeting their advertising and dream 100 efforts to their ideal and likely buyers who are over the age of 40. There is always an ideal age of potential customers that you are trying to market to.
Once you find the age of your ideal and likely buyers, you have to choose the gender of who you want to market to. Bloomberg says, “Women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing, through a combination of their buying power and influence. Influence means that even when a woman isn’t paying for something herself, she is often the influence or veto vote behind someone else’s purchase.” This means that up to 80% of every consumer purchase is made by a female! Keep this in mind when you try to market consumer services to males. You have to find your ideal and likely buyer and It can’t be everyone.
Lastly, I have found that location is extremely important when looking at who to advertise to. If you sell Botox, you don’t want to make drop-offs to the outer edges of rural Oklahoma. You have to select the companies and consumers that are likely to buy from you. You should visit dentists in the wealthy areas of town because they see your ideal and likely buyer on a daily basis. When you are using mass internet marketing, you also have to be specific. When selecting an area to advertise to, don’t just select the city around you but select specific parts of the city. If you have a high-end product, you don’t want to be advertising to the poorest areas of the city where people can’t afford your product. You want to select the exact zip codes of the neighborhoods you want to advertise too. When you narrow the size of the geographic area you’re targeting, you can advertise more and you’re also only advertising to your ideal and likely buyers. Invest the time to do this valuable research. It will pay off many times over in the end.
