A satisfied customer made this paycheck possible.
What a subtle, brilliant way to remind your employees that their focus doesn’t need to be on you—it needs to be on the folks who really pay their salaries.
Imagine yourself in their shoes and deliver delight to those customers, and everybody wins. ‘Nuff said.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. To the friend who allowed me to share this with you—Thanks.
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There’s a woman out there, waiting for you. (Or a man. Bear with me for a minute.) You offer… a Beautiful Thing. Today, she will buy a Beautiful Thing.
Will it be yours?
How can you get in front of the person who wants to be touched in the way you touch people, at the moment when her dollars are about to fly out of her pocket toward somebody? And where is she looking for you?
Today, your “target market” is women, ages 35–45, living in the U.S., married with a nanny and two young children, making over $75,000 year, interested in beautifying their homes with the Beautiful Thing you sell. They read at least one home décor mag a month, showing that they have a well-trained eye, and they go out to eat more than twice a week, because of that busy dual-income household.
We know a lot about these ladies. We know what makes them tick!
All done?
Not quite. You need to sell this Beautiful Thing.
and don’t forget…
Think hard about this. Sure, there might be a well-rounded woman or two who shops in all of those places. Yet when you take the time to think about each place—even within your “target market,” the typical woman at each is entirely different! She’s got different hobbies, different people she’s thinking of (self, family, friends…), a different time frame and objective (indulgent window-shopping, killing a little time after lunch, rushing home to smother those kids with love…), and her wallet opens differently, too (from list-only to “whatever catches my eye”).
Sure, anyone could be at each place. But you can’t wait around for “could be,” so your Beautiful Thing needs to be available where you can cater to the right woman’s needs. Which one is your Ideal Customer?
If you sell a painting that she’ll buy only one of, to bring a piece of her favorite atmosphere home with her, price it high, frame it beautifully so it’s ready to go with no hassle, and partner with the restaurant she loves most to sell your wares.
If you sell portraits of cute babies and ponies… find an indie kids’ clothing store where she can ooh and ahh when picking up clothes for the little dears or a baby shower gift for a coworker.
If you sell sock monkeys in sailor outfits… craft fair. Make lots, and make ‘em inexpensively, the margin’s going to be low.
Because I think it’s a lousy, outdated term that doesn’t take you nearly far enough toward Pinpointing the one person who needs what you sell, and it doesn’t make you focus nearly hard enough on offering something that hits your “target” at the moment when she’s open to buying from you.
Two ways to look at this:
Who needs it? If you know what you sell and you know who needs it, find the place where your Ideal Customer is and be there, meeting her needs. We’ve talked about the Ideal Customer and how to meet her needs many times before.
What are you selling? If your product or service line has been a bit vague, and so far you’ve defined your Ideal Customer as “anyone who needs what we offer,” work it backwards—because aiming at anyone is the same as aiming at no one. You need to find your anyone. Whom do you most want to work with? What does she need? How can you shape what you offer to meet her needs? Where can you connect with those needs at their most obvious?
Stop offering anything to anyone, and stop thinking a target market is specific enough. You need to know who that one person is—your Ideal Customer—right down to whether she’d rather spend on herself or her kids (or her hubby!); right down to whether she’d look for you on a Tuesday afternoon or a Saturday morning—right down to every last detail.
Price, packaging, and whether there’s even a vague chance of catching her eye are all vastly influenced by how precisely you angle the offering, and where you’ll show her this Beautiful Thing.
Her dollars are about to fly out of her pocket toward somebody. Make sure it’s you who’s standing there, ready to catch the flying dollars.
You offer… a Tech-Gadget Thing. Today he will buy a Tech-Gadget Thing.
Will it be yours?
Your “target market” is men, ages 25–35, single. They own their first home, a townhouse in a major metropolitan area of the U.S. (pardon me, international readers, just trying to stay regionally-specific today), and they make around $50,000 a year.
All done?
Nope.
Again, the typical man at each is entirely different, even though each may be frequented by men in the same age bracket, with the same income, in the same country, and with the same living arrangements. And yes, of course you could sell your Tech-Gadget Thing at any of these places.
I’ve known many folks who didn’t want to narrow their target market even this far. But the truth is, narrowing it down this far isn’t far enough at all.
How different is the 35-year-old waiter who buys every gadget as it comes out to show off to his buddies, from the workaholic 25-year-old with a fresh MBA who just wants a gadget to add some productivity to his day so he can keep climbing the ladder of success?
How different is the urgency for a guy whose old gadget gave out this morning from the one who wants to find something for his Dad’s birthday?
Each one shops in a different place, has a different time schedule, will be attracted to different features, different ads and reviews, different words, colors, even typefaces on the packaging.
Who needs it, and where is he? Uncover your Ideal Customer. The one person who has the money, the interest, and the need for what you have. Be there at the moment when his dollars are about to fly out of his pocket toward somebody.
What are you selling? Shape what you offer and how you present it to speak directly to the heart of that one, Ideal Customer.
Every day there’s a moment when dollars are about to fly out of a pocket toward somebody. Are you ready?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. I’d love to help make sure it’s you who’s standing there, ready to catch the flying dollars—so be sure to check out this special offer just for you, dear reader.
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It’s you.
I knew all along you were out there. Somewhere.
Before today, I thought about what you might be like. I wondered.
Tell the truth, I even Googled you. (Well, I Yahooed you, but you’d don’t seem to mind that I’m quirky like that!)
I found out all about you—and everyone who thinks they’re like you. I was kind of overwhelmed. There are a lot out there who think they’re like you. But on the day when it really counts, when the pain is strongest…
I have needs and there’s no one but you who can help me.
It’s not that you’re the only one in the world. I read up. I haven’t forgotten those others, and well, maybe in some ways I even prefer one of the other guys. Still, I want you in all the ways that count.
You are the only one in the world for me because:
Most of all, you understand my needs. You look me right in the eye, and you talk about my deepest, darkest cravings as if you’ve made a study of me. You’re so smart I bet you have made a study of me.
Never believe that you’re not unique just because of those other guys.
You can be one of a million, or (you know what I always say)…
Find the ways you can speak only to my needs, those ways that no one else is even trying to. Be one *in* a million.
I’m your Ideal (Customer). There’s only one of me.
I’m wishing and hoping in ways I didn’t know I could, since I learned about you. There’s a hole in my heart. And you’re the only one I need.
Are you still playing the field? Or are you ready to be The Only Solution for the one Ideal Customer that only you can satisfy?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. You might as well know it now. Sometimes I look at things a bit more negatively. Don’t worry, though, because you and I—we’re going to have a happy ending.
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Picture the three companies that get all the jobs you wish you got. Get yourself green with envy, picturing your Ideal Customer waltzing into someone else’s store, falling in love with their service, their cushy interiors, their cool product line.
You know none of it’s as good as yours and it steams you up.
That’s your customer, giving your money to someone else. They don’t see! They don’t know! You could cry with the pain of watching your customer make such a mistake!
As the pundits were fond of saying of Al Gore when folks claimed Ralph Nader had stolen “his” votes:
They weren’t yours to begin with.
Why they weren’t yours is a subject for another day. Today you want to know where your Ideal Customer is, if that wasn’t her walking out of the shop down the street with three huge bags full of goodies.
Your Ideal Customer is sitting on her keester at home, watching the telly. Or talking on the phone. Or helping her kid through the agonies of first-year Latin. Because your biggest competition isn’t down the street.
The Dreaded Do Nothing.
Yes, in spite of your awesomer customer service, cushier interiors, and way, way cooler product line, your Ideal Customer has chosen to buy a pizza instead. Or a sofa. Or a Mercedes XZ 3million. Or a good night’s sleep. In your head, you’re competing with the other people who sell [what you sell] on your street. But that’s not how it works.
Let’s say you’re a pet-octopus store. When you first get into business you assume that you’re in competition with those other three purveyors of pet octopii and octopus food, tanks, and cute little octopus outfits for the holidays.
Then someone informs you of the Internet, and you realize you’re also competing against amazon’s massive octopus-sales department. But with your cushy interiors and the gotta-have-it-now factor, you’re not worried about that. You’re aware of the broader market, but confident of your winning difference.
When you’ve been around a while, you start thinking progressively about the competition. Hey, some people are in the octopus-consideration stages. They may be easily swayed by a cute Labrador Retriever. But with your enthusiastic, specialized service, you can knock the idea of Rover out as you describe the joys of cuddling with an inky pal. The definition of your competition has broadened, but you’re strategizing better than ever.
What if it’s entertainment you’re competing with? Okay, you’ll think of ways to talk about octopii as better than a night at the movies. And so on, and so on.
Those are all the other thing someone does with their money.
A lot of times—and I hesitate to add, “in these times”—people are doing nothing with their money. It’s always been your biggest competitor but as we continue to reel from post-recession-depression, The Dreaded Do Nothing is out there more than ever.
Three things.
First—tighten your definition of what you do so you no longer have to worry about the usual competition. I want you to redefine yourself, starting today, not as “a” [whatever you do]. From now on you are “the.”
You’re not “a” pet-octopus store anymore. This is incredibly hard work, but you are going to find out what you are “the” of. When you are “the” only octopus obedience school for five or six towns around, you’re on to something. No one is going to drive 25 miles for Advanced Octopus Obedience Training. Think about it.
Second—you are going to define your Ideal Customer so tightly that you know what color underwear she’d choose on a Tuesday in March. You are going to speak to one person. Only one. And you are going to imagine her watching reruns of The Office. You are going to be more exciting than the original series before it went all mushy and Americanized. And you are going to move her keester with an offer that speaks to her needs—to the pain she thinks no one can ever understand. You are going to tackle Do Nothing head on by talking about it, and you are going to win.
I’m thinking you get Ricky Gervais in to do the unit on octopus anger management. But I’m flexible on that. Keep focusing.
Third—when you know you are The Only You, when you are making an offer that is blazing hot, only to the one customer who needs what you have most and can afford it, you are going to give up the jealousy and get patient. Go all zen—like when you first learned to hunt octopus in the wilds of Borneo. Send your call to action over time, repeat yourself more than you want to, and keep that singular focus on her needs.
Seven touches? Nine touches? 20 touches to yes?
Patience is the hardest step. Believe me, I know. And it’s also essential. If you change the message midway through, you’re starting over. So tighten your definition, define your customer and pinpoint her needs, and repeat until successful:
Octopus Obedience Training solves your nagging, secret problems way better than watching Ricky Gervais.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. Just a quick reminder: Why *You* Should Work for FREE is way, way better than watching Ricky Gervais.
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When you started in business, how did you go about it? Did you take out every book from the library on entrepreneurship, on starting your own business and on business planning (because you thought you couldn’t afford to buy them), read every online article even remotely related to your field, interview every potential buyer who’d stand still long enough for you to pin them down, and then sit down and write a massive business plan of the kind all the books told you you’d need, with chapters and an index and gorgeous charts and projections up the wazoo?
I did, but I think I’m alone.
(One hesitates to add that way back when I went into business for myself for the second time, I probably could have read “every relevant online article” in a half an hour. If you’re starting your own business right now, it’ll take you just a touch longer than that. I am not even going to discuss the fact that the Internet did not exist when I first went into business for myself, thankyouverymuch.)
I’m working with a client right now who helps small business owners with their plans. Not the fabulous documents you could take to a bank in triplicate if only any bank would listen (and you may trust me on this, with very few exceptions they won’t), but their real, nitty-gritty, “how to move this business forward” kind of plans.
We’ve talked about her direction, because even a business planner needs a plan for getting the right words out to the right people at the right moment, and the most important element, which is her focus—specifically, who the heck plans well at the start?
If the answer really is, “only Kelly Erickson is such a plan-loving geek at the start,” then you guessed it, my job is to help her create Pinpoint focus on an Ideal Customer who is not a startup. Because I’m long done starting up. After a year or two, many business owners find themselves at a crossroads where they are ready to do the heavy lifting of creating a plan for the business they began by the seat of their pants. There may be a much more ready market in those folks, and if it’s what’s right for her, we’re going to aim her Solution directly at the needs of that Ideal Customer.
As is so often the case here at the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, that is not the point of this post.
I want you to know that I think everyone should geek-out on the books, blogs, and various other helps there are and create more stunning three-ring-bound dust-collectors like mine, right from the start. The process of planning, the maths for projections, the minute decisions and the big-picture dreaming that are required to put a formal business plan together are a trial-by-fire that could put good businesses on solid footing faster and give folks who are about to start a money pit a much-needed moment to pause.
No, I’m not joking. Though it may not be read by anyone but the mentors the books told you to round up and your Dad, who’ll shrug and say “sounds good,” you should do it. What a formal business plan will do for you, and for your business, is shake the sillies out and make you defend your ideas in print. If you can’t do it on a piece of paper, chances are you’re going to have a hard time doing it in front of a real live b-b-b-buyer. Important reality check. Cheaper than going belly-up, and quicker, too.
Next best is that nitty-gritty plan. Actually, in a perfect world I’d love to see folks do both. Two books that I often recommend are Getting Business to Come to You, and Get Clients Now! (amazon affiliate links) —both of which are superb places to start your focus and your nitty-gritty planning.
If you thought you’d figured me out, I must apologize. That is also not the point of this post.
Who plans well at the start? Not too many folks. I’d like to see it happen a lot more often. I’m hired by many clients who’ve been in business for a few years and they’re really in a jam. Things are not going the way they planned…
Oops. But they didn’t plan.
They took aim at a need and hoped there was a client to go with that need.
That, dear reader, is not putting the cart before the horse—it’s putting the horse’s ass before the cart. Just the ass.
You think you can’t afford a few books? Oh, the dollars you’ll throw away! The years and the hair-pulling and the sobbing that you’re in for! They could be avoided so easily with the research, the refining, and the clear writing you need for a good plan.
Okay, maybe not “easily.” But “profitably,” for sure.
Ah, the point of this post.
What’s a business plan for? To force you to focus every ounce of your being on getting everything insanely right so you can walk into the most critical of domains, The Bank (da-da-da-duuuummm), confident, cocky, and ready to defend your plan to the unbelievers.
In all likelihood, you won’t ever get to. Banks stink like that. But you’ll thank me every day for making you do it.
Because after that, confidently explaining to the Ideal Customer how awesomely you’ll solve his or her problem is A WALK IN THE PARK.
What was the biggest lesson you learned from choosing to write—or not to write—a plan for your business? Would you recommend a plan to other startups, or am I full of bananas?
C’mon. You’re dying to answer that one.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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Three customers step into your store. All of them seem ideal. RH was so interested you thought he was a sure thing. After wasting a lot of time and energy serving him, you realized you are never going to get his business, but you sure have made it easier for him to shop at amazon. Oh, well. Now the Red Herring is a lot easier to spot.
One guy’s already become your favorite face at the shop. He loves to look around. He says Hi but doesn’t demand a lot of time. Once in a while he makes a small purchase. He seems to have friends everywhere, and they never fail to mention his referral with a smile. They come in pre-sold on the word of BFF, your biggest Propheteer.
The last customer walks in, head down. He looks around quickly, sees the sign for the department he’s interested in, and beelines over there with seemingly no interest in the store at all. If the staff tries to help, they get a gruff “no thanks.”
Meet your Ideal Customer.
This week, Experience Design 201: a special series on profiling your customers to increase your sales.
What’s eating Mr. E? He walks into your store as if he owns the place. Strides to the aisle he wants without a word or a smile. Not that he doesn’t have a smile, just that he doesn’t have time for that right now.
He’s easy to recognize. You’ll even hear other customers mumble, “looks like he’s on a mission.”
Leading characteristics:
Laser focus
Has no time
May have a written list; definitely has a mental agenda
Little interest in price
Ready to buy but impatient
Seen more often in business-to-business transactions (B2B)
Unlike everyone else in the store or on your website today, Mr. E is shopping for a current need.
What brought him here today?
Simple. (You sped right past it a second ago.) He’s here because he’s ready to buy. Mr. E is your Easy sale.
Catching his eye:
Your business’ name is the most important ad you’ll ever write. If you’re at the beginning of your plans as you read this, make your name rock. It’s an unbelievable leg-up on your competition, especially for Mr. E(asy sale).
Ultra clarity. Mr. E is impatient. It’s an easy sale, but not a sure sale. Mr. E wants to make his purchase, not guess whether soap is in “body” or “cleansing.” No jargon, no overlapping or confusing navigation (in store or online!), and no cutesies. Cutsey is for wanderers, and wanderers are someday-purchasers at best.
Task-oriented efficiency. This applies to everything from getting around your place to how your staff is trained. Like BFF, functional groupings can work wonders. What do people come to your store to solve? Get the nails with the hammers, get the soap with the scrubby-thingies (??), sell the business cards when they’re ordering stationery. And your staff—make sure they are looking at the business from that customer’s task-oriented point of view. Answers. To problems. That your products solve. Which they can explain quickly to the prospect.
Great search on-site. This customer will not see your navigation. That’s right, he won’t even see it. Time and again, I see Mr. E go straight to the search box and type in what he needs. If the term doesn’t come up with any results, he may rephrase. Once. Then he’s gone—impatient, remember? So make sure you are thinking like the Ideal Customer, writing from his point of view, and packing your site with words that speak to his needs.
Home page is critical. He has to be sure you have what he needs right away. If you do not explain what you sell or at least describe your Ideal Customer perfectly on your home page, go right now and fix that. Even one click is too many for your Ideal Customer. (“But c’mon… if he clicks, where will the one click be?” you ask. To the page that appears to be the next in the sales process. MAKE IT CLEAR. If he gets it wrong, you lose.)
Loyal?
Yes, loyal. With a twist. Mr. E is rarely the guy who will spread word-of-mouth for you. You’re this guy’s “secret source” and he’s happy to keep it that way, thanks.
Designing Maximum Customer Experience for Mr. E involves:
Pinpointing his needs and speaking to them
and
Valuing his time above everything else
Think like a fast-food worker. How fast can you serve Mr. E the certain knowledge that he should buy from you?
Now do what they do. Aim to cut that time in half.
Pros:
He wants to give you his money. ‘Nuff said.
Cons:
1. Because he’s usually not a chatter, he can be misunderstood. You’ll have no trouble spotting him, but you may not believe he’s the Ideal Customer at first. You’ve been letting him get away every single day since you opened your doors.
2. Being crystal clear from the customer’s point of view is A LOT harder than it looks.
Best bet:
This guy is one you may not enjoy, but the one you need most. Mr. E will buy, from you, or he will turn on his heels. It’s what he’s here for. Go overboard in your efforts to make the transaction easy for Mr. E.
Make his goals yours and you have a customer for life.
This part knocks us all for a loop now and then: We want to induce sales; we want to “sell” customers; we want to get our prospects to buy.
It can’t be done.
You can encourage.
You can entice.
You can remind, rephrase, maybe even repackage.
You can prod at a need or a pain that is there, but doesn’t seem urgent enough.
You can’t “make” a sale.
When the customer has a need— when the customer knows that you have the Ideal Solution to that need— not only can’t you “sell” him or her, you won’t need to. Like Mr. E, the customer who has a need that he knows only you have the Ideal Solution to, has already sold himself.
So you can’t make more sales, but you can help more buyers feel like Mr. E. I promised you that Experience Design 201 would teach you to turbo-charge your sales. Let’s do it!
Drop the Red Herrings. Unless you want practice, or enjoy giant time-sucks.
Enjoy and nurture your relationships with Propheteers, even though their own purchases may be small.
Be bold, be direct, and focus the entire Customer Experience on Mr. E’s needs. Demonstrate the you are the Ideal Solution from every possible angle. Make it impossible to make a wrong turn, from your front door (or homepage), to the sales counter. Other buyers, with other profiles, will be just as pleased with this Pinpoint precision, even though they’ll use your store or your site in different ways.
In ads and other marketing materials: Forget “branding.” Never, ever, write an ad of any kind where you don’t ask the prospect to say Yes to something. Buy this item. Sign up for email. Call today. You aren’t doing this to make people warm and fuzzy, you’re doing this to grow your business. Insist that every dollar you spend does just that.
In store: Signage. More than you want is less than they need. Color to orient the customer, if the store’s large. Lighting, especially lighting focused right on your key products. You do NOT have to light your store like a hospital to make sales.
On the web: Bigger (type), bolder (navigation to key sales pages—let other nav take a quiet back seat), clearer (clever, jargony language is instant sales death), less (fewer choices = more yesses), more (links within text to guide the sales process), none (ads to other sites—when your customer is gone he is GONE).
At every decision-point, shout clearly: “This is the next step!”
Never be afraid that you’re overdoing it. I guarantee you’re not.
Congratulations, dear reader. We’ve gone through some very advanced lessons this week, and you’ve made it to the finals of Experience Design 201.
I bet you know how we check your exam around here—in dollars!
Go forth. Maximize your sales.
Graduate and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. If you missed the links above: please click to read Part 1 and Part 2 in this series.
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Three customers step into your store. The educated, involved red herring, RH, was the guy you noticed first. I don’t blame you. He was talkative and even fun. There’s also a guy walking around with his head down, no fun at all. Doesn’t want any help.
One guy’s strolling around, looking at a bit of everything, familiarizing himself. Right away he says “just looking” when your friendly staff steps in to guide him. Yet he spends much longer than your average customer in the store (or on the site).
Is he your Ideal Customer?
This week, Experience Design 201: a special series on profiling your customers to increase your sales.
BFF’s not the obvious choice when you’re deciding who needs help in the store. He’s got a vague interest, but he takes his time. He’s not seeking attention. Doesn’t seem to require immediate help. BFF’s content to read every sign, look at all the merchandise, and get deeply into your aura—all on his own. He doesn’t want to push you into helping because BFF knows what you don’t know.
He’s probably not going to buy today.
No need to monopolize your time. Now that he’s getting interested, he’ll read all your product descriptions online; he explores every new item that comes in to the store; he’s up-to-date on the parts of your your brochures that you thought only your mother would read; he’s becoming an active commenter on your blog or a buddy on Twitter. BFF has no real need, though he may have a growing desire to work with you. Very often, BFF knows he has no money.
One day, you captured him with your remarkable story, when he was reading or strolling; the next thing, he’s exploring and fascinated; then one day you realize he’s your Little Surfer Boy, delighted to surf the website or roam the aisles, not causing any headaches; he rarely, if ever, contributes to the bottom line.
Surely, this can’t be the Ideal Customer.
A resounding No.
RH, who we talked about in Part 1 of this series, was a classic time-waster—and off to waste someone else’s time as soon as he’d wasted yours. In contrast, BFF rarely demands your time or efforts. He knows he’s “only” a fan and his mama raised him not to lead you on.
He’s only a what?
Dear reader, BFF is a fan. More—he is in fact, your Best Friend Forever. And BFF is about as valuable as it gets. Yet he gives you very little business, either because your field is more of an interest than a need, or because he simply can’t afford you. Either way, he thinks you rock!
Let ‘em surf to their heart’s content. Nurture them. Appreciate them out loud. These folks may, one day, have needs or circumstances that change, but that’s not what you’re counting on. Without any change in his buying profile at all, BFF is gold if you treat him right, because BFF—if you enjoy him as much as he (obviously!) enjoys you—will become:
The Propheteer.
What’s a Propheteer? As we discussed way, way back in Experience Design 101, a propheteer is a cross between a prophet (someone who preaches) and a volunteer. A Propheteer is out preaching about you, without any compensation at all, right now while you’re reading this article. How cool is that? And I know I said “no jargon” in part one of this series, but I’m breaking my own rule for BFF. He deserves the special recognition of a little jargon. Propheteers are the raving fans we want you to have more of.
Propheteers may be your number one source of word-of-mouth referrals. Whether they’ve bought something small from you or never purchased from you at all, they become so well-versed in what you offer that they’re an extension of your sales force. There’s a little guilt mixed in with it: they feel funny that they’re not big purchasers, so they look to spread the word to connect big purchasers with you. There’s a little hero-complex: they want friends to be impressed with the quality of their advice, and they want you to feel as great about them as they do about you. Sending business your way is bound to achieve both.
If this sounds like Kelly’s gone a bit cynical, I haven’t at all. Here’s the big secret that I promised not to tell when I graduated from Experience Designer University:
Not everyone can be your customer.
I know, I know! I think you’re awesome, too. It’s hard to believe, but not everyone needs what you’ve got. Some, not right now. Some, not ever. So what to do when you discover that some of the billions of people on this planet will love your company without forking over cash?
Love ‘em right back. Be awed that they’re your Propheteers. Plenty of folks would kill for that fan base!
Ease the guilt at every turn by telling BFF how much you value him. Make sure he knows that he is, in fact, one of the heroes your firm relies on for growth, and that you’re proud to know him. It’s as simple as that. You don’t have to ask this guy for a thing.
Say it. And MEAN WHAT YOU SAY. That’s it.
Changing “I think you’re so killer rockin’ great” to “I’m ready to buy”:
He walked in without a clue about you and over time he’s come to care about you and your company sincerely. If his circumstances change, fear not, he’ll let you know. Right now he doesn’t need you, or can’t afford you, and you can’t change that, but you are top of his mind.
Why would you want to tamper with someone who’s scouring his friends and colleagues looking for someone to introduce you to? Embrace him!
Catching his eye:
Remember that the Little Surfer Boy has time to read. Relevant text links to your products and services—at a moment when he’s thinking, “hey, I know someone like who could use this”—help BFF to be the hero to his colleagues (and a hero to you!).
And while we’re talking about text: write a blog. There’s no better way to energize BFF than to let your story emerge over time through blogging. After all, blog readers and commenters make the most wonderful, smartest, friendliest, most welcoming group of singing and dancing referral machines…
Anybody think I’m going too far with this?
Nah, because it’s all true. Blog readers are slick, savvy, loyal, word-of-mouth gurus…
and handsome, too. You, for instance, are looking gorgeous today. I noticed.
Feeling energized? So energize your BFF, and write a blog already!
*ahem*
To continue…
This guy will never fail to read your About page. Not everyone wants to know about you and your company, but BFF thinks knowing the history and the details that brought you to where you are is cool.
Clear, compelling navigation will get further with surfers than the best site search in the world. He doesn’t have a precise objective on your site, so navigation tabs or buttons that guide him along your sales path (even if he never makes it all the way to the sale) are the way to go. BFF might be one of the few site visitors who actually follows the path you expected all your visitors to take!
In-store, make your layout tell a story. Showing items in use, giving suggestions that encourage more exploration, creating functional groupings, and holding in-store events all encourage lingering and telling the story of you later. BFF enjoys spreading word-of-mouth. Make it easy!
Loyal?
To the core. BFF is someone you’d have to work to shake—and friends, that’s a rare commodity.
Designing Maximum Customer Experience for BFF involves:
Personal touch
and
Long-term delight
To get the long-term rewards, you’ve got to put in the effort.
If it’s an effort to be sincere, appreciative, and to enjoy BFF’s company, that is.
No fancy techniques here. BFF is not a chain yanker and would never expect you to take time away from paid clients. But don’t neglect him, either: know any ball players, singers, or actors famous for not signing autographs? Yeah. Word gets around. A BFF spurned can be a thorn in your side.
Pros:
I can’t say this strongly enough: this could be your biggest source of revenue, whether he ever hands you his own dollars or not.
If that’s not enough of a “Pro” for you, BFF may, in fact, become… a very good friend. Ah, personal warm fuzzies right here in the middle of our 201 class!
Cons:
Give me a minute. I’ll think of something.
Best bet:
Learn to recognize BFF. Nurture your relationship, deliver delight, and give him a story to tell to others. He’s on your side and pulling for you all the way. This is what you hoped for when you started your business, all starry-eyed, in your garage late nights after work.
Propheteers like BFF will help you create maximum sales in minimum time.
When you’re the BFF (we’ll all fall into each buying profile at different times and for different items), how far will you go to spread the word about the company you’re a giddy Propheteer for?
What’s your favorite way to let a BFF know how much you appreciate him?
Go grab your cap and gown, dear reader. In tomorrow’s post, we’ll wrap up Experience Design 201 in MCE-style. Please take a moment today to subscribe to the Maximum Customer Experience Blog (at top left, it’s free) so you can have updates delivered to your RSS or email inbox as they happen!
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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Three customers step into your store. One’s brought a few magazine clippings. He’s interested, engaged in the shopping experience, talking to your staff, taking notes. He knows quite a bit about what you sell from the minute he walks in (or clicks on the link to your website).
One’s strolling around, looking at a bit of everything, familiarizing himself. Right away he says “just looking” when your friendly staff steps in to guide him. He spends much longer than your average customer in the store (or on the site).
The last customer walks in head down. He looks around quickly, sees the sign for the department he’s interested in, and beelines over there with seemingly no interest in the store at all. If the staff tries to help, they get a gruff “no thanks.”
Who’s really your Ideal Customer?
This week, Experience Design 201: a special series on profiling your customers to increase your sales.
We’ve talked before about narrowing your Ideal Customer down to one, exact person you can speak to in your store layout, your marketing materials, and your website. As your intrepid Experience Designer, I’m here to remind you: to deliver delight to the Ideal Customer, you can’t talk to everyone.
Say you’re an expert in small animal care and you decide to run a website. You can aim everything from your colors to your layout to your language to your advertising, at an eight-year-old trying to learn more for a school project, hoping later to convince Mom to buy him a ferret; you can take crystal-clear aim at 23-year-old guys with pythons, wanting accessories and cool reptile-related clothing; or you can plan to attract little old ladies who want advice on saving money by grooming their pets themselves.
You’re still that same expert in small animal care, yet we’ve just created three wildly different sites for you, because you know exactly who you’re talking to in every way. You can do the exact same thing for three retail shop designs, as well—and a half a dozen others, just as distinct—without changing who you are and what you want to do in your business at all.
None of those folks are going to walk in to the store aimed at the other guys. Not ever. Some authors call this creating a persona, but here at MCE we skip the jargon and call this your Ideal Customer. Knowing your Ideal Customer is a long way from the old “target market,” a way of segmenting folks into age groups, genders, geographic regions, and income levels. Now with your exact Ideal Customer defined, you will never send a postcard to the young, single exec living in a new condo development next to the lady who downsized when her husband died, even though they live in the same area and have similar incomes. You know their needs go a lot deeper than this.
But suppose three “ideal” customers walk in (or arrive at the website) at the same time? Three python-lovers, three kids with their Moms in tow, or three ladies who own parrots? Who will buy? Who will—dare I say it—yank your chain? Who will be your biggest fan and spread the word for you, far and wide?
We need more. We need to know their buying profiles: in other words, what brought them here today. Now. How do we keep ‘em, do we want ‘em, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of dealing with these different prospective customers?
When you know how to profile the buying needs of your Ideal Customer, you’ll have a path to turbo-charging your sales that will guide everything from how you arrange your floorplan to how you write your blog.
There he is, with those magazine clippings. He’s educated about your product. He loves talking to you, emailing you, getting down to the details of what you offer.
I thought we’d talk about RH first because, gosh, he’s so much fun. He wants what you have. He knows all about it, but he’s still curious. You and your staff enjoy selling to him.
But it seems to take him a few trips to the store…
Or he abandons his shopping cart online, only to return a few days later…
You’ve emailed back and forth for weeks without a commitment to work together…
RH doesn’t need you.
He’s only at the “want” stage. RH is a classic window shopper,* or comparison shopper. He walks out because he’s off to see what your competition’s got. He’ll never tell you that, of course, because each of you is contributing to his bank of knowledge so he can know everything there is to know before he buys.
He’s “shopping” for a future need, and that makes RH the most dangerous customer in the store. He’s the fish you thought you had hooked, but you never did. He may even make you work like a dog to earn his money, then drop you at the last second. He’s not only not loyal, he’s definitely playing you right now.
Yes. He’s talking to other companies in the same sweet tones he uses with you. It’s true.
You’ve done it yourself.
We all have. The thing about these profiles is that for different products, at different times, we’ll all fall into one profile or another. You’ve gone to an open house when you weren’t ready to move houses; you’ve spent 20 minutes with your local electronics guru just because you heard LCD screen were on their way out and you wanted to know what’s next, for when your tax return comes in next May; you’ve spent hours at your favorite band’s MySpace page without ever buying their new CD, seeing their world tour, or replacing the t-shirt you got from them in 1998. Yes, I know you have. You’ve been the Red Herring, just as I have: the staff time-suck who seems oh-so-informed, polite, and interested. You are interested, but you’re only at that “want” stage. If you’re a bit farther along, you might be at the “trying to convince yourself into a need” stage.
Changing “future need” to “now need”:
It can be done. RH can be won over by a super-bargain, but slashing prices to grab this customer in a tough way to make sales.
Catching his eye:
Frequent links to your products or services within the text of your site. RH is not patient enough to figure your site out for you. To hook this slippery fish you’ll need to be at the ready wherever his eye lands.
Sales, Clearances, and Special Offers—online, in ads, in-store. Make ‘em so prominent that your designer screams for artistic mercy. If RH can’t see ‘em, he can’t be moved by ‘em.
Loyal?
No. Won’t remember you in five minutes.
Designing Maximum Customer Experience for RH involves:
Catching him off balance. Unexpected “wow” factor that pushes him over the edge.
or
The dreaded deep discount.
Pros:
There are a lot of Red Herrings in the world. If you’ve got the patience to woo him, if you’ve got the Wow factor in place, or if you’re willing to make him an offer that moves “future” to “why not now?” you’ll have a big advantage over the other poor saps he’s playing.
Cons:
RH is a chain-yanker. Time, money, and heart wasted, with no sure sale ahead. Need I say more?
Best bet:
Stay tuned for the second installment in Experience Design 201. In the meantime: be nice, be helpful, be clear about what you offer and why you’re the best choice, but don’t waste your heart’s efforts on RH.
Recognize the Red Herring? Is it you, or your customers? 
What do you do to move RH’s “future need” to “now”?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
*In French, which I’ve been trying to wrap my tongue around for the last year or so, to go window-shopping is faire du lèche-vitrine, which translates to “to do some window-licking.” Eeew. But I never had any problem remembering that phrase! (Just thought I’d share.)
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If you want to end your worries about “the competition,” stop worrying about the competition.
When you start a game of tit-for-tat with the competition it’s a sure signal that you’ve forgotten why you are unique.
You have no competition if you remember that and stay confident in it.
If you forget your uniqueness, how can you expect your staff to rave about you with all their hearts?
If you forget, how can you expect your clients to feel invested in you, to want to be a part of your success?
How can you expect your Ideal Customer to remember that you alone provide the Ideal Solution to their problem if you’ve forgotten it yourself?
I’ll tell you a secret to being your own best salesman (or -woman). I first heard it in pick-up basketball games in Worcester, Massachusetts long ago, where every great player was selling, fully convinced there was no competition at all:
It ain’t bragging if it’s so.
When you know what’s so great about you, you’ll be able to pass that knowledge on through the company and beam it out to your customers and prospects.
There’s nobody else like you, no other company like yours. Figure out why that IS true. And swagger like you mean it.
Having a hard time with this one? Try bragging about your favorite restaurant. Is it your favorite because there’s no other food in the region? Or because there’s no other place that… ???
There’s nobody else like your fave not because there is no place else to eat, but because in some other way, they have no competition. So as you get ready to swagger, your job is to figure out: Why does your own company have no competition?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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There’s a deal on the table.
I listen carefully, turn it around in my head. It’s seductive. I’m intrigued, I can’t deny it.
Fascinated, really. Boy, it’s tempting…
Just then Experience Designer Kelly sits down on my shoulder.
Have you thought about this? And this? What about that?
Thinks I should eat my own dogfood. Follow the same steps I advocate here at the Maximum Customer Experience Blog. Darn killjoy.
Or is she?
And that, dear reader, is when you walk in. She’s going to ask me the hard questions, and you can hardly wait to see the show.
When you’re starting a new venture or rethinking your stalled business, you need the devil’s advocate on your shoulder. You need someone to shoot your ideas full of holes while you keep plugging, until the idea is bulletproof. So no, I’m not going to tell you how it ends, but I’m going to walk you through a few of the issues my Experience Designer self brought up to my Go For It Blindly self.
If you see yourself here, stop. And fix the holes in your plan. Then walk through this startup planning guide again, with a bold smile. You’re almost ready for Maximum Startup Experience!
Will it work? How many people never stop to ask that fundamental question? Would you buy it? I’ve asked that question many times in meetings and had the person opposite me say “No. I wouldn’t.” If you’re not planning to provide something so awesome you can get behind it 100%, why are you doing it?
Are you trying to be jack of all trades, and succeeding at being master of none? Focus like a laser beam. If you don’t know whether you are, get someone else to look at it. Chances are, you’re not.
Who’s the Ideal Customer? If you start your answer with “Anybody who…,” you’re wrong. Start again until you can picture the ONE person who can’t do without you, and everything about that one person, in vivid detail. (No. You’re not done yet. Hm? I just know.)
What triggers her on the day she’s got to have what you offer?
What does she search for? Think this out very seriously. Nobody searches in Google for the name of your company or the terms you commonly use in your field.
What’s bugging them? Trade secret: If you don’t know, throw a wad of cash at them and ask. Fifty bucks each for an hour of their time; pick three to five Ideal Customers’ brains by asking two critical questions—Are we solving problems that exist? and What would you dream of if you could make this company come true? $250 seems like a lot? Trying throwing your life savings (or a year’s worth of blood sweat and tears, for you bare-bones bootstrappers) into it and losing it all. Why every new business owner doesn’t survey potential clients or have their Experience Designer do it for them is beyond me. Best money you’ll ever spend.
Do the folks who need what you’ve got actually want it, and I mean desire it deep down in their guts, so they they will want to pay proper money for it?
How will you promote it? “I’m gonna leave my light under a bushel-basket and hope people notice me” is NOT a marketing strategy.
How will you measure success? Put the plan in place before you throw one dollar out the window. “I want to sell 15 XYZs in a month, and grow at a 10% rate, and I will check conversion rates and abandonment rates every quarter to see if I’m achieving that.” Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Timed. There’s a reason the SMART acronym is such a well-worn cliché. If you’ll follow it, it works.
Is anybody else doing it the way you will, in the place you will, for the customers you will do it for? Keep refining until the answer is No.
My friend Bob Hoffman says, “Marketers [and entrepreneurs —Ed.] always overestimate the attraction of new things and underestimate the power of traditional consumer behavior.” Are you doing something so remarkable that you can overcome his desire to do what he did yesterday?
In other words, what makes the Ideal Customer want you (besides how totally incredible you are and how much your Mom loves you) as opposed to some other solution?
Think you’ve got the answer to that one? Then ask yourself the ultimate question, the one that brings us all to our knees… What makes him want you, need you, exchange his cash for your awesomeness, as opposed to doing nothing?
Do you love your concept, do you get goosebumps thinking about it (or gooseflesh, that’s okay with me), are you high on the potential? There are dark uglies ahead, dear reader—work you can’t imagine, criticism you didn’t see coming, and a lot of days without pay (sorry)—so if you haven’t got an intensely clear picture and a joy that a hurricane couldn’t dampen right now, maybe your new venture isn’t for you.
Experience Designer Kelly, sitting there on my shoulder, making sure that I plan this out and consider all the angles like I’d want you to do. Obsessed as always with designing small business success. Making me eat my own dog food, so to speak, so this shiny new adventure won’t one day look like a bowl of Alpo. She wants me to be an incredible, valuable, buzz-worthy resource for my clients, or go home.
Not such a killjoy after all.
Are you ready to be the Ideal Solution for your customer? Me, I’m just going to walk through this guide one more time while I’m considering this deal.
I want to hear from the devil’s advocate on your shoulder:
What else should we ask at the (re)start?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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