The following is an excerpt taken from “The Automatic Marketing Machine”, written by RJon Robins and Danny Decker.
Here’s a fun exercise to help you get crystal-clear on who your ideal prospects are. Put this book down, grab a notepad, and make a list of your top-ten favorite customers that you’ve worked with over the years. Customers that energize you… that respect you and your staff… that pay on time… that see the value in the products and services you provide. These are the customers who you’d love to duplicate over and over again!
Once you’ve got your list of ten customers, look for the traits they have in common.
Start with their demographics:
- Gender
- Age
- Relationship status
- How many kids do they have?
- What ages are their kids?
- Where do they live?
- Do they own a home? How much is it worth?
- What type of job do they have?
- What language do they speak?
- What type of car do they drive?
Then do their psychographics as well:
- What values are important to them?
- What type of media do they consume?
- What do they do for fun?
- Are they religious?
- How do they view the world?
- Who are they angry with and why?
- What are their hopes and dreams and aspirations? And why?
As you complete this exercise for all ten of your favorite customers, look for the trends.
What are the common characteristics that your best customers have in common?
Now, make a second list on your notepad. But this time, list your top ten least favorite customers of all time. Customers that you’d prefer not to ever do business with again.
When you’re done, you’ll not only have a clear picture of the types of prospects you want to attract into your business – you’ll also have a clear picture of the types of prospects we want to repel with your marketing.
Think of this as “calibrating” your marketing machine – because the whole point of building your Automatic Marketing Machine is to attract the type of prospects that you want to engage your business, and to keep everyone else away!