For the next few weeks we are going to focus on how to start attracting high-end clients to your business. We are going to be taking a look at this from a few different angles, but we are kicking this series off with getting to know your ideal client.
It’s pretty hard to sell something to someone that you don’t know and while you may not know everyone in your audience personally, you probably have a pretty good idea of the kind of group you attract and what makes them tick…or least you should. But, if this is a struggle for you keep reading because we are going to be breaking this down and helping you to hone in on who your ideal client is so you can begin to learn how to connect with them in a meaningful way.
We’ve all done the exercise. It’s the first thing you’re taught when you first start your business: Create an ideal client avatar.
This vision of your ideal client guides everything you do, including pricing (you can’t charge that single mom as much as you can the CEO of a Fortune 500 company), pain points (mom probably isn’t worried about shareholders), and even the color of your logo.
So you spend a few hours considering things such as:
- Age group
- Income
- Family status
- Education
- Lifestyle goals
- Location
Maybe you even write up a nice little story about your ideal client. You give her a name, a couple of kids, a husband who just doesn’t get it, and a load of student loans. You know quite a bit about her, you think. All of this is Phase 1, and if you haven’t done any of this work yet you should stop and write down the answers to the list above and add in any other details that are important.
But you would be wrong, and if you stop there, you may be missing a huge piece of the puzzle—and losing out on the best clients because of it. So, this is where Phase 2 comes in with two key questions to ask:
1. Are your personalities a mismatch?
Here’s something that’s rarely considered in the “ideal client” equation, and it’s arguably the most important part: personality.
If you’re snarky, sarcastic, fun-loving and loud, then a quiet, middle-aged mom who spends her time volunteering at the church is probably not a good fit for you. Sure, she might need your help, and she might love your products, but for one-on-one coaching, this match-up is a disaster. Either she will be uncomfortable with your style, or you’ll be miserable trying to reign in your natural exuberance.
Let me offer a bit of a translation for you into how this impacts your bottom line. This lovely, sweet mother may love your initial offers, but the likelihood of her buying into your premium offers is low. Which means that you don’t have much of a chance of growing your high-ticket offers if your roster is filled with clients who kind of connect with you.
Better to pass mom on to a coach who is a better fit for her personality wise and stick with who your people are.
2. Does your clients’ drive match your level of drive?
This one can be difficult to calculate from the start, but once you recognize it (or the lack thereof) it’s worth paying attention to. The client without the drive to succeed will—more often than not—only end up frustrating you both.
Better to end your relationship as soon as you see the signs of this than to waste your time going over the same material and exercises again and again with someone who simply won’t do the work.
If you look at your current and past coaching clients, you’ll begin to see patterns. You can easily look back and see what made some clients a joy to work with, while others were a struggle. Think about what those differences are, and add them to your ideal client profile. Then compare any new potential clients to this ideal profile, and you’ll never again sign on with a less-than-perfect client.
To grow both your high-ticket offers you need aligned clients AND you need to enjoy the work you do. At its core, it’s really the Pareto Principle at work here – you want to make sure you identify who your top 20% of clients are (current or past) and those are the clients you want to invest time in replicating.
In summary, you want to identify all the demographics about your ideal client. But, don’t stop there. Make sure you think about your clients’ personality and drive and really be honest with yourself about the kind of people you enjoy working with and surrounding yourself with. Not only will this bring you more satisfaction but it’s going to allow those high-ticket offers to sell themselves because your clients are going to want to do everything they can to stay in your orbit.
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