ideal client Archives - Mandy Schumaker

I remember when I first started my coaching business; I was so THRILLED when someone wanted to work with me that I just “took them on!” In fact, I would work with anyone and everyone.

But then, as I would look down my appointments for the day, I started to dread some of the calls I would have coming up.There would be the woman who always complained about EVERYTHING and never took action on ANYTHING. Then the man who missed practically every other appointment, or cancelled at the last minute, and NEVER did any of the homework assignments.

It was maddening!

Then I attended a workshop where we created our own ideal client profile and after that everything changed. I had a business with ALL ideal FABULOUS clients that I couldn’t wait to talk to every week!

How about you? Is your business or practice filled with clients you enjoy working with? Are they ALL ideal?

If not, you may want to consider building an ideal client profile for yourself.

Step one: List 10-15 clients you’ve had in the past year or so on a sheet of paper

Step two: Grade them A-F. You’re A’s are the ones you absolutely LOVE working with and the F’s are the ones you absolutely are CHALLENGED in working with. And you obviously may have some in the middle that are C’s and D’s, and your B’s are the ones that are nearly perfect.

Step three: Now, circle you’re A’s and B’s and really study the list. What do these people have in common? Are they all women, all men, of a certain age, and certain occupation. Find everything you can that they have in common.

Step Four: Now you can start building your ideal client profile from the list of commonalities with your list of A and B clients. You will certainly need to add to this list as time goes on, but it’s a great start. Start looking for more people who fit your ideal client profile, think about where they may be hanging out, and start networking or speaking there, so you will be in a place where you will attract MORE ideal clients.

Step Five: Continue to add to your ideal client profile. Interview some of your “A” clients, find out what they read, eat, do for fun, what magazines do they subscribe to, what apps are on their phone? All of this information gets added to your profile in order to really narrow down who you want to work with.

I guarantee creating an ideal client profile for your business will make a huge difference in the kind of clients you attract AND make doing business a whole lot more fun!

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. .Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

It’s a common struggle for entrepreneurs: getting really clear on who their ideal client is. When you ask entrepreneurs who their ideal clients are, they may say, “well, it’s this group and that group and a little of some other group,” Sometimes they can’t really tell you.

It’s so important to know who your ideal client is for several reasons:

1-You need to develop marketing messages that speak directly to your ideal group, so you can “pull” in more of your ideal client type.

2-It’s impossible to market to everyone. Trying to attract everyone through your marketing messages will only create unclear messages for anyone who reads them. You don’t need everyone – you just need your ideal client type. That requires a niche message, not an “everybody” message.

3-Being really clear on your ideal client type makes it easier for other people to send referrals your way. If you are trying to market to two or three different client types, it can be very difficult for others to really understand who you serve. That makes it hard for them to truly understand who to refer to you.

One way to really hone in on your ideal client type is to make a list of all your clients, going back one or two years. Then grade them with an A, B, C, D, F. Your A’s will be the ones with whom you love working. They are getting great results, and they refer others to you. Your D’s and F’s are those who, when you look at your appointment book and see their name, that feeling of dread comes over you again.

Next, you want to look at the things the A’s and B’s have in common. What are their common personality traits, problems, obstacles and challenges? The next step is to interview some of your A and B clients to find out from them what they were experiencing before they worked with you, and the results they received after working with you.

Look for the common words and phrases they use. Write down verbatim their answers to your questions. In order for you to attract more A’s and B’s into your business, you want to use the language that they use to describe how you helped them.

Do yourself (and your business) a favor and stop trying to serve everyone, or even several client types. Try to narrow your focus to one or two ideal client types and see what a tremendous difference it can make it attracting new clients to your business.

Mandy works with talented, bright, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. And who would like to overcome their fear of sales, change their mindset, increase their self-confidence, and create a step-by-step strategy for taking their business to the next level. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Mandy offers one-on-one coaching and consulting, as well as facilitates workshops and teleclasses and speaks on a variety of topics.

Get a copy of her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” at www.mandyschumaker.com. Or contact her at 207-653-6977

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