Who's Your Perfect Customer? Recognizing the Power of Niche

They confidently declared their perfect customer was, "Men and women who use the internet."

So... Basically everyone.

It's early on a cold morning as I wrap my hands around the hot foam cup of coffee in front of me.

I'm sitting in a large circle as someone in the room is standing and describing their business and what they do for their customers.

It's one of the many networking events I go to -- if you're a business owner, you've probably been to a handful yourself.

You know how awkward they can be.

And sometimes deeply strange.

One time, at a networking event where each person gets 60 seconds to pitch their business, a woman got on the microphone and shared how much she deeply adored her cat...

... And that was it.

She ranted and raved, handed the mic back over to the event organizer, and then sat down.

Not a single word about her business. I remember looking around wondering if anyone else had found it as bizarre as I had.

Aside from these random and weird one-offs, events like these are typically places that people ask for referrals or talk about their perfect customers.

At one such particular event, a gentleman shared all the great things he did for his customers. And then, he asked for a referral.

"The perfect customer for me," he began as he waved his hand at everyone across the room, "is someone just like you."

In a room full of professionals from a few dozen industries, not to mention with different ages, backgrounds, belief systems, and whatever else... this was a bold claim to make.

And it's not the first time I've heard something like this.

A year earlier, a person shared with me that his perfect customer was, "People you know."

Not very helpful, I thought. I know a lot of people. We all do. How do I know which ones are the right ones to send to you?

Someone else once confidently declared their perfect customer was, "Men and women who use the internet."

Men and women who use the internet...

So... Basically everyone.

Why do we do this?

Are we simply unaware of who our buyers really are?

Are we scared of going after one particular type of customer?

I think it's both.

I know early on for me, I felt like I really knew who my customers were.

But when I had to describe them to someone else, I'd flub it.

At the same time, I was so desperate for a sale.

But despite others' best advice, I was afraid to say "No."

I thought I had to have the perfect answer for anyone and everyone.

Be all things for all people.

Until someone shared with me some harsh feedback.

"You're absolutely a no one to your customers because you're trying to be everything to everyone."

It was a real gut punch.

The truth was: I had never really taken the time to really think about who I was serving.

What were they like? If I had to absolutely describe them down to a "t"... could I do it?

Really -- I couldn't. I was just taking on new customers as best I could and getting back out there to find the next one.

And I could see it on people's faces too. I'd word vomit so many random characteristics of a wide array of customers that people would furrow their eyebrows in confusion, then in the most polite of ways, they'd smile and say, "That's great!"

It was a process completely devoid of strategy and absolutely fueled by whatever amount of both self-belief and physical energy I had for the day.

We do this a lot, by the way. We start new routines and create new habits... and we don't always stop and think about if we're really doing it the right way or even if there's a better way.

We just get up and get going for the day because some entrepreneurship influencer is screaming non-stop to "hustle and grind".

And we especially do this with sales.

After all, who do we sell to?

Often, whoever will buy.

Go on, fill your calendar with every meeting you can make.

Go to a dozen networking meetings a week.

Make those 500 cold calls.

This is why so many entrepreneurs are burning out on 80-hour weeks -- because they've peaked on the grind and physically can't dedicate more hours to it.

But it's a slap in the face to Strategy.

It's harder, and certainly not smarter.

So here's what you should do instead.

1) Be absolutely committed to developing and understanding your niche.

I'm not saying you should be someone's stalker or be borderline psychotic.

But you should absolutely understand what life is like for your prospective buyer.

You should know like the back of your hand what they eat, think, and believe.

And more importantly, you should fully recognize the problem they face... and be able to articulate it in their words (not yours!).

Want to test if you're there yet? Get in front of as many people as possible and start with:

"My perfect customer is..."

Then, see how they react. See if the lightbulbs go off.

And if you're seeing success with a seemingly wide variety of buyers? Then look at the customers you do have. What similarities exist between them?

Or a scarier question... which ones of them are actually profitable?

I call it scary because this is where we make hard decisions. It's where we choose to say "No" to one type of customer and go all in on serving another type of customer.

A client was once so disturbed by this advice, he held up his hands and said, "There's no way we could do that. There's just too much opportunity we'd be leaving on the table."

The problem with this is that for someone who serves drastically different customers in drastically different ways, there is absolutely no way they are all equally profitable.

Worse, when our businesses aren't ready for this, we effectively split our time across a variety of services instead of going all in.

An owner once shared that he ran a "Everything-done-for-you" home repair service.

Needed your gutters cleaned? He had you covered.

Lawn cut? Check.

Plumbing? Electrical? He could and would do it.

But he confessed with so many different services, he was stressed out of his mind. And worse, he was capped out on actually being able to manage the business with all its complexity.

So my advice was simple -- pick the services that were most profitable and simply be the answer to those problems.

Let go of the rest.

This truth being: Your customers will know you for what you do for them.

And just like the advice given to me before, if you really want to serve people with everything... be prepared to be known for nothing.

Which brings me to my second point:

2) You can't be all things to all people. And that's okay.

You started your business ideally for a specific purpose. And out there, there is a specific customer with a specific problem that your service likely solves.

I think sometimes we feel like we're more credible in the eyes of others when we act as if we can do everything. Or that there's some kind of inherent shame when we admit we're only really good at that one thing. Like we are flawed, or not entrepreneurial enough, or not a good enough leader. Whatever.

But leaning in on what I'm really good at... and accepting what I'm frankly not at all good at -- this has been the game changer for me, and more importantly, it's been a game changer for my clients.

Embracing this is the key to the final step.

3) Develop a deliberate and intentional strategy related to your niche.

This means thinking on the "when" and "how" of engaging with that perfect buyer.

Better yet, it also means you can say "No" to booking out your calendar with yet another meet & greet, equal parts awkward-and-cringe type networking event.

Because your buyer is only found at a certain place and at a certain time.

It's like a friend of mine who was selling explicitly to Word Press web developers and who was considering going to a local networking meetup for insurance agents, roofers, gym owners, and a handful of other brick and mortar stores.

Don't go to that meeting because they look nothing like your customer. And take it off your calendar without a shred of shame.

Good business isn't about being busy.

It's a lot more about intentionality.

So be intentional on becoming incredibly good at one thing (or a few!).

Then lean all into that and the specific customers that come with it.

That's this Week's Good Advice.

Happy December!

-- Blake

Blake is the founder of?Good Advice, a consulting company that grows and scales businesses with simple steps. Want more content like this??Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Blake also runs the?Good Advice Podcast, one of the top business podcasts in the country, available on every podcast platform.?Listen via Spotify.