Are you profiling your customers?

I love technology and the latest gadgets/apps...but I also know I'm in the minority when compared to the general business population. So when you're communicating with your customers, what level of sophistication are you using?

Define your customer

For purpose of discussion, let's agree your customer is any business professional whom you are communicating with and you want to take a desired action. An action may be to open your email, answer the phone, complete a survey, register for a business event, or maybe even buy something from you.

So now you have a customer (or prospect) and a defined goal (action). Have you profiled your customer? Hopefully you have dozens or hundreds of customers and prospects so no, I don't mean profiling each one...but I do mean you should have an average profile of an average customer.

Customer Profiling Questions (to ask yourself)

What keeps them up at night? Are they male or female? Average age, family profile (pets, kids, etc.), cars and/or trucks, vacation(s). When and how do they read their email? Desktop computer, smart phone, tablet, or a combination of all three? If they are in meetings/events during business hours, then they likely are reading email in off hours. How engaged is your average customer in social media? If yes, determine which ones and when they use them? Who are their trusted sources for information and how do they consume/share it?

The point being your average customer profile should outline everything you would include if introducing this person to your parents/family...and then they Google’d your customer to check your story. Then, and only then, can you even start to think about a communication plan asking them to take your desired action.

Your communication plan should match language, colours, and images that appeal most to your average customer. Humour may not be as appropriate as the team in your office may think. Appeal and speak to their needs, wants and desires. Bonus Tip: you will likely have to have a few "average profiles" and customized communication plans for each.

Why bother with all this extra work?

Modern research has shown that if you communicate the wrong message on the wrong medium at the wrong time not only will you not get the action you are seeking...but you will turn that customer off your product/brand/service indefinitely because you didn't take the time to learn about them in the first place.

Until next time,

Steve