Chapter 4: Profiling Your Target Customer – Research to Discover Customer Needs Learning Objectives: Understand that your key to survival is knowing your Target Customer and providing a product or service that has real value to them Identify primary and secondary Target Customers Learn how to use media kits and online data to profile Target Customers Understand how specific lifestyles, demographics, life stages and social group factors impact individuals and their decisions Explore various profiling systems Profile Business to Business (B2B) customers Interview, observe, and survey to gain insight into your Target Customer Develop your customer-profiling ability into a reflex Visualize your Target Customer by preparing a Target Customer collage Constantly review and update information on your Target Customer

The Power of Profiling Understanding your Target Customer is your key to survival in small business The goal is to find a market niche Developing long-term relationships & community is essential The Success & Challenges of an Autistic Entrepreneur The Source Book of Multicultural Experts 2011/2012

Three Types of Target Customers Primary Target Customer Possesses the resources to purchase your product Has a need or desire & the authority to make the purchase Can be reached at a reasonable cost Secondary Target Customer Almost slips away before you can focus the camera Keeping good records will help you identify them May lead you to the invisible customer Invisible Target Customer Appears after you have the courage to open the doors and talk to whomever walks in

What Can We Learn From Published Sources? For many businesses print media will be an important part of the promotion mix Media sources have conducted extensive research to develop demographic & psychographic profiles of their Target Customers The key is to know which media sources your Target Customer reads Reviewing the Media Kit Changing Profiles

Action Step 24: Media Kit Assignment - Target Customer Choose 5 magazines and/or online sites that your Target Customer reads or visits Locate a media kit for each Compare the magazines & sites using your new eyes and define the target market for each Compare your new-eyes profile with the demographic & psychographic information and rank the magazines from 1 to 5 Even if you can’t afford to advertise due to costs, you can keep an eye on competitors & your target market

Profiling In Action – Action Step 25: Initial Customer Profile Based on what you know continue to profile your Target Customer using: Census, SRDS, Strategic Business Insights Market Research.com, Experian EASIdemographics To profile your B2B customers use: Hoovers, D&B, Edgar Online, LinkedIn Jigsaw, infoUSA, ThomasNet

Profiling Business to Business (B2B) Customers Segmentation of business markets include many factors including: NAISC or SIC Codes, Sales Revenue Number of employees, Location Purchasing method, Credit risk Years in business, Ownership type International vs. U.S. sales Ability to reach decision maker Economics, Competition & Barriers to entry

Profiling Business to Business (B2B) Customers Use available secondary business information to help you: Check a firm’s financial stability Discover ownership of a firm or its subsidiaries Locate specific companies & search industries Size up current & new markets Search potential prospects or employees Identify decision makers so you can reach them Identify & track competitors

Primary Research Is Absolutely Necessary Field Interviews Gather information to make decision regarding your Target Customer Find out your competitors strengths & weaknesses Observing Target Customers Inexpensive & effective way to learn how your Target Customer behaves Surveys

Action Step 26: Interview and Observe Prospective Target Customers Observe your customer in the marketplace Take notes as you simply observe Prepare for interviews Develop questions in advance Avoid simple yes – no questions Keep an open mind Consider conducting research online Post questions to social networks Check out Survey Monkey & Ask Your Target Market

Make Customer Profiling A Reflex Takes time, energy, and diligent maintenance of sales records Predicting customer needs will become easier You may uncover previously invisible customers Listen to unexpected requests and be quick to respond to these opportunities

Visualizing Your Target Customer – Action Step 27: Target Customer Collage Develop a collage – a composite image of your target customer Make a list of your customers’ favorite things and make it part of your collage Your collage should represent the demographics, geographics & psychographics of your market Keep your collage in your line of sight as you prepare to hit the market FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!

Summary – Question to answer through profiling your Target Customers Who are my Target Customers? How can I best reach them? What need will my product or service fill? Where & how can I communicate my message with a minimum of confusion to my Target Customers? What additional services do my Target Customers want? What quality of service or product will meet my customers’ desires? What are they willing to pay? Who else is after my customers? Why do my customers act the way they do? How can I build a long term relationships with my customers and encourage them to be raving fans & thus recruit new customers?

Think Points for Success Psychographics is the charting of your customer’s life, mind, soul, and spirit Segmenting is discovering the piece of the pie you should focus on You can save a lot of time & money by using market research that has been conducted by others and such research should always be undertaken first To discover your target market, use everything available; media kits, Internet metrics, demographic studies, life-style segmentations, and census data Use NAISC or SIC codes to begin your research for business-to-business customers Focus on your Target Customer