318: The Ideal Client Profile

Knowing where to find potential clients is one of the core skills of salespeople.  Yes, marketing drives activity and we have our networks, but we need to keep that sales funnel full.  That means we need a healthy flow of new prospects to talk to.  Where will these new buyers come from?  Often we have to create them out of thin air.  Cold calling has become so much more difficult with remote work, as our buyers are hiding out at home.  They are protected by a steel wall of blockers making it impossible to get to them.  In this case, we need to re-group and re-think how we need to go about connecting with potential clients.

Identifying the perfect client is a good way to start because this will mean we are only focused on buyers with the highest potential, rather than spraying our efforts everywhere without any great focus.  Let’s look at some markers we can use to locate these ideal clients.

Company size

This could be the number of people or the size of the revenue.  Some operations may be too small to worry about and others may to big.  A very large client can often be a problem, because they have so many resources they may not need our help, particularly with regard to our provision of services.

Age bracket

The staff of the company may be a target for us and this may vary depending on the age range.  Are they newbies who have just started and are in their twenties?  Or are they seasoned staff on their thirties and forties. 

Gender

Are we focused on a particular gender for our product or service?  Some industries are very heavily weighted toward one gender over the other.  What is your situation?

Years in business

The maturity of the business can make a difference.  Are they a start up, thrusting and growing or a mature company heading toward a gradual decline?  Are they in peak condition and thriving with substantial volumes of business and substantial war chests available to be spent growing the business even further?

Our Champion’s profile

We need a champion inside the company to push for us, but who would they be?  Are we after a C-suite executive, a middle manager or maybe a very specialized technician?

How we found them

• Referral – this is a warm call, because we can leverage the name of the person they trust who is connecting us. This is not a perfect blocker antidote, but it is certainly a big help in that regard.
• Networking is a bit of a hit and miss process. They may not be the right client, but it will take at least one meeting to find that out or not and the time and effort is committed first, as opposed to knowing if the time is worth it or not.
• Cold calling is similar to networking, as we are uncertain if this buyer is actually going to lead to any business, so we are taking a guess on the outcome. Getting a meeting though from someone who doesn’t know you is a good indicator that there may be some business here.
• Contact changed company. Often people take us with them to their new employer.  We have built up a relationship and the trust is there, so this is a very valuable champion to have.
• Introductions are similar to referrals, but the strength of the association may be weaker. They know you and if they just mention you it might be helpful without doing much more than that. For example, “you should talk to Greg Story”.
• Websites have a lot of money spent on them to yield SEO outcomes through getting buyers to contact us, so this is a good sign, because they are actively looking for what we have.

Nikkei (Japanese domestic companies) and Gaishikei (foreign multi-nationals) are quite distinct categories, requiring separate approaches.  Does your offer work better with one, more than the other.  Do you need rapid decision-making, in which case Gaishikei companies will be a better focus.

Profitability

Being profitable is a great indicator of the capacity to invest in your solution.  Companies losing money or just breaking even, may love to buy what you sell, but they honestly cannot do it.

Recession proof

We are about to leap out of the frypan of Covid into the fire of a global recession, so which industries and sectors look like they can withstand that likelihood?

Product or service fan

We will manufacture fans of our solution and they are great supporters inside the buying organisation.  They may not even be our direct contact or in a related section, but behind the scenes they are supportive.

Going through organisational change

Change forces new options and new perspectives.  When everything is smooth sailing, it may be hard to get buyers to make a change of supply arrangements.  There is nothing like a good crisis to spark an interest in improving the current situation and being open to new possibilities.

So when you are thinking about where to find good clients cast your eye over this list and remind yourself where they are hidden away.