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reach youir ideal clients

How to Reach Your Ideal Clients

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ideal client

 

Do you ever feel like your marketing message is getting completely lost, as if you are shouting into the void? Are you wondering how to reach your ideal clients?

The key to reaching and attracting your ideal clients is threefold:
  1. Identify who you want to reach in a very specific way
  2. Get very clear on what is most important to them
  3. Determine exactly where to find them
Step One: Identify and Define Your Top Client Niche

I’m sure you have heard this before. Create your “Ideal Client Avatar.” Describe your ideal client in detail. Give them a name, a persona. This step is really important. The problem is, most business owners are too mired in the nitty gritty of their business to get clear on who their best clients are.

Here’s a technique that will help you figure out who they are and how to reach your ideal clients.

  1. Open up a spreadsheet.
  2. List all of your clients or customers in order of how much money the spend with you.
  3. Rank them on how easy they are to work with, how good they are for your business, how aligned they are with your core values.

Using the data in your list, determine who your best clients really are (sometimes what you see when you put it in writing may surprise you). Once you determine who your very best client is, the one(s) you would like to clone over and over again in your business, describe them in as much detail as possible. Combine the attributes of several clients if applicable. What do they have in common?

Steps 2 and 3: Interview Your Best Clients

The best way to determine what matters most to the clients you want to attract is to talk to them. This is also the best way to figure out where to find more clients just like them!

Start by asking the following questions:

  1. What do they like about your business? What are you doing right?
  2. What don’t they like about your industry in general? What do they wish was different?
  3. If they were looking for a business like yours (to hire or purchase from), where would they go to find it?
  4. Where do they spend their time? Do they hang out on social media (which ones)? Do they go to industry conferences? What do they read and listen to?

You might be wondering why we suggest you ask what your clients don’t like about your industry, vs what they don’t like or aren’t happy with in your business. The reason is that this is less awkward than asking them to confront you with things they don’t like about you. You are more likely to get an honest answer when asking about the industry. This also shows you potential gaps in your industry that you can fill.

Once you have this information from your best clients, you can craft a message that will distinctly appeal to them. Look for the answers to your questions that will help you distinguish yourself from the competition. Most businesses think that they need to convince their clients or customers that they have the “best” product or service. Or they think they need to incentivize their prospects with discounts and low prices.

More often than not, if you can identify a specific attribute that your clients appreciate about you, you can use this as a point of differentiation. For example, let’s say when you ask what you are doing right, they say they appreciate that you are always on time, or that you communicate clearly, or that you are flexible, etc. If you hear the same answer from multiple clients, then you know that this is something that will attract other clients who care about this too. Use it in your sales and marketing!

Once you have a message that stands out, you want to get in front of your ideal prospects with your message. The key to reaching your ideal clients is to show up frequently in the places where they “hang out.” Where are they most likely to see you? Most small businesses don’t have the marketing budget to be everywhere, so make sure you concentrate your efforts in the places where your clients are most likely to see you. If you can find some places where your competitors are NOT showing up, even better! You will know something that they don’t know. While they are busy competing in the red ocean, you will have the blue ocean all to yourself!

These are some of the strategies that we have in our toolbox at Pumpkin Plan Your Biz. If you would like help determining who your ideal clients are, what your most effective messaging is and where to find them, Hire a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist today!

Are you passionate about helping small businesses to grow and thrive? Join our Community and Get Certified as a Pumpkin Plan Strategist!

 

personal compass core values

Align With Your Immutable Laws to Transform Your Business and Life

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If you want to transform your business from one that frustrates and exhausts you every day to one that fulfills your dreams and aligns with your life goals, then you will want to read about Glen Rosciano and his journey from overworked plumber to the CEO of a thriving plumbing company that fulfills his sense of purpose.

Glen experienced this profound transformation by discovering and implementing his Immutable Laws, which are your most deeply held core values. These are the values that don’t change for you, the values that you live by and run your business by.

Glen’s Story Could be Your Story

Throughout his career, Glen Rosciano was a dedicated, hardworking plumber. In 2018 he decided to start his own business, Westover Plumbing. Like many small business owners, he was often the only person working in his business, as he struggled to find good employees.

Glen’s days were filled with the grind of a one-person operation. He couldn’t imagine a time where he wouldn’t be doing the work, rolling up his sleeves and working under houses to install and fix their plumbing.

Glen faced many common challenges, including finding employees that were reliable, working crazy long hours and dealing with constant price pressure from customers and prospective customers.

He often felt like his company was out of sync with his values and the way he wanted to do business. But he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Then he met Dhiresha Marshall. Dhiresha is an experienced business success coach and a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist.

One of the first things that Dhiresha and Glen did together was to figure out his Immutable Laws (core values), a key step in the Pumpkin Plan process.

The Discovery Process

personal compass core valuesEverything changed for Glen when he discovered his Immutable Laws. These guiding principles became the foundation on which he built a business that is not only thriving but also reflects his values and beliefs.

Going through the Immutable Laws discovery process with Dhiresha, Glen determined the three main principles that he wanted to run his business by:

1. On Time Every Time
2. Promises Kept
3. Top-Notch Quality – Organized, Clean, and Prepared

These Immutable Laws became the compass that directs every aspect of Glen’s business and interactions.

Once he determined his Immutable Laws, Glen worked with Dhiresha to craft a company mission that aligned with his values and resonated with his clients.

Leading with Immutable Laws

How did Glen use his Immutable Laws to create such a dramatic transformation, you ask?

As he integrated his Immutable Laws into his business, he transitioned from a mindset of “taking every customer” to confidently saying no to clients who don’t align with his values and the way he wants to do business.

Instead of leading with price discussions, he now opens conversations and inquiries by sharing his Immutable Laws. He no longer haggles over his fees, because he knows he is delivering real value to customers. He only does work for those who appreciate the quality of his company’s work and the way that they deliver on their promises.

The shift has been impactful and remarkable – clients are no longer fixated on the cost of his services. They are drawn to the values that Glenn and his business embody. Prospects no longer ask about his prices up front and instead they ask when he is available to start the job! Problem clients and problem jobs are now a thing of the past.

Clone Your Best Clients

This newfound clarity has also enabled Glen to create a culture of excellence within his company, attracting like-minded employees and fostering customer relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

As he worked with Dhiresha through The Pumpkin Plan process, Glen was able to identify and clearly define who his ideal clients are. Knowing who your best clients are enables you to focus on attracting more just like them into your business. Glen has been able to craft a message that embodies how he does business in a way that appeals to the kind of clients he wants to work with. Those who are just looking for the cheapest labor they can find will go elsewhere, and that is fine with Glen!

A Culture of Excellence

Using the Pumpkin Plan Strategies, Glen has fostered a sense of empowerment and positivity within his company.

With Dhiresha’s support, he has set up systems and processes and real accountability for his employees. This has enabled him to confidently delegate more and more responsibilities to his team members. He is now able to take days off and even full vacations, knowing that his customers are in good hands with his highly capable team and they are upholding his company values. Glen has successfully transitioned from being a solo business owner doing all of the work himself to becoming the CEO of a thriving plumbing company.

Glen received another bonus as well! In addition to the improvements in his business operations, his work with Dhiresha has sparked personal growth and greater emotional resilience. His feelings of frustration and disappointment with his business have subsided, and he is now able to view setbacks as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacles.

This newfound sense of inner peace has translated into tangible success for Glen and his business, resulting in real growth, financial prosperity, and the ability to contribute to his local community as well.

Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategists have the tools and resources at their fingertips to develop winning strategies for their clients. If you serve the small business sector and would like to become a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist go here to APPLY.

Would you like help and support to create your own winning growth strategy? Hire a Pumpkin Plan Strategist today!

Turn Your Top Clients Into Raving Fans

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Once you know who your Top Clients are, you can make them so happy that they will never leave you, and they will help you bring in more clients like them.

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Crucial Information: Why You Must Know Who Your Top Clients Are

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Does your business offer an amazing product or service, but for some reason, nobody cares? Are you doing all of the “right” things when it comes to marketing, but you’re not getting the traction you expect? If this sounds all too familiar, then you might be missing a crucial piece of information that could launch your business into the stratosphere.

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The Missing Link to Profit

The Missing Link to True Profit and Freedom

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One business owner recently shared with me that her business feels like a treadmill that keeps speeding up on her, demanding more and more of her. From the outside looking in, she appears successful and her business is growing continually. But she has reached the point where she is maxed out, feeling like she can no longer keep up with the demands of her growing business.

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The Pumpkin Plan Book

The Secret to Business Growth is in the Implementation

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Millions of small business owners around the world wake up every day trying to improve their businesses. They start looking for solutions and entrepreneurial growth strategies to make it better. Very often they look around and seek out courses, seminars, webinars, workshops, master’s degrees, business couching, etc. in order to get the knowledge, and the tools they need to help their businesses perform better. I believe there is a major flaw in this approach.

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Quick Productivity Tip: Stars and Successes

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A lot of us cross off completed tasks from a written To-Do List. At the end of the day, the list can look pretty messy. Once everything has been crossed off the list, we toss it in the trash.

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Creating a High Performing Team

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I recently had the honor of presenting the Riverton Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award to Jeff and Michelle McMenamy and their team at Teton Therapy PC. Teton Therapy provides physical and occupational therapy services to residents of Fremont County, WY.

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Mike M holding up Pumpkin Plan

The Keys to Profit Growth

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The key to growing your profits is to bring in more revenues, right? Not necessarily. While most business owners focus on growing the sales and revenue side of their business, they often miss key issues that are impacting their profitability.

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Is Your Overweight Business Crushing You?

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To survive the critical first 5 years of business, we business owners typically try all kinds of things to see what works, to create a demand for our products or services and to find clients or customers. Then once we find those customers, we try to serve all kinds of different needs.  We say “yes” to every opportunity that comes our way because we are determined to make a go of our business.

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