As a business owner, you’re always working on ways to bring more customers.

What if, instead of just anyone, you could attract more of the right type of customer into your business?

You know the ones I mean.

Those ideal customers who understand why they need you and pay their bills on time. The ones you actually love to work with. And who love and value the work that you do.

The ones who keep buying from you over and over. And tell other people about you.

How can you work with more of them!?

Here I share my expert tips for finding more of the clients you love to work with.

And they might not be what you think!

Tip #1 - Know Thy Customer

How much do you really know about your customer?

Who they are? And by that, I mean exactly who they are.

The more specific you can be about the motivations, needs, fears, beliefs and feelings of your ideal customer, the better.

Once you’re clear on the profile of your client, you’ll be able to target your marketing (style, message and medium) to reach them.

The fact is, you simply cannot know too much about your ideal customer. When you know who they actually are, it’s much, much easier to find more of them.

Need some help to get started on getting to know your customer?
Get your Understanding Your Tribe Workbook here.

Tip #2 – Speak in the Language of Your Customer

You need to start where your customer is. And that means using their language and words to describe their problem.

It’s about starting where they are, and then taking them on a journey to where they need to be.

If they can hear themselves in your marketing, it’s easier for them to see themselves as your client. They’ll know you’re the right solution to their problem.

When you’re crafting your marketing message, imagine you’re speaking to a specific person who represents your customer.

Picture that person in your mind and tailor your message directly to them and you’ll find that your marketing will appeal more to the clients you want to talk to.

Tip #3 – Align Your Values

Brand Values and purpose are big drivers of brand strategy.

The problem is, we don’t take enough time to align our values and purpose, with the values and purpose of our customer.

If you want to attract more of your ideal customer, you need to make sure that you have shared values.

Need some help to create shared values and purpose? Brand Story Strategy helps to solve this as it will help you ask the hard questions about your customer so you can align your values with theirs.

Tip #4 – Learn to Vet Your Customers

When you know who they are (see Tip #1), you’ll also be getting to know who your ideal customers are not.

And this is when you can learn to vet your customers.

By asking the right questions early in the sales process, you’ll be able to identify the potential customers who are a good fit for you, and those who aren’t.

For me, two of my best vetting questions centre around the customer. If the potential client talks about their customer with me and can answer a few questions about this in the first 5 – 10 minutes of a conversation about their needs, then they’re a great client for me. If they move straight to talking about marketing tactics and making millions, without any thought for their tribe, then they’re not a good fit.

Make vetting questions a part of your sales journey, making sure that wherever you can, you move on customers who aren’t quite right for you, to other solutions.

Tip #5 – Help Potential Customers to Vet Themselves

If you communicate clearly with Brand Story, and show your personality and shared values clearly in everything you do, you’ll be making it clear who your ideal customer is, and people who aren’t a good fit will vet themselves.

In small business, this is magic. When it’s done right, your branding, website and marketing can help someone decide you’re not for them before they waste your time in discovery calls and sales conversations.

People who are the wrong customer will vet themselves out. They’ll say “this isn’t for me”.

While your ideal customer will say “I’m in. Where do I sign?”

Tip #6 – Ask for Referrals from Clients Who Love You

If your Brand Story Strategy is in place, and you’ve optimised your marketing to target your ideal customer, then getting customers you love to work with to refer other people, will make finding other clients who will love you, much, much easier.

But something else you should be doing (if you aren’t already) is actively asking for referrals.

Having a clear strategy for referrals (and a follow up system that thanks your customers for referrals) should be a key part of your marketing strategy.

What this looks like should link in to your Brand Story Strategy so it has the added effect of strengthening your brand.

Make it EASY for people to refer you. And I guarantee you’ll find more ideal clients to love.

Tip #7 – Learn to Say No Early to Customers that Aren’t A Good Fit

This one is tricky. We get so used to feeling like we have to say YES to everything that we say yes to the wrong customers.

It can be especially difficult to say no to the wrong customers when business isn’t going so well, and we think we need to say yes to every opportunity to keep things going.

Here’s what I know though – the wrong client is simply bad for business.

They take your energy away from delivering your best work. They’ll take up more time than they should because you’ll have to constantly prove your value to them. And those negative feelings and lack of energy won’t just stay with the wrong customer – it will have an impact on your ideal customers too. Not to mention the overall perception of your business.

And while you’re busy managing the wrong customer, you’ll be less likely to see opportunities with the right customer.

Learn to say no. Practice it. Then make sure you say it early when you come across someone who is the wrong customer – use your vetting questions to find them, and send them to solution that’s better aligned with them if you can.

Tip #8 – Be Alert for Change

If you’ve been in business as long as I have, you’ll know that change is the name of the game.

So, this is your reminder - Your ideal customer can change.

Sometimes this happens because your business is changing, or your industry is changing or your service delivery is changing.

Whatever the reason, be alert for changes that change who your ideal customer is.

When your customer profile changes, the way you communicate and market your offer needs to change (and you'll need to review tips 1 through 5).

A Strong Tribe Makes for a Strong Brand

The bad news – not everyone is going to like you, or your brand, or your business.

The good news – not everybody has to like you.

If you try to be everything for everyone, you’ll end up being nothing for nobody.

And let’s be real for a moment – you couldn’t possibly serve everyone to the standard you want to, even if you tried.

You don’t want a business that tries to serve everyone.

Instead, grow your business around your Tribe – the people who share your values – your ideal clients.

When you use these tips to shift your focus onto the exact people you want to serve, you’ll be happier and more successful in your business.

And you’ll have very happy clients who will rave about you to other people just like them – which is the best marketing of all.