Precision Marketing: The Key to Reaching Your Ideal Customer Base

Precision Marketing: The Key to Reaching Your Ideal Customer Base

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to episode 115 of the business development podcast. And today we're chatting all about identifying your ideal customer. Stick with us. The answer to that could be very valuable for you.

Intro: The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more. This is the business development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world. You'll get expert business development, advice, tips, and experiences, and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs. And business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by capital business development, capitalbd.ca let's do it. Welcome to the business development podcast, and now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello, welcome to episode 115 of the business development podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today. Today, I have an absolutely awesome topic that I want to spend some time with. It's one that we've done before, but it is super, super important.

Today, we're going to chat all about identifying your ideal customer. Why is this so important? Because every marketing effort costs you money. And if you are marketing the wrong people. It is just going to burn up your advertising budget. But before we get into today's episode, I want to give you guys a massive, massive show update.

Major news, we have just accomplished our very first Chartable number one spot in entrepreneurship category. We did it in two different countries this week, which was crazy, Liberia and Lebanon. And I just wanted to shout out to our international community. We recognize we have a massive international community.

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And I appreciate the time and dedication you guys have put into this show. And we could not do this without you. So to our international community, specifically to my people in Liberia and Lebanon, Thank you so much for listening to us for making us a number one show in your respective countries. That's super cool, super huge.

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Share a favorite episode with a friend, family member, colleague, anybody you think could benefit from. The business development podcast. All right, let's just get into it. So today's topic, we are talking all about identifying your ideal customer. And this is absolutely critical to your long term success in business development, in marketing, in sales, or in business in general, because we all have very limited marketing budgets and every reach out and marketing effort costs you money.

Identifying the right contacts and targets is absolutely crucial to your long term success. With limited time and budgets, spending time identifying the ideal prospects will lead to greater success and higher margins over time. So I get it. I know this is a tough one. This is really tough. And I totally, totally understand.

And I know why so many companies don't necessarily spend a ton of time on this. They think that a broad shotgun approach is just going to be more beneficial for them. I think more so because a lot of companies take that broad shotgun approach with a passive strategy in general. But even with your passive strategies, I want you to think about this.

If you hire a digital marketing agency, are they, and I guess we hope they are, but are they going through their due diligence to make sure that they are identifying your exact ideal customer prospect? Because every single time that they give you an impression or send your information out or market you to somebody, It's costing, it's costing you every single time.

And so it's absolutely critical that we are identifying our ideal prospects ahead of time so that one, you can either relay this information to your passive marketing company or internally, or through a business development firm, such as capital business development, we can identify the correct people and make sure that we are targeting the right people.

Only the best prospects for your company, making every single advertising dollar go as far as humanly possible, making you more profitable over time. So taking our time, going through this and trying to really narrow down who is the ideal company? Who is the ideal people within this company? Who are the end users, right?

We need to make sure that we are identifying all of these things and we're going to get into that today. I'm hopefully going to leave you with just some tools to go through. and identify the ideal prospects for your specific company to give you that slight edge that you need. So we need to start with who needs our products and service, right?

This is absolutely critical. There is going to be certain industries that need your products and services much more than other industries. And so we need to take some time up front and really identify first The prime industries. Does my company do better with tech industry? Does it do better with medical?

Does it do better with oil and gas? Does it do better with fisheries? Does it do better with mining? There might be a ton of industries. And here's the thing. You might do great at three, five, or ten. Industries, right? Like the reality is most people's products or services, they go across industries, but if we don't take that time and really identify who are those big dogs, who are the prime industries that we work with and narrow that list down to only the best ones, right?

We want to make sure that we're targeting the best possible ones. We'll get into that later. But we need to narrow that down to say the top three or top four best industries that your product and service fits into. We definitely want to start there. Once you've identified the prime industries, then we need to identify The secondary industries.

Okay. Prime industries are awesome. They are, they're the ones that we're always gunning for. And you know what capital, for instance, most of my clients, they do want me to target those prime industries, but I'll tell you what the prime industries, the big fish, they're amazing. And if you win them great, you know, they're typically huge contracts.

They're typically the best in the bucket. However, they are also typically. How do I put this? They are also typically some of the hardest contracts to manage for you. And you really need to think about that. They are typically going to negotiate with you to the bottom dollar. They're typically going to have terms that you just need to fall within because they are the big dogs.

They get to, they get to pick and choose who they work with. And so what that typically means is, They are not the ideal customers to work with for your organization. They can be hard to work with. They can be hard to please. It can be long payment terms. It can be, you know, really squeezed margins. It can be a whole lot of things.

And while, yes, when you're a big company, you definitely do want to work with some of those bigger companies. But in some cases, for a smaller, medium sized company, Working with those big dogs can actually be near impossible, just due to the way that their payment terms are structured, due to the way that their demands are structured and the profit margins are squeezed or whatever else the situation is, it can be challenging to work with these big dogs.

And so in my experience, In business development, specifically in Alberta. So yes, we're a very oil and gas based economy, but specifically in Alberta, what I've found is the best companies to work for are actually the secondary industries. So the, the companies that are serving the prime industries have tended to be.

The best ones to work with. Why? Because they get a lot of those big contracts. They have a lot of needs to fill, which internally they typically cannot fill on their own, and they're willing to negotiate and work with you as a company. So if you are trying to market your product and service, sometimes these secondary companies are just as important, if not more important than identifying those prime companies to work with.

And so I always recommend you do both. You start with the prime industries, identify the major industries that your product and service fits into and that they would, they would longterm be ideal customers for you and your organization. But then, but then take some time and really identify These sub industries, these secondary industries that then work for the primes, because for you, for your organization, it can sometimes be a much better situation.

You'll probably have higher margins. You'll probably have better payment terms. You might be able to generate better relationships because sometimes those big prime industries. They even swap out personnel fairly quickly and they actually do it on purpose because they don't want people to generate long term relationships because that can maybe not always be great for their bottom line.

And so at these secondary industries, that doesn't tend to be the case. So sometimes if you make a great relationship there, that relationship can then carry for 5, 10, 15 years, who knows, right? As long as that person is in that position. And those relationships are really great. And I've really found in my experience in business development.

That those secondary industries have really been the bread and butter for all the organizations that I've worked with to date. In, in my experience, they just have been some of the better organizations to target. They generate long term great relationships. They're not bottom dollar services. They're usually looking for a certain level of quality, which is important.

Me and you both know that. If you sell products and services, the quality of those products and services is equally important. And sometimes at those big prime industries, they're just raking you down to the bottom dollar. And it can be really, really tough. And so these secondary industries, not always the case.

And so I always recommend we take some time and we identify not only the prime industry, but identify those secondary industries because they are a huge, huge opportunity for you and your organization. The third thing is we need to identify the specific service locations, okay? Where is your organization most effective?

This is really critical in identifying your ideal customer because if you are more effective where you are that is going to give you a competitive edge over your competition who may have to come in from other locations to do the same work, right? You are always the most effective where you are, period.

It's just always going to be the case, unless you have a branch local. It's very hard to be competitive or as competitive as your local competition in those areas. And so, taking the time and really doing this identification, like I said, starting with that prime industry, identifying the secondary industries, but then making sure you're doing that where you are.

That is going to give you the best target list for your ideal. highest value, most likely clients over time as you expand and maybe branch out into other cities, other provinces, start to open satellite offices, satellite locations, then you can still be advantageous in those spots. But if you have to specifically Leave your location to provide services.

Obviously it's going to add some type of added cost and over time, it will make you less competitive. And so we want to be offering services where we can be the most competitive and you are always the most competitive where you are. So identify the service locations that you want to work in, but remember where you are is going to be your most effective service location.

And so spending some time and really identifying this target list where you are. is going to give you the most competitive advantage and the highest likelihood of success with these companies. We have to remember, now that we've done all this work, we've identified the prime industry, we've identified the sub industries, we've identified the service locations, we have to then remember that not all customers are created equal.

I just explained this in prime industries and secondary industries, right? Some customers will just be a greater opportunity, and it may be helpful to list your highest potential value to your lowest potential value to help you identify the targets you should spend the most time with. Okay, let's get real.

You're in business. Your business does not move forward if you are not profitable. It just doesn't. Okay. Businesses don't move on goodwill. They move on profit. And so it's absolutely critical that we are spending the most amount of time targeting companies that will give you the best Possible value for that effort.

Those are going to be the ones that provide your organization with the highest potential profit. And so we've done all this effort, right? We've identified all of these industries, sub industries, locations. Now I want you to go back at this again, and I want you to number them from highest potential value to lowest potential value.

And that now gives you the best companies for you to spend time on a weekly basis. Targeting to make sure that you are getting the best opportunity possible for your organization. This can literally mean the difference. between surviving and thriving or dying as a company. Okay, that is how important identifying ideal customers are.

It is the difference between life and death for your organization. And so I really, really hope that you take some time today Even though I know it can be a bit of a painful process, and you do this, you identify the best companies where you're at, prime industry, secondary industry, number them, highest potential value, lowest potential value, and then start doing your targeting this way.

Okay, this is what is going to make you the most effective over time. If you do this with every single target list that you create, you are giving your company or the company you work for the best. possible opportunity for success. And that that is what is important. Over time, we need to make sure that we're giving the organizations we work with the best possible opportunity for success.

We want to always provide exponential value. That is the goal of all business development. We target all, but we always do it in a way that we focus most of our time in the highest respective values. That is what is going to make our organizations strong. Over time, one other thing that you really do need to consider while you're doing this, though, can you support the customer that you are targeting?

Okay especially I'm talking to my small and medium sized organizations, right? You know, we all want the big dogs. We all want the best opportunities, right? But cashflow is a real problem in all organizations. Okay. It doesn't matter big or small cashflow is a challenge. And honestly, the bigger you get, the more of a challenge it becomes for the most part.

But remember, some of these prime companies that you've identified Their demands might be much higher than you can support. And yes, there are options for you if that's the case, right? Partnerships are a thing. Investment is a thing. Loans are a thing. There's lots of avenues for you to get more capital.

But, but remember, sometimes working within your means in your target audience, including target capacity, is going to be an important thing for your organizations to consider. So part of this job. When you are identifying who your ideal customers are, is also identifying the scopes of work that are also ideal for your organization.

Because if you bite off more than you can chew, this can lead to the death of your organization. And it happens more often than you think. And so you really do need to take that time, make sure that you're not biting off more than you can chew. Or, if you think that might be a possibility, You are putting in safety precautions.

You're having some options in case that is the case so that your company does not have to fold so that you can actually accommodate that higher capacity need. Okay. So just remember, we always want the best opportunities. We're always identifying the best customers, but please ask yourself, can my organization complete that work efficiently and effectively at our current capacity at our current level.

Okay. We really do need to make sure that we are only taking work that we can actually complete effectively, efficiently, and in the best possible way for our customers. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, but if you do have a plan on how you were going to tackle that extra work, have a plan, have a partner, have access to capital.

Figure it out. Figure out how you were going to take on that higher capacity if you do win one of these bigger fish, okay? Now that we've taken that time and we've really narrowed it down, and I know that that was a bit long, that was a bit of a challenge, I totally, totally understand. But now that we've gone through that hard work, we've identified the prime industries we can work in.

We've identified the secondary high potential industries. We have identified the service locations. And we've narrowed it down from the highest potential value to the lowest potential value and decided what project scope we are actually capable of taking on and really identified that and put some statistics and data to that so that we can better make a call as to who we're going to target.

Now we need to identify what positions have buying authority or the decision making ability to actually buy our products and services. Remember identifying just the industries and the sub industries and the locations and the companies that all that encompasses. is not enough. That's just part one of the process.

Part two is we really have to identify who in that organization, what positions have the authority to actually buy our products and service. Because remember, most of these organizations you're marketing to have Hundreds, if not thousands of positions, they just do big organizations have a ton of positions.

And remember every single time that we market to anybody that costed you money. I don't know how much it costs to you really depends on your current marketing budgets and, and the way that you're doing it. It costed you something. And so it's absolutely critical that if you are going to spend your hard earned dollars on marketing, on business development, on sales, they damn well better be going towards something that it has high potential for you.

It's really, really, really critical that every single dime we spend on marketing, on business development, on sales, anything that it is going in the right direction, that it is going towards somebody who could actually buy your products and services. And so we need to first identify who buys my product.

Who is it? Who is it? Is it the supply chain? Is it a supervisor? Is it a foreman? Is it a project lead? Who is buying this? Who is buying this? And I think you'll be surprised because usually it is not supply chain. Supply chain is who the people who actually buy the product reach out to, to help identify some of the companies.

One, if they don't know where to go, right? But remember, most of these people who are actually buying your product and service They don't go through supply chain. They already have relationships established with people who already provide your product and service or something similar, right? They already have these relationships and they just reach out to them directly, completely bypassing supply chain, unless they just need them to get approved or to become an approved vendor.

I really want you to think about this before you reach out to supply chain. Is supply chain beneficial? Absolutely. Yes, they are incredibly beneficial, but remember the next time that you talk to your supply chain and you're saying, Hey, like, can I get an approved vendor list or are there any upcoming RFPs or RFQs, remember, they are probably not the ones making that buying decision.

And so now you need to ask yourself. I'm marketing to the right people. Am I getting in front of the right people? If supply chain is not buying these products and services, who is? We really need to identify at a field level, at an end user level, the person who's going to truly benefit from your product and service.

Who is that? Who is that? And this is going to take you some time and it might take you a few phone calls, but I'll tell you what, You taking the time up front and really identifying who the end user of your product and service is and then making sure that they are who you are targeting at an organization, they're who you're trying to book those meetings with, they're who you're trying to build a great relationship with, trust me, long term, this is what makes sense and so it might be a two pronged approach, you might be reaching out to both the supply chain and the project managers, right, you might be reaching out to the director of operations, the CEO, the owner, whatever, whatever it is, and supply chain.

It may be a multifaceted effort, but we do need to make sure that we are getting in touch with the people who actually have the buying authority or decision making ability to buy your product and service. And yes, most of the time that is actually the end user, the person in the field, the person who's going to be using your product and service directly.

They're the ones who typically make that decision. So who buys my product? Absolutely critical. Then understanding what are the steps to get to an RFP or vendor list application. Remember, this is usually, like I said, a multi step process, right? Typically, the field, the guy in the field will say, Hey, I need this service or we need these people.

They might reach out to supply chain or they might reach out to you directly if you've already got a relationship, right? So you need to understand what is the ordering process for your product and service, okay? And yeah, maybe it is them reaching out to supply chain, but we need to try to understand what is the order of operations so that we can intercept it, essentially, so that we can maybe cut ahead of the line or cut ahead of that That RFP process, whenever possible, you don't want to be bidding on a project.

You want to just win the project. That is the best way to do business. You, you want to bypass the whole thing whenever possible. And that's why relationships are so critical. That's why taking the time in business development and really establishing the right people, starting to establish those relationships over time is super beneficial because.

You can essentially intercept the RFP process. You can intercept it and you can just be, yeah, we're ordering it from your company, X, Y, Z company. We're just going to order it direct from them because we like them. We trust them and they provide great service. That's it. Remember, RFP is not where you want to be.

You don't want to be bidding for work. You want to just be awarded work. And that's why relationships are so critical and identifying the end user and starting to build a relationship there is going to be the most profitable choice you can make for your organization over time. So we need to identify who buys my product.

What then are the steps to get to an order? Is there multiple positions that I may need to approach? The answer is yes. A lot of the time there is multiple positions that you need to approach. So don't look at it as just one. It's probably two to three that you need to get in touch with and really start to establish those relationships with to get on the vendor list and then to get the orders when they come through.

We may also need to identify positions by location, branch, or division, right? Any large organization typically has multiple branches, multiple divisions, and they do not always work together. I've seen big companies who have three or four divisions. They never, ever speak to each other. So just because you're approved as a vendor for one division of a gigantic construction company, do not assume you are approved across the entire company.

There may be multiple people that you need to talk to in the organization throughout the different branches to make sure that you are getting the full scope of work that you could be getting. Okay. So let's make sure that even if you're approved at one big company, ask them, are there other division managers that I should get in touch with and introduce this product to who might still need it?

You're not done with just the one. You may need to talk to three or four, and that is not uncommon. So don't leave opportunity on the table. Just because you got in the door to this big construction firm or big oil and gas firm or whatever else, do not assume that every division of that company talks to each other.

And just because you're approved at one does not mean that you're approved at all. And typically that could just take a little bit extra work to try to get approved across the whole organization. And that can be massively. Massively profitable for your organization over time. So ask about the other divisions.

Ask if there's anybody else who would be beneficial for you to speak with. Okay. All right. Take your time with these steps. Ideal customers can and do change as your business changes. If your organization goes through any major shift, right? Or starts offering any different products and services, make sure that you revisit this task.

Any major change constitutes a revisit on your ideal customers. Anything. So big change of staff, big change of products and services, change of location, change of industry, who knows? Whatever it is, revisit this regularly whenever there is a major change for your organization and make sure that we are targeting the right people every time.

That takes us to the end of this week's show. Thank you so much for joining us. Shout outs this week, Dora Vanourek, Monte Pedersen, Ronnie Kinsey, Tevi Legge, Joanne Link, Nat Berman, Daria Podwyszynska, Derek Armstrong, Gregory Martignoni, Jory Evans, Colin Harms, Rodney Lover, Joel Magalnick, Patrick Gaskin, and Barry Williams.

It was an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much. Until next time, this has been the Business Development Podcast, and we will catch you on the flip side.

Outro: This has been the business development podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta Oil and Gas Industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation. And business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website @ www.capitalbd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.