For those of you who don’t know, Brandwagon was originally “polish design” for the first year of business. It did well, but we felt it wasn’t quite right and one of the reasons was, we didn’t really know who our ideal clients were! Most creative businesses start out by doing everything and anything they can get their hands on before gradually working towards an area of creative media they want to specialise in. It was quite clear early on that we wanted to create brands, but we still weren’t sure who our ideal clients were and how we could speak to them.
We went through a program with a business coach that involved really getting down to the nitty gritty of WHO our ideal clients were so we could figure out what language we needed to speak and what images we needed to show to reach out to these people. That’s how Brandwagon was born and how we got to our logo design. It’s calming, trusting and has hand drawn elements to give it a bit of an innovative edge.
We’re not saying you need to change the name of your business if you are thinking of rebranding, it could just be a few tweaks that you need to the logo and a few extra pieces of media to really attract those ideal customers.
Here’s what our fabulous business coach, Bridget Marsh from Creating What Matters, has to say about ideal clients:
“Not knowing who your ideal customer is. Who you really want to serve” is probably the most common mistake I see. It’s basic and simple and people talk about it all the time but it’s important to take an honest deeper look. This isn’t about judgement or making you wrong its about what works. Logically you might think you’ve got this sorted but let’s take a closer look.
Take the example of a hairdresser. When I go to the hairdresser I want to be reminded of my appointment, offered my preferred day of the week and I want to be pampered. I want the cup of coffee, the head massage, the special magazine to read, the best products, MY hairdresser, not just any hairdresser to cut my hair etc. So I have found a hairdresser whose systems and processes are specific to those wants. Obviously I pay for these services. But my son’s just want a # 4 at $15.00 and out of there fast as. So there’s my salon and then there’s the barber shop – Imagine if the advertising and website for the salon was all about the pampering and special care and when you went in there’s this express lane with guys getting their # 4 whizzing in and out. Would I want my pampering done in front of these guys. Absolutely not. It would be so awkward. Would my sons feel comfortable having their cut there? Clearly not.
This really obvious difference illustrates that we must write marketing copy, create our sales process, build our systems, establish standards, and set pricing for our ideal customer or they will not want to do business with us because they can’t identify with our offering. They might come once but they won’t come back and they won’t be able to refer.
Systems and processes in a business including your sales and marketing, are the basis of building the relationship, the basis of your customer service. And if there is one thing that every customer wants above all else it is service aligned with their wants.
Contact Bridget for details of upcoming free seminars
or visit her website www.creatingwhatmatters.co.nz