Who is your customer? Reframe your approach.
Every business decision should start with 'who is your customer'.
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If you don't have a paying customer, you don't have a business; a seemingly simple concept overlooked by almost every entrepreneur and senior executive I've worked with over the years. Admittingly, even once ignored by me.
My greatest successes and failures have one thing in common, the customer. When I prioritized the customer, I won big. When I ignored the customer, I lost big. It took a weekend extensive with serial entrepreneur and MIT professor Bob Jones to have my come to Jesus moment, realizing I had lost sight of my customer and who/what I was actually selling. Even someone like myself, who built their company hyper-focused on their customer, struggled to maintain that focus through growth.
My work now as a brand strategist always begins with the customer. The customer defines almost every aspect of a business, from operations to sales and marketing to design. If you're creating or scaling your company without intimately knowing your customer, you're building a high-rise without a ground floor. Keep going, and it'll eventually collapse.
The 'Who is your customer?" mindset shift starts with rephrasing common business questions. The following examples are questions commonly asked in business. Then, below each question, you'll find a reworked one that answers the original question by focusing on the customer. If you know your customer inside and out, you will find that answering the 2nd question is far easier than the first. That ease is why a customer-focused strategy is more effective and simpler to craft.
Wrong: How does my product differ from the competition?
Right: What is my customer frustrated about when it comes to similar products in the market?
Companies focus on their differentiators but never stop to think if their customer is even interested in those factors.
Wrong: Where will I sell my product (stores, online, pop-up, etc...)?
Right: Where does my customer find their products or make their purchases?
Companies will build a sales plan based on traditional market norms, never stopping to think, 'is this where my customer is?' When a company knows who is buying its product/service, they know exactly where to focus its sales efforts.
Wrong: What colors should we use for our branding?
Right: What style does our customer feel most drawn to?
Companies build their branding around their personal likes/dislikes. Fonts, colors, and brand identity can be compelling motivators for connecting with the customer. Design for the customer.
Wrong: What's a catchy slogan to grab people's attention?
Right: What pain points are my customers experiencing? How do we relieve that pain?
Companies revel in their cleverness when building a brand slogan. Unfortunately, the reality is that customers don't care about your wit; they care about themselves, so make sure your motto prioritizes their most significant pain point and gives them a reason to buy.
Wrong: Should we start an Instagram, Tik Tok, or LinkedIn account?
Right: Are our customers on Instagram, Tik Tok, or LinkedIn?
Companies aimlessly build social media accounts for fear of missing out. However, it is highly unusual that your customer is on every platform unless you are Nike. If you know where your customer hangs out, you know where to focus your efforts and how to master the new-age digital marketing game.
As you can see, when you can answer 'who is your customer,' you stop throwing noodles against the wall to see what sticks. This clarity is why I spend the most time on the customer in my practice and utilize a customer workbook that is 12 pages long. Moreover, the customer portion of my work comes before the vision, mission and company positioning. Unfortunately, most strategy systems only dedicate 1 page to the customer. It never ceases to amuse me, a strategy system that selfishly focuses on the company and very little on the 1 person that will eventually make or break the company; in my opinion, he/she who grows my brand, comes first. If you’re interested in a customer-intensive workshop, let’s talk.