by Sam Makad
There is no successful business without an ever-growing customer base.
Since it is one of the essential factors that can make or break your company, the most crucial thing is to reach your target audience.
In order to do exactly that, you need to create a Target Customer Profile (TCP).
TCP will help you attract the right customers and not waste valuable time and resources on leads that might not be a good fit for your company.
Here are a few words on what the TCP is and how it can benefit your company, as well as the steps you need to follow to implement it.
What is a Target Customer Profile?
Simply put, a customer profile is detailed information about your target audience, about their attributes, needs, interests, behaviors, spending habits, etc.
The gathered data could either be about another company or an individual person, forming distinctive patterns of their needs, preferences, and purchasing intentions.
This can provide you with a much-needed advantage in today’s competitive market place.
Why do you need a TCP?
As a perfect guiding tool, TCP can help you decide in which direction to take your business, increase your sales, and overall make your company more productive.
A big part of that means taking care of your customers.
Constructing a clear image of an optimal audience will make it easier to create the most efficient marketing strategy.
It is essential that you know your customers in order to anticipate their needs and provide them with the best possible service. TCP helps to define your ideal customer and establish a proper strategy that will first attract the buyer and then maintain their loyalty to your business.
Don’t forget, a satisfied customer is a recurring customer.
How to create a TCP
Once you get familiar with the What and the Why it is time to shift your attention to the How.
There are 5 simple steps to follow in the process of creating a TCP.
Table of Contents
1. Group your revenue
2. Focus on the most important revenue stream
3. Identify the best customers
4. Analyze
5. Create the TCP
1. Group your revenue
In this step, you should start by looking at the broader picture and gradually narrowing your attention to the specifics.
Separating your customers into different revenue streams is a good place to begin. Based on various (and mostly arbitrary) metrics you can divide them into three main streams:
small
medium
large
With every company being unique, there is no one strict rule in defining these categories. It is up to you to decide what will suit your company’s specific needs the best.
2. Focus on the most important revenue stream
After you established the three revenue streams it is time to identify the most important one for your business.
Keep in mind that it is not about the pure number of customers in every category, but the size of the income. In other words, one stream can have a larger number of customers, however, another stream can be earning you more profit.
If the revenue contribution is similar in all three categories, you can either redefine them using some other criteria or choose the one you want to focus on in any future ventures.
3. Identify the best customers
The next step in this process is to identify the best customers within the chosen revenue.
Dissecting the specific revenue stream even further, you will be able to separate the more valuable customers from the less relevant ones.
This carefully selected data is crucial in forming a TCP.
But, how exactly do you determine what customers are more important than others?
Criteria on which you base your choice solely depends on the company goals you are trying to achieve.
Those goals can evolve and change during time and different stages of the company’s growth.
4. Analyze
Now, it is time to analyze all the collected and carefully chosen data in order to see if certain patterns will emerge.
Ideal Company Profile
Creating an Ideal Customer Profile means identifying a company or an organization (rather than a person) as a potential customer.
When it comes to ICP, some of the data has to include information such as:
company size and number of employees
industry type
type of customers
annual turnover, etc.
In case you are focused only on self-employed customers, you can disregard the ICP and just complete the next step.
Ideal Buyer Profile
At this point, you are targeting an individual rather than a company.
Even when you have found the perfect company as a potential customer, you will still need to contact the actual person within this company.
Required details about the individual buyer are:
age
gender
education
location
hobbies
job title
business goals
income.
The TCP will not be complete without the information gathered by the Target Buyer Profile.
5. Create the TCP
Once you gathered all the necessary data, it is time to establish the actual Target Customer Profile.
Essentially, you will be combining the Ideal Buyer Profile with the Ideal Company Profile, while eliminating any remaining excess information or unnecessary data in the process.
The main aspects of your business that will directly benefit from a TCP:
sales
marketing strategy
current and future product development
customer support.
Least Ideal Profile
Just like you established your ideal customer, you can also go in the opposite direction and define the type of customer that you shouldn’t make a priority or those you should avoid altogether.
Directing all your focus and prioritizing the right type of customer is a good way to boost the company’s efficiency even further.
In conclusion
There is no doubt when it comes to the crucial role that the TCP plays in conducting a successful and profitable business venture.
Creating a TCP is an efficient way to focus all your attention and recourses on reaching the desired audience.
Establishing communication with your customers is beneficial for both sides. Customers generate income for your company, and in return, your company provides the best possible service and/or product.
This approach will help your company move forward, grow, and of course, make a profit.
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