Outline: How Financial Reports Can Quickly Help You Improve Your B2B Marketing Strategies

Buyer Persona: Current Client/Outsource

Julia runs a consulting agency in Green Bay. After five years of building her customer base, she has an overall picture of what type of customer is the most profitable to work with. Moving forward, Julia would like to work with more of these types of “A-List” clients. They’re a good fit for her agency’s capabilities, and they’re making her money. Thus, Julia combines the information she knows about her ideal customer. By doing so, she creates a customer persona. A customer persona is developed by compiling the demographics that top customers share:

Location
Type of business or industry
Size of the company
Value of the company
Challenges and pain points of the organization that fit the solutions you offer

Now that Julia identified her ideal customer, she develops an “A-List” of top customers she prefers to work with. Next, she’s ready to create Business-to-Business marketing strategies to retain her top customers and find others like them. She markets specifically to her “A-List.”

You can, too. Start by compiling demographics and answering a couple of questions.

Who are your most profitable clients?
What do they have in common?

To develop an A-List of customers, it helps to review your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data. Identify customers who have been with you long-term. Also, look for those who paid the most over time, especially customers who purchased add ons or upgrades. Then, evaluate the recent deals resulting in the highest profits. Be sure to also take into consideration who pays on time and who doesn’t.

But remember, your ideal customer isn’t just based on dollars in your pocket. Also, consider the difficulty or ease of customer interactions.

Once you’ve identified your customer persona, it’s time to move to the next steps.

Cater to your most profitable customers to better maintain their loyalty
Show appreciation by offering rewards, buying lunch, sending handwritten thank-you notes, etc.
Identify other companies with the A List qualities you seek
Develop a customized marketing strategy to attract more customers like your A-List

Some companies divide their customer base into A, B, and C levels. Eventually, the C Level customers fade away, as they’re referred to other providers that fit their needs better.

Deepening your relationship with A-list customers and pursuing others with the same persona can help to build your business and increase profits. So, take some time to evaluate the qualities of your ideal customer and create your “A-List.” Now that you understand this audience better, you can craft your messaging specifically for them. For more business and finance tips, subscribe to our newsletter or contact us.

Posted in Path to Profitability