When it comes to marketing and sales, discrimination can be a good thing. Of course, I'm not talking about discriminating against someone based on their ethnicity, their religion, or any other negative reason.
What I'm talking about is taking a pool of "all potential clients" and making (sometimes difficult) marketing decisions based on demographics or other factors that will aid you in your promotional efforts.
I've often used a hypothetical rug cleaning business as an example. Why ruin a good thing? So let's say, as someone who owns a carpet and rug cleaning service, you're looking for new clients. The widest possible group of prospects would be, "everyone who owns a rug or carpet." Now, someone who only owns a 2 foot by 3 foot rug in their bathroom would fit in this largest group of prospects, but they are highly unlikely to hire you to clean their rug. And would you want to? If so, at wht price? You have to know yourself – what you want to do, and what you want your business to be – before you can begin to discriminate among your client pool.
Let's begin to describe your business, and what you want out of it. Let's say that you've spent a total of $15 thousand on equipment, training, and transportation. Your description and of and goals for the business might look something like this:
- Cover operating costs
- Return $15k start-up investment
- Work 45 hour/week max
- Take 2 weeks vacation minimum
- Pay myself a salary of $50k first year
- Make a profit on top of covering all expenses
Now that you know where you are, and where you want the business to head, you can begin selecting the types of clients that you want to attract, that will make your business goals happen. This is where you begin to discriminate among "all potential clients" to find the ones you really want.
How do you find these potential clients? You begin to describe them to yourself. If you can describe them, you can begin to figure out "what they look like" and where you'll find them. Let's imagine a good potential client.
- Homeowner (unless you want corporate clients)
- Planning on staying in their home at least 5 years
- Has carpeting installed in several rooms
- Cares about their living environment enough to have carpets cleaned at least once per year
- Has household income of at least $100k
Where would you find a person that matches this description? Probably not in the "seedier" sections of town. More likely, these folks will be upwardly-mobile climbers, living in larger houses in the more expensive section of town. You might formulate the following list as the beginnings of your marketing efforts.
- Focus on quality NOT on low price
- Promote in expensive neighborhoods
- Promote "the best people use us" NOT "people like you"
- Show entire rooms, not just carpets
Not everyone in your pool of "all potential clients" fits this description. You must begin to discriminate in your selection process, and in your marketing campaigns.
This process is essential, no matter what business you are in. Selling insurance, running a dance school, selling $1 million ore pulverizing machines. Although the word is often used in a negative sense, and rightly so, discrimination in selecting the right clients for your business is a good thing.
