How do you work out who your target customer is?
Start from the jobs you already win and would happily take again, not from everyone who might buy. Look back over your recent customers and note what the good ones share: where they are, the type of job, how urgent it was and how they found you. Write the pattern down in a sentence or two. The SBA's market research questions, such as demand, location and how many similar options already exist, help you get a sense of the market for it.
Start from your own best jobs
Pull up your last twenty or thirty jobs and mark the ones you would want more of: work you do well, at a fair margin, for people who paid on time and were good to deal with. Ignore the one-off oddities. For each marked job, write down a few plain details, then look for what repeats. The answer is usually narrower than "anyone in town who needs this", and that is the point.
The details that matter for a service business
| Detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Area | Where you can reach customers without losing the day to driving |
| Type of job | The work you are best at and want more of |
| Urgency | Emergency customers often decide in minutes; planned jobs are often compared for weeks |
| Who decides | A homeowner, a landlord or an office manager weigh different things |
| How they found you | Where to spend your time showing up, from your lead records |
What the SBA suggests checking
The Small Business Administration's planning guidance says market research helps you find customers for your business. Its questions cover demand, market size, economic indicators, location, market saturation and pricing. It notes that existing sources save time and suit general questions, like industry trends and demographics, but may not be as specific to your audience, while asking consumers yourself can give a nuanced understanding of your target audience but can be time consuming and expensive. Its business plan guidance adds that you should be specific when you name your target market, because your business will not be for everybody.
For most service businesses, the quickest direct research is the customers you already have. A short question at the end of each job tells you a lot; the related answer on what to ask customers after the job covers it.
How the answer shapes everything else
- Your website can say who you are for in the first screen, as the related answer on what a homepage should say describes.
- You can choose where to show up based on how your best customers actually found you.
- You can say no sooner to work that fits poorly; the related answer on telling whether a lead is a good fit covers one lead at a time.
- Check the description once a year, or when you add a service or an area.
Sources
Related answers
- How do you tell whether a new lead is a good fit?
- What should you ask a customer after the work is done?
- What should a service business homepage say?
- How do you work out what a customer is worth to your business?
Lead generation and lead tracking
A lead that waits a day goes cold, and a lead with no source teaches you nothing. Ascent Vision fixes both.