Many business coaches would say their ideal client is one who pays their bills. Well… yes. But in all seriousness many coaches and consultants don’t approach their market with an idea of who they best can serve: in other words, who their ideal client would be. If you don’t use a business approach that identifies and targets your most appropriate customers, you can spend a lot of effort pursuing more business with little to show for it.
Understand that an ideal client doesn’t mean a perfect client. There probably are no perfect clients since no people are perfect. An ideal client is someone who is well matched to the services you provide. This means several things:
- The prospective client has a problem they can’t solve on their own. Not just any problem: one you have knowledge of and the skill to solve.
- The client has a situation that’s conducive to your methods of finding solutions. For example, they have a specific employee performance review policy that you’ve dealt with before and know the weaknesses of.
- The client has the personality that’s open to counsel or alternate ideas. This is the most critical alignment and can be the hardest one to discover. Some leaders are too proud to want assistance. Often a leader needs to come to the end of their rope before seeking help. Fine. Seek those individuals.
- Your style and that of the client are compatible. This means you’ll get along, can communicate on the same level with trust, and can keep commitments together.
- Your services offer something special compared to your competition, and you know this will be advantageous in providing excellent service to the client.
How do you find such people? One word: network. Reach out with your newsletters, calls, and get-togethers. Get to know leaders and their circumstances.
At Content for Coaches we have a great collection of leadership information for you to reach out to your ideal clients. Find article topics that support your specialties and spread your influence!
We’d love to hear about some of the ways you’ve found clients you’ve identified as ideal for your business; send us an email!