Business Plan - Define your customer groups

Introduction

Hello and thanks for taking time out of your busy day once again to read this article.

This is the third publication in the 10 part series I will outline why it is important to identify the differences between your customer groups as how this will have a direct impact how you market, and ultimately sell, to these customer groups.

Customer Groups

Business owners often get confused as to who their customers are. For instance, a mobile hairdresser might say that their potential customers are “anyone who has hair”.

OK, this is true, but this is their total customer group. The fact is that within their market place, a mobile hair dresser may have a number of potential customer groups. For example:

Parents of who want their children’s hair cut or even styled
Young adults who want their hair cut and styled
Women who want their hair cut, coloured and blow dried
Retired person who has a busy social life but has some mobility needs and wants a hairdressing services at home
And so on………………………………..

I am no hair expert as you will have seen from my photo, however I do know that each of these customers will have specific needs and that a “one size fits all” approach does not work. We need to engage with our customers on an emotional level. To do this we need to understand their likely behaviours. So using this example, our hair dresser needs to establish the likely behaviours of the parent as opposed to the retired person. Of course there will be some common ground, they all want a service from a mobile hair dresser.

So how can we identify behaviours? Well, there’s no easy answer but a good starting point is to use the term “these are people who……..”

E.g. For parents this could be – “these are people who work and engage mobile hair dressing services for their children and themselves outside of school hours.”

There are a few important points that can be derived from this statement and the group itself:-

Punctuality will be important
Flexible working hours will need to fit around school hours
Younger style preferences will need to be in the hair dresser portfolio
Consideration will need to be given to working with young children and young adults (CRB etc.)
The appointment may need to allow for 2, 3 or 4 clients at a time (parent and 2 or three children)
Consideration will need to be given to skin sensitivity of younger clients in term of products used

All of the above could be included for in any information offered as part of the hair dressers’ advertising and marketing materials.

So if we were to compare the needs of say a retired person, they are likely to be quite different.

Here are some examples for new business start-ups I have worked with recently: -

LOGISTICS COMPANY – Carriers (DHL etc.);Post Office; Home shopping companies; Local business; general public
DOMESTIC SERIVES – Professional people both working; sinlge parents that work; single men or women; people with mobility problems
VEHICLE RESTORATION – Prestige classics; common classics; neo-classics; classic clubs/organisations; “pimp my ride”
ENTERTAINMENT – Parents; corporate; social clubs; pubs and bars; holiday camps
BUILDING SERVICES – Home owners; private landlords; letting management agents; commercial landlords; housing associations/councils
OCCASION STATIONARY – civil partnerships (gay community); clubs; user sites (wedding planners etc.); parents; couples; service providers

For each business it is apparent that each customer group will have different needs of the services and products that these businesses offer.

They also present different challenges. So if we have a better understanding of our customer needs, we are able to better articulate our offer and plan to meet these needs.

If you have missed any of the previous articles, you can click on the links below to view them.

Graham Cripps

Results Consortium Ltd