Your Ideal Customer
Here's a lesson hard learned.
Sometimes your customer is not your customer.
I was thinking about this the other day after teaching a Growability® Collaborative with some folks starting and running businesses in Western China.
I helped run a coffee shop for a while last year.
There were certain kinds of customers we liked and targeted.
- There was "Everyday Eddie" who dropped by daily for his quick breakfast of a coffee and a croissant.
- Then we had "Catering Carrie" who made large orders for weekly staff meetings and office events.
- Of course, there is always "Whole-Bean Betty"who purchases coffee beans in bulk, so she can brew at home.
These are the kinds of customers we want.
But then there's "Gamer Gary."
He sets up his computer at the largest table available, purchases a small cup of coffee, and uses up the bandwidth hours on end shooting Nazi Zombies. Gary is a nice enough guy. But he's not the customer we want. We definitely don't need a cafe full of Gary's. We'd never make a profit.
Having the right customer matters.
This is true for business.
This is true for non-profits.
Leaders have to ask themselves the question: Who do you really aim to serve?
It's okay to be particular. What you offer isn't for everyone.
In fact, it shouldn't be.
