Andy Hall at Mitchell Sandham 416-724-6396
I highly recommend him.
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What Small Business Needs To Know
Profiling is not necessarily a dirty word. A good customer profile will allow you to increase the return on your marketing initiatives. Big business uses profiling every day to increase and ensure sales and small and mid size enterprise can use these methods to grow their businesses.
The first thing to understand is the meaning of profiling in the business and consumer sense. A solid profile will give you an understanding of:
So the questions that arise are:
1.How and where do we get this information?
2.How do I use it once I have it?
First let's look at big business – thankfully, they do not trust each other enough to work together or the average consumer would not have a chance. If they did work together, here's an example of what they could do through profiling: as we all know when we use a credit or bank card, that information is stored. We are also aware that the cable company and most internet sites know what you are watching and reading. First, the cable company and bank get together: the cable company knows which house you are in and the bank knows your spending habits. They can now target TV ads directly to you . In our theoretical scenario, let's say your family is going to have a baby and starts to purchase maternity clothes, strollers, etc. The banks passes this info on to the cable company and they sell targeted ads to the diaper company. At the same time your neighbour has gotten a raise and their spending habits have changed- better clothes, posh restaurants. As you are seeing the diaper commercial in your home, your neighbours are seeing the ads for BMW or Lexus.
This is targeting based on a profile from a very hi tech standpoint. So, as small and mid size business, how do we access this? Simply put, we don't. But there is a way for us to achieve results by creating our own client or customer profiles. With a little effort you will see a better return on your marketing and advertising programs.
The first step is to understand the basics. Start by looking at your current customer base. Who are they, what and when do they buy and why? Now begin to look for trends or similar characteristics by which you can start to group your clients into categories. The number of categories you have will depend on your product or service. Once you have this, start digging a little deeper. You do not have access to the data from the bank about a client's buying habits but you do have eyes and ears. Pay attention to what they wear, where they eat and shop, what they drive, etc. All these things will help you. Think about it this way: a consultant who is trying to land an account with a person who drives a BMW and wears a $4000.00 suit shouldn't show up to the first meeting in jeans.
Once you have the profile built you can then have the message you are putting out to current and prospective client delivered in a way they can understand and respond to.
So the thing to remember is that profiling will help your business, and you build profiles by:
1.Listening to and observing your current clients.
2.Surveying current clients.
3.In a B to B situation, looking at the message they are putting out.
Finally, remember that we are all being profiled - by big business, the banks, the government. They do it because it works. As business people we also have to find a way to make profiling work for us in a cost effective manner.
By the way, you received this because you are a consultant or business owner and you fit our customer profile.
Chris Marcucci
Marcucci Studios
Creators of the Garden Marketing Philosophy
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