NOT EVERYONE IS YOUR CUSTOMER AND THAT ’ S OK
When you start to charge what you are worth , as opposed to what you think people will pay , you ’ ll realise that not every client is suited to your fitness business . This is a good thing , writes small business strategist Andrew Griffiths .
O ne of the fundamental aspects of starting to charge what
you are worth , as opposed to charging what you think people will pay , is that you soon realise not everyone is your customer . And in fact , your ideal customers probably represent a small fragment of the total customers available to you .
This shift means we stop focusing on trying to get ‘ everyone ’ and really target our marketing on getting the right customers . Not a new concept I know , but to be honest , how often are we targeting our marketing around those who will value us , be prepared to pay accordingly , have the capacity to find us and maturity to work with us to solve whatever problems they may have ? Or do we go back to the sticky point of price ?
When you embrace the concept that not everyone is your ideal customer , and you are OK with turning people away simply because they are not right for your business , the evolution to charging what you are worth starts to happen . Some people in business get this concept right from the beginning , and most of us start our business with high ideals but quickly adopt an ‘ anyone who has a pulse is now my customer ’ approach – and that ’ s when things start to go awry .
One of the most rewarding aspects of this transition to charging what we are worth is that we naturally start to select both the customers we really want and should have and those that we need to part company with . Imagine how your business would look if every client on your daily training schedule were your ideal customer . Sounds too good to be true , right ? It ’ s not .
Who is your target market really ?
As a small business author I often have people say to me , ‘ Obviously your target market is small business owners ’. My response is , ‘ No ! My target market is motivated , energetic , smart business owners who are absolutely passionate and driven to build truly successful businesses on many levels .’ Clearly that narrows down who my readers actually are – and who my clients actually are .
For many years I would work with any small business owner who simply couldn ’ t pay – and I ended up with the business I deserved as opposed to the business I wanted . I ’ m pretty sure you can imagine what that was like – I was earning lots of good karma and becoming the Mother Teresa of the small business advisory world , but I was going broke rapidly .
Know who you really want as customers , get crystal clear about that , and never be afraid to say to a prospective customer , ‘ I
just don ’ t think we are the right fit for each other ’. You can always throw in a ‘ it ’ s not you , it ’ s me ’, if that will soften the blow . I ’ ve done it many times .
This really is one of the fundamental keys to this concept overall . If your business philosophy has been all about having a price-driven strategy ( aka being the cheapest or undercharging for your products and services ), then I ’ m pretty certain the customers you have today will mostly be gone when you adopt a new and improved strategy .
My whole point is that we need to be confident enough to charge what we are worth , we have to be good enough to deliver on our promise , and we have to exceed expectations in every way . Then , we have to find the right customers , and as I ’ ve mentioned , they probably aren ’ t the ones you have right now .
There really is a perfect storm happening now – we are able to communicate globally , social media is a fantastic tool , there is a growing affluence in the world , consumers are embracing ‘ new ’ and understanding the concept of quality more than ever – and they have the tools , the resources and the motivation to find those businesses that tick all the boxes for them . Geography is becoming less important by the day .
We need to be really clear about the kind of customers we want , versus the kind of customers we have , because if we aren ’ t careful we will end up with the customers we deserve .
Andrew Griffiths Australia ’ s number one small business author , Andrew has written thirteen best-selling business books , sold in over 65 countries . In a nutshell , Andrew helps people of substance to build businesses of substance .
This is an edited extract from Someone Has To Be The Most Expensive , Why Not Make It You ? ( Publish Central $ 34.95 ). Find out more at
andrewgriffiths . com . au