Who is your ideal client persona?
It’s important to be crystal clear on who this is for you so you know whom to target.
Typically, a persona refers to the social role one wears, but it’s derived from Latin meaning a theatrical mask. Interesting definition considering our name, Teneo, is also derived from Latin meaning to know, to understand, to master!
In sales, we sometimes feel our buyers and clients are wearing masks. We have to get to know the person behind the mask to gain the rapport and trust needed to do business with them.
This takes time and effort. You don’t want to waste time chasing anyone and everyone hoping they’ll buy what you’re selling.
That’s why it’s essential you have a strong grasp on your ideal client persona. However, it can be challenging to get clear on who this is for you. To help you create your own ideal client persona, we will share ours with you.
Let’s call him Dave. Here’s what we know about him:
• Dave is Vice President of Sales.
• He has a sales team of 15-100+ salespeople in the manufacturing, building materials and agriculture industries who sell business to business.
• The majority of sales representatives on these teams are males between the ages of 35-60.
• Dave was first promoted to Sales Manager then to Vice President of Sales.
• He has a proven track record in sales and is driven to succeed.
With a bit more digging, here’s what we discover about Dave’s goals and the challenges he faces:
• He believes in his team, but feels they are capable of more.
• He wants them to become a high performing team who outperforms and gains market share from their competitors.
• Dave wants the team to be more strategic, consultative and professional.
• He wants to double sales in the next five years with higher margins.
• Dave is getting pressure from the CEO and the CFO.
• Sometimes, he feels like he’s carrying a medicine ball uphill and he really wants his team to step it up.
Now we need to know who Dave is on a personal level. Learning what Dave values in his life can give us clues as to what motivates his purchasing decisions and how best to communicate with him.
• Dave is a baby boomer between 52-58 years of age.
• He is married with two kids.
• He enjoys coaching his kids’ sports teams when he’s not working.
• He travels a lot across the country and is always on the move.
• He is a Driver personality style.
• He likes sports, craft beer, and a great dinner when he’s on the road.
Does Dave sound like a client you have or maybe even your boss?
If so, send him – or her – our way! We’d love to meet to have a meaningful business conversation over a beer.
Determining your ideal client persona helps you become hyper-aware of your ideal client and how to attract more of them on a regular basis.
Now that you’ve uncovered who you want to attract, it’s just as important to determine who you do not want to attract.
Do you have any needy, challenging, demanding or low revenue-generating clients? This is a great opportunity to have a conversation with your manager or team to decide how you can best manage these accounts. You may even want to consider passing them onto customer service, an inside sales person, or even a new representative who is looking to gain more sales experience in your organization.
Would you like more information on how to create your ideal client persona?
Teneo’s Training Centre has a new micro learning format perfect for busy people on the move.
It’s bite-sized training that you can access from your mobile device on advanced sales topics to help sales professionals amplify their selling skills.
How would you describe your ideal client’s persona? Let us know in the comments.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.