If you want more referrals, paint a picture of your ideal prospect. Otherwise, your referral sources (current and former clients and networking colleagues) won’t know what you’re looking for and won’t be able to help you.
Focus on two elements: “Demographics” and “Psychographics.” Demographics describe what the prospect “looks like”. Psychographics describe what the prospect feels, especially his/her pain.
Start with the demographics. This is often publicly available information
- Industry i.e. tech, manufacturing, professional services, financial services etc
- Size - $ sales volume or number of employees
- Location: New York Tristate Area, Mid-Atlantic/New England;
- Title of decision maker – Owner, CEO, Head of Training
- Ownership: Publicly traded, private, family owned
Get as specific as possible. Here’s an example
- Industry – Food
- Size – Between $50 and $250 million in sales
- Location – New York Tri-state area
- Title – Owner/CEO
If you think that’s too narrow, think again. There are 386 companies that fit this description.
It’s a safe bet that all 386 companies won’t need your services. That’s where psychographics come in. What are the CEO’s dreams and nightmares?
Ardath Albee of Marketing Interactions recommends creating “Buyer Personas.”
- Priorities – What is he/she trying to accomplish?
- Threats – What keeps the CEO up at night?
- Motivations – What does he/she want: grow the business? Sell it? Get rid of an incompetent nephew in the business?
- Influencers – Who influences him/her – family members, customers, vendors?
You won’t find out about the psychographics from Hoovers or any publicly available data. Only a referral source who knows the company can tell you what problems the CEO is facing.
If you’re a strategy consultant, you may want to target CEO’s who worry about competition. If you’re an organizational development consultant, your prospect may be worried about succession planning or family conflict.
Now your referral sources have the picture.
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