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1.1. Marketing: Your Ideal Client -
An Introduction |
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Written by: KATHYE KOCHANOWSKI |
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You’re an Accounting Professional; you can work in any industry with
clients of all sizes. So why would you need to define your ideal client?
Marketing is one reason. Creating a niche for your services, or
specializing, is another. |
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Creating a clear picture of your ideal client makes it much easier to develop a marketing
strategy directly for that type of client. For example, if you’ve worked with several dental
offices, and you’ve begun to cultivate a very formulaic way of working with them, perhaps
your ideal client is a dental office. |
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If you further define your ideal, perhaps you would discover that you prefer offices with 100
patients or less, located no further than 50 km from you. Before you know it, your ideal
client is defined! |
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As you begin to determine the specifics of what makes the ideal client for your firm, other
benefits begin to arise. Now that you have figured out who your target market is, you
probably have a pretty good idea about what their needs and requirements are. |
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You can focus your marketing strategy in such a way to appeal to the prospects that fit
your ideal client definition. Additionally, as you build a reputation for working with a particular
client type, you may find yourself able to bill at a higher rate as a specialist providing
services to this “niche group”. |
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Simultaneously, as your rates increase, your working hours and operational expenses will
likely decrease as you finetune and standardize your tasks for this niche group—not to
mention the word of mouth advertising you’ll benefit from with satisfied clients! |
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| Have you defined your ideal client yet? |
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| Kathye Kochanowski |
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A degree in Economics with a focus in International Studies from Lawrence
University. She is a Marketing and Sales consultant for Clear Biz, focusing
on their expansion into the United States. |
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