3 Important Reasons Partners Should Define Buyer Personas

When it comes to marketing, there seems to be no greater challenge to partners than limiting the target market. The fear of missing any opportunity seems to outweigh the logic of focusing on the market that you serve best -- and ignoring the others.

Mike Michalowicz, author of the new book The Pumpkin Plan, goes so far as to suggest that partners identify their top clients, focus all of their efforts on them and fire the rest. Sounds pretty darn appealing, doesn't it?

If you are not quite ready to take that leap yet, at least focus your marketing efforts on finding more of the best clients that you have. And that is where Buyer Personas come in. "Buyer Persona" is a marketing term for the description of your ideal prospect. More specifically, it is the business profile of the person who is most likely to see the value in the service that you provide -- from what keeps him up at night to his job title to the Web sites he visits.   

3 Reasons Buyer Personas Are Important
By defining your ideal prospect, you are identifying the people who want to work with you. Instead of annoying people who don't need your services, you can deliver a specific message to people who actually might pay attention. With a defined target market, you will:

• focus your marketing efforts where they will be most effective.
• lower your cost of sales because you will stop chasing deals you shouldn't win.
• and perhaps most importantly, add customers that you want to keep.

Buyer Personas Don't Have To Be Complicated
There's lots of advice on the Internet about building Buyer Personas, but it really doesn't need to be a complicated process. Talk to your best clients and recent buyers. Ask them about why and how they make purchase decisions. Your questions should cover:

• What are their business problems and priorities?
• What does success look like to them?
• Where do they get their professional information?

There is some very practical and free guidance worth checking out from Adele Revella at the Buyer Persona Institute. A qualified marketing agency (best to work with one who knows the Microsoft channel) can help you define your buyers, as well.

Document and Focus
While your Buyer Personas don't need to be complicated, they do need to be documented. Every person in your organization should know who you want to do business with. You will build a stronger business if you and your employees are focused on finding a few great clients instead of a bunch of headaches.

Build on Success
If you are still marketing to the masses and chasing anything with a pulse, please reconsider. Build your business on your successes. Spend the time to figure out which of your clients are the best and then focus on getting more of them. You'll make more money and have more fun.

How are you targeting your best clients? Add a comment below or send me an e-mail and let's share the knowledge.

Posted by Barb Levisay on October 29, 2012