What If You Only Had One Customer?

Consider that customer that makes your heart sing.  Perhaps it was your first River cruise client, or the client who remembered that you love to bake, and took time to bring you vanilla from Mexico. Maybe you have a client who connects you with other clients.

Your ideal customer is your gateway to a a river of other customers just like them.

Here are a few important steps to finding your ideal customer and why it matters.

First, why does it matter?
Pondering the question, “If I Only Had One Customer?” provides you with a focus for your travel business. That customer becomes the epi-center of everything you do. There are thousands of decisions you are faced with every day as an advisor. Focusing on a single ideal customer, and how you serve them, allows you to do a few things brilliantly well, rather than a thousand things, half done.

It helps you to choose the right products to focus on, determine the training events to attend, and select the right service elements to include.

Next, what does it really mean?
By shifting to one important customer, you no longer have to be all things to all people.

As an advisor, there is a sense that you feel a responsibility to know everything, just in case. Its an impossible situation because you simply cannot know everything.  

On the other hand, if you focus on a single customer, and the segment they represent, you will immerse yourself in what matters most to that customer segment.  

What is the benefit of this approach?
It’s effective.

In marketing terms, your ideal customer is called your customer avatar. The reason it is so important is that in order to cut through the clutter, the message needs to be clear as a bell, and written just for them.

Consider when shopping for a new car. It is human nature to look beyond the hardware features, and consider who else drives one? Do they look like me?  If you’re trying to attract Lexus clients, you wouldn’t write copy for a Ford 4 Wheel Drive customer.

In the same way, if you’re looking to attract expedition clients, you would focus on reflecting the immersive, life changing, thrill of adventure. Not the benefits of relaxing on a beach.

Also, it’s more profitable.

Focusing on a single customer avatar who loves you is inspiring. It allows you to work with people who are attracted to you, and your service and are willing to pay for it.

Further, lloyal customers don’t blink an eye at paying a service fee.

They are also likely to refer friends who are just like them. One advisor shared with me that she received over one million dollars in sales from a single customer.

Does this mean you will only work with one customer – and one segment?
Most advisors struggle with the idea of narrowing their business down to one customer segment. You love wine cruises, but also have a keen interest in family travel. Or, you want to shift to luxury, but fear that you won’t have nearly enough customers to make a go of it. Here’s the point. You can sell to everyone, but you can only market to one customer at a time.

When you extend the approach beyond marketing, and consider your entire travel business, one customer at a time, you can simplify your approach.

It’s an efficient and effective way to grow and scale your business.

Geraldine is an experienced travel industry SVP, author, and coach. She is passionate about equipping Travel Advisors with tools and insights to breakthrough in their travel business. Learn more about her programs at http://www.geraldineree.com or reach out to: geraldine@geraldineree.com.