Most B2B service founders have a shallow understanding of their ideal customers.

Job title, industry, revenue, interests, assumptions about their problems.

It's like they pulled a customer persona template from HubSpot and filled it in with the most basic information.

Gross.

None of that information actually helps you create messaging, offers, or marketing to attract your ideal customers.

You need a deeper understanding of your ideal customers to make that happen.

• Motivations
• Fears
• Problems
• Dream State
• Emotional Triggers
• Buying Journey
• DNA

The more you capture, the easier it is resonate with the right people.

Capturing the Right Information

So, what information should you capture about your ideal customers?

Start by asking yourself these 6 questions:

1. What role do they have?

Yes, you still need their demographics. They act as the foundation to your customer profile.

Gather this information:

• Job Title
• Responsibilities
• Age Range
• Education
• Salary

You want to find the information that helps you target them on ad platforms like LinkedIn.

2. What does their business look like?

Dig deep to understand their business, specifically:

• Company Size
• Company Stage
• Industry
• Revenue
• Deal Profile (average size of their deals)
• Location
• Currrent State
• Core Attributes

This information helps you weed out companies that are not a good fit.

3. What are they struggling with?

This is where the real gold is found. Go deeper than just their pain points. You want to understand how their problem makes them feel.

Look to capture this information:

• Core Problem
• Pain Points
• Fears
• Limiting Beliefs
• Painful Questions
• Emotional Drivers
• Day in Their Life Currently
• How They See Themselves
• How Others See Them

These insights provide direction for web copy, marketing copy, sales messages, and content.

4. What ideal state are they aiming for?

Understanding their problem is important, but you need to know what they are aiming for — an ideal state, transformation, or change.

Look for this information:

• Ultimate Desire
• Main Desires
• Transformation
• What a New Day in Their Life Looks Like
• How Others See Them
• What They Get To Do
• What Success Looks Like

Capturing this information helps you understand their motivation for buying — and should be used in your marketing, content, and sales efforts.

Give them a glimpse of what life could look like if they buy from you.

5. How do they buy?

Every prospect goes through stages before working with you.

Now, the buying journey often looks more like a plate of spaghetti than a straight line. There is no such thing as a linear buying journey.

However, there are main psychological phases each buyer moves through. Capture information on what each of these phases looks like:

• Problem Unaware (they don't know they have a problem)
• Problem Aware (they know the problem, but not how to solve it)
• Solution Aware (they've researched and know a few possible solutions)
• Alternatives (not competitors, but other ways they can solve the problem)
• Objections (what keeps them from buying your type of solution)
• Decision (how do they ultimately make the decision to buy)
• Delight (what experience makes them want to refer you)

Uncover that information and you'll know where to invest your sales and marketing efforts.

6. What's their core DNA?

Customer DNA is a term we coined here at Shft to describe the 5 core attributes that are true of every single one of your ideal customers.

Sift through the information you gathered above and capture:

• Title and Company
• Defining Characteristic
• Resonating Mindset
• Challenge
• Ideal State

Commit these to memory. Then, everything you create (be it content, marketing, sales copy, or offers) will be aligned with your ideal customers.

Create Your Customer Profile

Capturing the right information about your ideal customers starts with the the right customer profile.

I created one that we use when creating a strategy for our clients.

Be warned: this is no HubSpot customer persona template.

It's an extensive file that helps you understand the nuances and nitty gritty of your ideal customers, so you can better attract them.

I put it in a Google Doc along with a dummy profile so you know what to fill out.

​Grab your Customer Profile Template here for $0.​

Or, keep using a subpar profile that requires you to test every single thing you do.

That's an option, too, I guess.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.

✌🏼