Step 6: Define Your Ideal Customer Before You Start Hunting
Originally written by Dan Doescher. Updated by Tom Doescher.
Note: If you missed the introduction or earlier steps in this series of blog posts, please click here to read it.
OK, let’s get to the point: they can’t all be “10s.”
That may sound obvious, but many companies still chase whatever comes along. If an opportunity appears, they pursue it. If someone asks for a proposal, they prepare one. If a potential customer shows interest, they invest time and resources before asking whether this is actually the kind of customer they want.
That is understandable, especially when a company wants to grow. But it can also be a mistake.
Defining your perfect target is not meant to restrict you. Rather, it creates a guideline for determining where to proactively invest your time and resources for hunting. It also acts as a filter for deciding whether you should respond to opportunities that come to you.
In other words, it helps you choose where to aim. Some of the target criteria you will want to consider include:
What product or service providers do you already have, or with whom do you intend to develop a specialized capability in serving?
What is your potential new customer or client size?
Consider number of employees, number of locations, location of those facilities, and revenue.
Think about their culture, the way they do business. Do you have recurring work, single-project work, or both? What work may lead to other opportunities?
Remember that clients of your potential new customer or client may also become new opportunities for you. Part of defining your perfect target includes determining your least desirable target.
Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman’s book, The New Strategic Selling, suggests making a list of the following, in this order:
Current and past best customers or clients.
Current and past worst customers or clients.
Best characteristics of those customers or clients.
Worst characteristics of those customers or clients.
Once you have those four lists, use them to define your ideal customer or client.
This is a very useful exercise because it forces you to move beyond theory. Most business owners have had customers they would gladly serve again and customers they would rather not repeat. There is a lot to learn from both.
Your best customers may reveal where your company creates the most value. They may show you which industries, sizes, cultures, needs, or relationship styles fit you best.
Your worst customers may reveal where you lose money, drain your team, create frustration, or operate outside your strengths.
Both lists are helpful.
Before you pursue new customers, Miller and Heiman also recommend reviewing your current customer or client list against your ideal profile. The purpose is to consider whether you should continue these existing relationships.
That may sound bold, but it is a healthy process to go through periodically, perhaps every year or so.
There may be some customers you should dismiss. There may be others you should keep, but only after making changes to the relationship. Maybe pricing needs to be adjusted. Maybe communication needs to be reset. Maybe the scope of work needs to be clarified. Maybe the relationship is worth keeping, but not in its current form.
Regardless, this process helps you focus your limited resources.
For owner-operated businesses, this is especially important. Many companies are already stretched thin. The owner, leadership team, and best people only have so much time and energy. If those resources are being consumed by the wrong customers, the company may not have enough capacity left to pursue the right ones.
That affects growth. It also affects profitability, team morale, customer service, and long-term business value.
With your perfect target defined, a refreshed list of current customers or clients, and a renewed commitment to serving them well, you are much better positioned to begin hunting for new ones.
Choose your analogy: shotgun or rifle, hurricane or tornado. The more you narrow your definition, the more likely you are to find your “10.”
A final thought: if you have not defined your ideal customer, your market will define it for you. And the market may not be nearly as thoughtful as you should be.
So before you invest more time chasing new business, step back and ask:
Who are our best customers?
Who are our worst customers?
What do they have in common?
Where do we create the most value?
Where do we struggle?
Who should we pursue more intentionally?
And who should we finally stop chasing?
The goal is not just more customers. The goal is better-fit customers — the kind that help you grow a stronger, healthier, and more valuable business.
If your team knows the kind of customer you want but lacks a clear path to reach them, we can help you build a more focused growth rhythm.
