Outline of Resource Sheets for BBO Project

2.1. Finding customers

Locating my customers You are probably at the stage by now where you have started to develop a bit of an understanding as to who the likely customers will be for the products or services that you plan to sell. You will know whether you are going to be selling to consumers (members of the public), to other businesses, or to both. And you will have begun to think about what the needs of those customers are, and how to define the segments that you will be selling to:

 Consumers could be:

o Male or female

o Old or young

o Local, regional, national, international

o Having certain interests or needs … etc

 Businesses could be:

o Small, medium or large

o New or well established

o Local, regional, national, international

o Working in specific sectors … etc The question then is: “What is the best way for me to communicate with or promote to my customer groups?” The following simple planning tool can help you with this.

Who are my customers? Where will I find them? What is the best way of communicating with them?

Using the table above, start by listing in the left column the customer groups that you want to sell to. Be as precise as you can, and describe them in as much detail as possible. For example, rather than just saying “Women”, be more precise “Young women, aged 18-30,

The Doing Good Business Programme is funded by Big Lottery and the European Social Fund with an interest in physical fitness”. Or rather than just saying “Small businesses”, be more precise by saying, for example “Small business, less than 2 years old, looking to grow, but not having any IT, website or social media skills”. Then begin to think about where to find those customers:

 Old people can be found at homes, sheltered housing, clubs and societies …

 Children can be found at schools, sports clubs, youth clubs …

 Mums can be found at schools, parent and toddler groups, beauty salons … And finally decide what are the best ways of making contact with, or communicating with those groups. A few examples:

Service : Mobile holistic therapy and massage Who are my customers? Where will I find them? What is the best way of communicating with them? Young women With children:  Feature /ad in school  Schools magazine  Sports clubs  Demos at schools, clubs  Parent and toddler  Demos to parents at toddler groups groups Alone:  Flyers to schools, clubs  Hair salons  Recruit hair salons as Socialising: partners : share customers  Coffee shops  Advertise via salons  Sports centres  People who are busy at At their places of work Approach local companies: work  Offer lunchtime sessions  Vouchers for employees  Link to company absenteeism / sickness issues

Service : Website design and social networking promotion for small businesses Who are my customers? Where will I find them? What is the best way of communicating with them? Recently formed Networking groups  Attend local networking groups businesses – probably Via business advisers  Contact local business advisers : less than 18 months old Via accountants / offers for their clients? bookkeepers  Contact accountants / Find them via ads in local bookkeepers : offers for their advertising magazines clients  Direct contact via advert details

The Doing Good Business Programme is funded by Big Lottery and the European Social Fund Now have a go yourself …

The Doing Good Business Programme is funded by Big Lottery and the European Social Fund Customer groups, locations and communication plans

Who are my customers? Where will I find them? What is the best way of contacting them?

The Doing Good Business Programme is funded by Big Lottery and the European Social Fund Contacting your customers Hints and tips

 When listing out the types of customer that you are looking for, be as precise as you can

 Think of all of the possible groups or segments that you might want to target. List them separately. Don’t try to group them together. By being specific it will help you to think about where you may find them. For example you may have on your list: young women; people interested in sports; parents of small children; and young professional business people. Some people might fall into all of those categories but, by looking at them separately, you will find different ways of communicating with them.

 When thinking about where you will find your target customers, don’t just stop after the first item – think of all the possible places that you may find them. Don’t just think of physical locations either – you might be able to contact some via intermediaries .

 When looking at how to contact groups of customers it is tempting, once you have worked out where you will find them to say “I’ll drop off some business cards or leaflets”. Think more creatively – find ways of getting to meet and talk to customers directly (if appropriate).

 If you are selling a service that people will consume at home such as gardening, window-cleaning or handyman services, then that may be the best way of contacting customers – at their homes.

 If you are selling to businesses (especially if you are selling to small businesses) don’t rely on looking for them only on high streets or in business parks. They may be home based, or in small out-of-the-way premises. Think about where else you may find those business owners.

 Once you have completed your plan, use it to guide your actions. Update it as you learn more about your customers and what works. Keep it and refer back to it. If something has worked well once, it will probably work well again, and again.

The Doing Good Business Programme is funded by Big Lottery and the European Social Fund