The greater the clarity you have about who your ideal customer is, the better you’ll be able to serve them — and if you don’t already know who these customers are, the new year is the perfect time to start developing that understanding. Here are three tips for understanding your ideal customer:

Who is the ideal buyer for your product?

Do you know how old your ideal customer is? What about their income and education levels? What are their hobbies, fears, and dreams? Understanding your ideal customer means understanding both their demographic and their psychographics.

Think about your product from the customer’s point of view.

Think about the problem your products solve for your ideal customer. What needs does this customer have? How does your product improve their lives? Try to determine which of your product’s specific benefits your ideal customer needs the most. What is it about your product that makes your ideal customer want to do business with you and not somebody else?

Understand when and where they buy.

Understanding the geographic location of your ideal customer is essential. But it is just as essential to understand what time of year, month, and even day your ideal customer shops. Develop a clear picture of how your customer goes about buying your product — do you sell an impulse-buy product, like a chocolate bar, or something that requires more deliberation, like a pricey mountain bike? What, and for how long, does your ideal customer consider when making a buying decision?

Pausing to reflect on who your ideal customer is — and how they might have changed — is an excellent way to welcome the new year. One of the many benefits of joining AFEUSA is discounts on services that can help you do just that, like First American Payment Processing. They do so much more than process payments — they even offer a sales growth coaching session with a step-by-step traffic acquisition plan from their partner marketing agency, which members can access for just $700! Access your First American discount now.