Any of you who have followed my writing or have worked with me know I'm a huge believer in profiling target audiences. Even though B2B sales is about one business selling to another, it's people who make a business and make business decisions. As such, it's people who receive, react or ignore our marketing messages. So, it's people we communicate with and to.
People are people. And the more we know about the person we're telling our stories and offering calls to action to, the better our odds of connecting and engaging the people who make and influence decisions.
This homework -- profiling our target audience -- is critical to sales success. Yes, even in B2B complex sales.
Once you understand what makes your target audience tick -- their wants, needs, desires, biases, influences, authority, limitations, fears, etc. -- you speak to them in terms they best understand. That's how you're noticed and heard.
The worldview you construct by profiling your customer becomes the lens through which you target prospects.
I don't believe profiling customers is a secret of sales success. Rather it's a skill successful marketers and salespeople master -- sometimes unconsciously. We should all work to master the this critical marketing and sales skill.
Savvy B2B Marketing has two nice posts on this subject I suggest you read: the importance of establishing buyer personas and how to use personas to shape your message using tools such as white papers.
What do you think?
Do you see the value of profiling target customers? Or is establishing a buyer persona a waste of time? Why?
