When I start working with a business, we spend a lot of time defining the
customer: What they look like, where they shop, where they live, demographics, age, sex. Why? Because you cannot market to your customer until you really
understand what makes them tick.
So, we have done our homework and truly understand our customer, and now we are ready to design a marketing campaign to woo them. Right? Maybe not.
Sometimes the customer is not the client. What?
Let me give you an example. You are a high-end wedding florist. Your customer is the bride-to-be (this one is easy.) But florists typically market to wedding planners, wedding venues, and caterers – the folks who will refer them to brides. These are their clients. The way this plays out is the wedding planner or caterer refers you, the florist, who will meet and contract with the bride. Once the job is completed, you will pay the referral source a commission.
So – while your website is designed to entice the bride-to-be (your customer), your marketing efforts will focus on the wedding planner or caterer (your client). More and more solopreneurs and entrepreneurs are recognizing that this referral source commission model is the way business gets done in today’s world.
