Everyone Is Not Your Customer
Everyone is not your customer is one of the basic principles of marketing said, Seth Godin. Every business, every product has its own target customers and users. Not everyone will like it or use it or be its customer. BUT still, when we start a business or develop a product, we try to relate it with everyone and say that everyone will be my customer. BUT it does not work that way.
I was working with an MNC in the plastic & automotive segment. As we were MNC, and we had our own value addition proposals, our customer segment was also resonating the same. Organizations who are interested in technical solutions with an annual turnover of a minimum of INR 5Cr were our customers. We knew customers with below that turnover cannot afford our prices and expectations of that customer are different. So, out of 100 prospects in Pune, who needs our products, our target was for only 20 customers, who need the product with value addition we are providing.
Similarly, for my startup Diwaly.com, one of the criteria was, organizations having more than 20 employees and a minimum spending interest of INR 500/- per person. Below that will not help me make a profitable deal. There were few other criteria as well BUT this was the basic.
I realized the importance of the statement during the Diwaly period only when I had data from more than 5000 companies and did not know how to pitch all of them. Only mailers don’t work to convert a customer. I took 3 days only thinking about how to define my customer. Whom I should send only mails, whom I should call and generate a lead, and whom I should directly pitch and try to convert. Because calling 5000 people was not possible and visiting 500 people is also not possible. So, targeting and planning as per defined customer segments is helpful. If it is not done properly, one may result in wasting a lot of time instead of investing the same.
One of my friends challenged my statement and said for Google everyone is the customer. Everyone uses it, in all categories. All demographics, from India to Japan to America; economy-wise, poor, rich & middle class, all age group, etc. everyone is Google’s customer. Such was his statement. BUT understand, these are their users & assets BUT not customers. We use Google’s services for our convenience and for free. We do not pay Google any penny to use Gmail or Google maps. BUT of course, who uses more than 15GB on Google Drive is Google’s customer. Customers are the ones who are paying Google in different forms like ads or other subscriptions. Rest all are assets Google has created to attract customers and earn. The same is the case with Facebook. Of course, it also has Age restrictions. BUT still, customers are different and Assets/users are different.
In one of the campaigns, SBI claimed to have everyone as their customer. Like the one who delivers Milk / Paper and who accepts it. Both are their customers. BUT here we must realize, products offered by SBI for both people are different. There is still a difference! So, if we want everyone to be our customer, we need to add our product segment and pitch accordingly. Just like LIC also has different products to pitch to different categories of customers.
Everyone is not your customer and you need to define customers wisely -this is the basics of sales and marketing. As we apply this, many of our hurdles will be solved, we can target precisely, invest time and budget effectively and we can see a boost in sales.
Few of the different categories of customers can be defined as follows. Of course, it is a big subject and can be explained in a separate article. Here I am just giving an introduction.
A. Age Group — Some products are fit for a particular age group like 0 to 1, or 1 to 5, 5 to 18, above 18, above 35 or something. Based on a product it can be defined. It can be very commonly seen in the clothing industry, entertainment industry, food industry.
B. Demographics — City wise, region wise, weather condition-wise, country wise, culture-wise the product and use can be different. Accordingly, our target customers will be different. Few products liked by urban ladies may not be accepted by rural women or vice-versa. Weather-wise requirements may differ. Winter in Maharashtra differs from winter in Punjab. Summer in India differs from summer in Australia.
Similar to the above examples, there can be more criteria as Monthly income, annual turnover, education background, Society location, Sex, Culture, etc. When you are preparing the sales plan, all these points must be brainstormed and the target customer must be selected accordingly.
Also, along with this, these days, we get extensive data from Google, FB, etc about customer interests. We can analyze and update the customer definition. New tools must be adopted and used.
As we work on defining our customer base, we should also use the reverse approach as the Omission process. We can also define the criteria who will not be our customers. Such working helps you to create your focus and apply energy and budget accordingly.
Defining a target audience helps you to define your positioning in the market. Finding the limited scope/target audience will also help to stay away from the competition you do not compete with. So, let others concentrate on everyone & fail. You keep action towards success.
P.S. — If you think that for some product “Everyone is the customer” please comment. We can discuss on the same.
