The Customer Focus Series – Part 1

Know who your customer is…and isn’t.

Can you picture who your customer is? I can. I also know who it isn’t.

We need to make money on every job, so we have to be choosy. At Nolan Painting, we want a middle-income, working family. We are not inexpensive, but we know people will pay for quality.

That’s the demographic we’ve staked out.

Not the very wealthy; they can be overly demanding. We also don’t want to work for third parties such as contractors, builders, or property managers. We don’t want to paint new drywall or do estimates based on construction plans.

We want to paint what we see and then control the event.

I think it is a tricky business already. I’ll never make any money if someone else has control. We meet the customer, make promises, and set expectations. We are all in if it looks like an opportunity for a partnership on a project.

We hire friendly people and then train them.

At Nolan Painting, we hire people who are friendly and teach them how to paint and conduct themselves in people’s homes. We want to ensure we work for nice people, so our brand and marketing efforts attract just those customers. There are thousands and thousands of these people, so there is plenty of opportunity for growth.

Envision your process, A-Z.

I have a vision of how customers should experience our company: I see us coming into your home and making it beautiful. We are so friendly and helpful that you want to share your experience with others. You post an online review telling everybody that Nolan Painting is a remarkable company. You are so happy with the whole experience, you tell your family and friends how great it was. I see you becoming a raving fan, repeatedly calling us to handle more projects.

That’s my vision. First envision how you want your company to operate, A-Z, then think about how you can make that happen. Eventually in this series, we’ll turn our attention to marketing and how to let folks know about the experience you offer. Start with a great process.

Build muscle. See you next week.