Customer-focused culture is everything. After all, serving our customers is what we’re here to do, right? When you take care of your patrons, they take care of you—and tell everyone they know about how much they love your business. One of the best ways to provide exceptional customer service is to understand your customer. The customer profile can help you do that. In this article, we discuss the basics of a customer profile, along with 20 customer profile questions that will help you build your own.
What is a customer profile?
A customer profile paints a picture of your current or target audience. You can create in-depth profiles to understand your customers on a deeper level and use that information to better serve them. You can create a profile in any format you’d like, whatever helps you visualize your audience the most. Here are a few ideas that might help you build your profiles:- Create a separate document for each of your target customers. For example, if one of the groups you are targeting is young families with children, you will create a profile document for that group.
- Consider using stock images to help you visualize your customer. You may find that visuals help fuel your brainstorming process as you dive into your customers’ needs.
- Make the creation of your customer profiles a group effort by opening the discussion to your team. Group brainstorms can give you multiple perspectives and open doors to new ideas. Tip: Try free brainstorming platforms like Mind Meister to map your thoughts.
- Use the 20 questions below to take notes on your customers’ motivations, roadblocks, needs, and wants—among other identifying factors. Leave space to note actions that you can take to further cater to that target audience category.
20 Questions to Improve Your Customer Profiles
- How would you describe your typical customer?
- What do your customers have in common?
- What age is your typical customer?
- What types of jobs do your customers usually have?
- What problem does your business solve for your customers?
- How do your customers usually shop: online or in-store?
- What level of education do your customers usually have?
- Do your customers generally live in rural or urban areas?
- Where do your customers get their information—news, ads, etc.?
- What are your customers’ typical motivations and interests?
- What keeps your customers coming back?
- What is a frequent compliment you hear from your customers?
- What would keep your customer from buying from you?
- What is your customer passionate about?
- What is your customer actively against?
- How do your customers usually find your business?
- What makes your customers choose you over the competition?
- What do your customers worry about the most?
- What do your customers do on a typical weekday?
- What hobbies do your customers enjoy?
