And this is one of the best kept secrets by the top architecture firms in the world.
It really comes down to the fact that you just can’t please everyone. By defining and getting to know your ideal customer (also known as target audience) you will be the most efficient – cost and time efficient that is – at growing your firm. That is because you are also defining everyone who’s not your ideal client.
Imagine all the time that you and your team wastes on non-so-ideal customers’ proposals, all the projects that are not completed because they aren’t a great fit, marketing dollars, etc. Now imagine that all this time is spent on dream clients only. You get the picture. Your architecture practice would thrive.
Why and how to define your ideal customer
Why your practice needs to define a target audience
Let’s be honest. When you are talking to everyone, you are talking to no one. How can a non-expert client decide if architecture firm X is better than architecture firm Y? Plus, there are endless amounts of firms out there, it’s just not easy to stand out from the crowd.
If you want to get more dream projects, at some point you need to make a decision of who you do not want to work with. It’s that simple. And guess what, the more dream projects you get – and then tell the world all about your dream project – the more dream projects will come to you.
And most importantly, defining your ideal customer is the most efficient way to grow your business. You will only spend resources – people, time and money to name a few – in getting dream projects from ideal customers.
How to define who is your ideal customer
The process of defining your ideal customer is basically a series of decisions – but nothing is set in stone as you can always adjust on the go and test the market.
The first decision, and you probably already have the answer to it, is; who you love to serve and why? What are the clients are your dream projects, that sparks joy and you are the most interested in for whatever reason. Then, you will need to figure out which problem these clients care about the most.
That’s where your firm comes in. All your messaging, your service offerings, marketing have one purpose, to solve the problem your ideal customers care the most about.
If this sounds like a daunting task, you can lean on experts. Brand strategists are trained to walk business through this process. The results will have a great impact on your business as they will change how you do business and who you do business for. But trust us, it will make life easier.
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In summary, stop allocating your resources chasing projects and clients that are not beneficial or of interest to your business. Instead, invest time in a brand strategy process to define your ideal customers and how to evolve your business to cater to them – and no one else. We can’t say this enough, this is the fastest and most efficient way to grow your architecture business.