When you hear the term ideal client or ideal client profile, a lot of people stick with
demographics, like age and income and stuff like that.
But those are just specific characteristics you can plus into an ad target.
They’re not substantive and they sure don’t mean you can now know how to market to someone
well.
The problem you fix for clients, that’s the real thing that identifies your ideal
client.
When it comes to selling, we want to keep our focus on the problem we solve for our
clients.
But, the mistake we often make is that we focus on the external problem and ignore the
internal problem.
You see, people buy a solution to an internal problem, and justify the purchase because
it solves an external problem.
So what do I mean by this external vs. internal thing?
Let’s dig in…
Hey y’all!
Savanna Bell here with My Massage World where I give business advice and strategies for
the real world and it’s time to get into what you’re really solving for clients.
So, an external problem is something tangible or obvious, like the back pain someone is
experiencing.
An internal problem on the other hand, is the emotional baggage created due to that
external problem, like the guilt of not being able to play with their child because of their
back pain.
When you put out a newsletter or a social media post, speak to a potential client, write
your website copy, or do anything else to market your massage practice, it is vital
to address both the internal and external problems.
Here’s a great example of a company that focuses almost entirely on marketing to their
customer’s internal problem…CarMax.
If you’ve ever seen their commercials, been to their dealership, or if you hop over to
their website, you’ll see that they don’t talk about how great their cars are, how they
have the most high-end amenities, or really anything about the actual cars they sell.
The need for a car is an external problem.
What makes them so different, and probably the biggest reason for their success, is that
they separated themselves from all other car dealers by focusing their business model and
their marketing to address the internal problem of their audience…the contempt for the typical
car buying experience.
I mean, next to lawyers and politicians, car salesmen are probably among the most criticized
professionals out there.
When people talk about someone with unethical sales techniques, they will almost certainly
compare them to a used car salesman.
Just walking into a dealership is stressful for most people, and CarMax is focusing on
that internal problem.
They take the stress out of being sold to.
They take the stress out of negotiating.
They completely turned the typical car buying experience on its head, and they’re wildly
successful because of it.
They solve an internal problem, and they market to that internal problem almost exclusively.
In fact, if you look at a lot of advertisements on television, in magazines, and online, you’ll
see that the majority of them focus on the internal problem they solve.
Advil and Tylenol commercials talk about the benefits (external) while showing people enjoying
their life without pain (internal).
Cosmetic ads show their array of products and colors (external) while showing smiling
beautiful people having fun (internal).
If you notice, it’s about making people feel good; about getting back to their lives,
or living the life they want, but don’t think they can have for whatever reason.
So what are you solving for your clients?
Do you only speak of the pain you can help to resolve?
Or do you go deeper than that and speak to the internal problem?
Explain to them how they can get back into their favorite hobby, like golfing or hiking
(internal), once you’ve helped rid them of their pain (external).
Tell them how they’ll be able to enjoy their work (internal) without suffering from frequent
headaches (external).
Show them how they can be the fun grandparent (internal) once that hip pain is eased (external).
Show them they can feel more like the mom they want to be (internal) when they have
the energy and stress-free mind they need (external).
These are just a few examples, but use this to get your wheels turning on how to speak
to your audience in the most effective ways.
Remember, people buy a solution to an internal problem, and justify the purchase logically
because it solves an external problem.
So what problem are you solving for clients.
I’d love to see what you come up with in the comments, and I’m happy to help you
tweak the basic messaging into something very specific for your audience.
Thanks for watching and be sure to check us out at MyMassageWorld.com, follow us on Facebook
and Instagram, subscribe to our channel on YouTube, sign up for our emails, join our
Facebook group, and keep an eye out for updates, business tips, free content, and all kinds
of other goodies to help you grow your massage practice.
See you next time!