The sixth eBook in the Foundations category. It walks the customer choice in detail - the cost of trying to serve everyone, the four-criteria fit test, the high-value segment patterns to look for, the profile sheet that turns a segment into a real person, and the way to commit to a first target market without closing doors forever.
Members ebook·5 chapters· 15 minute read
Chapter 2
Customer Fit and Buying Likelihood
The two-axis test that ranks plausible customer segments by how well they fit and how likely they are to buy.
Most small businesses can list four or five plausible customer segments without difficulty. The plumber can serve homeowners, landlords, lettings agencies, building firms or commercial sites. The therapist can serve workplace stress, anxiety, couples work, adolescents or grief. The shop can serve interior designers, retail customers, gift buyers or trade. Listing them is easy. Ranking them is the work.
This chapter gives you the two-axis test. One axis is how well a segment fits the business - what you're set up to do well, what you enjoy, what you're known for. The other axis is how likely they are to buy - reachability, decision speed, lifetime value, price tolerance. The combination ranks the segments cleanly.
By the end of this chapter you'll have a shortlist of two segments to take into the next chapter and decide between.
The full chapter has the customer-fit scorecard, the buying-likelihood scorecard, the two-axis grid and three worked rankings.
The customer-fit scorecard
Customer fit - score each plausible segment
Do you have evidence you serve them well already?
Does your team enjoy working with them?
Do they value what makes you different?
Do they fit the price point you actually want to charge?
Could you serve them well as the business grows?
Score each question one to five for each segment. The total out of 25 is the fit score. Anything below 15 isn't a serious candidate, however attractive the buying-likelihood score looks. Forcing yourself to serve a segment you don't fit is a slow loss.
The buying-likelihood scorecard
Buying likelihood - score each plausible segment
How easy is this segment to reach with our budget and channels?
How fast does this segment typically decide?
How big is the lifetime value of one customer in this segment?
Is the price we want to charge inside what they're used to paying?
Are there enough of them locally or online to support the business?
Same scoring, one to five each, total out of 25. Together with the fit score you have a 50-point ranking that puts the segments in honest order.
The two-axis grid
Plot the segments on a simple grid - fit score on one axis, buying-likelihood score on the other. Anything in the top-right corner is a candidate. Anything in the bottom-left is not. The middle is where the conversation gets interesting - segments that fit you well but are slow to buy, or segments that buy fast but you don't fit. Those are the ones you decide about deliberately.
Three worked rankings
The plumber
Homeowners: high fit, low buying-likelihood (slow decisions, lower lifetime value). Landlords: high fit, high buying-likelihood (fast decisions, contract revenue). Building firms: medium fit, medium buying-likelihood. Commercial sites: low fit, high buying-likelihood. The shortlist is landlords and building firms.
The therapist
Workplace stress: high fit, high buying-likelihood (employer referrals, package buyers). Anxiety: high fit, medium buying-likelihood. Couples: medium fit, medium. Adolescents: low fit, medium. The shortlist is workplace stress and anxiety.
The copywriter
B2B software: high fit, high buying-likelihood (clear pain, named role buying). Professional services: high fit, medium. E-commerce: medium fit, high. Local trades: low fit, medium. The shortlist is B2B software and professional services.
What to do this week
List the four or five plausible customer segments for your business. Score each one against both scorecards. Plot them on the grid. Take the top two into chapter three.
The recurring principle this chapter sits on is prove demand before spending heavily. The grid is a cheap way to test where demand actually sits before the marketing budget is committed. The next chapter, High-Value Customer Segments, looks at the patterns that distinguish a high-value segment from a merely plausible one.
The rest of this chapter walks through the practical steps, the templates and the checklists you need to put it into action. It includes worked examples, copy frameworks and the small decisions that make the difference between a plan that sits in a drive and one that gets used.
Inside you'll find a step-by-step playbook, a downloadable template, a checklist you can run this week and a short list of common mistakes to avoid before you start.
The full action plan, broken into weekly steps.
Ready-to-use scripts, templates and checklists.
Worked examples for different sized businesses.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
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