“They’re not buying.” George jumped right to business as our coffees cooled. He was right,of course. In three words, he had summed up the last month – a month in which he had issued nearly 30 proposals for surveying services, not one of which had become a paying job.

“Why aren’t they buying?” I asked.

“They say it’s more than they were expecting to pay and I think they’re talking to other surveyors, shopping around for a better price.”

“Who is they?” I continued to pry.

“It seems like most of them are women in their fifties who own a home, are constructing a fence, and want to know where their property lines are located,” he replied without hesitation.

I was amazed. “Wow! You really know your customers! Now, we just need to figure out what compels them to purchase surveying services.”

Without even realizing it, George had already taken a huge step towards refining his sales approach – he had identified, very specifically, his target customer and what their needs were. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the marketing message that causes a female homeowner in her 50’s to want to purchase a boundary survey is different than that of a contractor needing construction staking.

Too often, we make assumptions about our customers that are based on our feelings rather than real data. By looking closely at the statistics that characterize our typical customer or prospect, we can tailor a message that is much more likely to win their business. Age. Sex. Profession. Interests. Hobbies. Nothing is off limits when it comes to figuring out what makes them tick.

As technical professionals with a passion for what we do, it is tempting to assume our customers’ interests and hot buttons are aligned with our own. So, we usually end up marketing our services as if we’re selling to other engineers. Just look at the web sites of your competition (or your own, if you’re brave). How many of them say something about using the latest in design technology or boast about innovative solutions? Does your target customer really give a rip? It’s likely that they are more concerned with how, specifically, you’re going to save them money and time rather than what version of CAD software you’re using.

For George, tailoring a compelling sales message to an audience of women homeowners in their fifties required some serious re-evaluation of his sales approach. This customer was more accustomed to dealing with plumbers and gardeners and really had no appreciation for the value that a good land surveyor could provide. George needed to convince his prospects that they should make an investment in locating their property corners that, in some cases, would cost more than the fence they wanted to build. Not an easy task by any means, but certainly more productive than crafting a vague sales message to a general audience.

Before you waste a lot of brain power guessing at what your future customers need to hear in order to make a purchase decision, spend some time getting to know who your customers are. Talk to them. Ask them questions. The answers may surprise you. Or maybe they’ll tell you that their primary concern in hiring an engineer is whether or not you’re using the latest technology…yeah, right.