A customer avatar is a fictional character that represents your ideal prospect.

When
complete, it will help you understand the motivating beliefs, fears and secret desires
that influence your customer's buying decisions. Your customer avatar will help you
fine tune your marketing efforts and help you understand why some products sell
better than others. It also helps expose important gaps or conflicts in your marketing
messages of which you may be unaware. This one exercise can lead to a dramatic
transformation in your business.

If you sell to businesses, include what industry your customers are in, how many
employees they have, how much annual revenue they generate, etc. If you sell to
consumers or end users, include relevant demographic information such as age,
education, household income and family status.

Answer each question so that your customer avatar as real to you as a living human
being.

1) Think about your ideal customer

Name? _________________________________ Age? ______ Married? _____

Children?______ Lives where? ____________________________ School Attended?
________________________ Job Title? _______________________________
Profession? _______________________________ Household Income?
_____________________ Hair color? ______ Eyes? ____Weight? _______

(for B2B customers)

Industry? _______________________________

Sells to? _________________________________

Annual Revenue? _______________________

Number of Employees? __________________

Located at? ____________________________

Years in Business? ________________________

2. Now, flesh out the personal details. This will help you better understand your
customer prospects and dramatically improve your marketing efforts:

How many years in current position?______

Current salary? __________________________

How many jobs held during course of career?

______________________________________

Political views? __________________________

Religious views? _________________________

Personal interests ______________________

Hobbies _______________________________

3. Go deeper. Think about a typical day in the life of your ideal customer
prospect.

Favorite brands?
______________________________________________________________
Favorite Web sites?
______________________________________________________________

Source for breaking news?

________________________________________________________

Source for industry or business news?

_______________________________________________ Uses Twitter?(yes/no)
______ Facebook? ______ LinkedIn? ______ Other? _____________

Personal goals:
______________________________________________________________

Business goals:
______________________________________________________________
Family goals:
______________________________________________________________
4. List at least 3 problems your ideal customer is having that makes them an
ideal customer for your business.
1. ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2.
________________________________________________________________
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3.
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5. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to your ideal customer if
their problem isn't eventually solved?

____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________

How would this make your customer feel?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

How might their boss react?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

What would their friends think?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

What could happen to their career or personal lifestyle?

____________________________________________________________________
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What could be the financial consequences?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

What could be the professional consequences?

____________________________________________________________________
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What could be the personal consequences?

____________________________________________________________________
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What is your customer secretly afraid of?

____________________________________________________________________
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6. What is the best thing that could possibly happen to your ideal customer if
their problem is solved?

____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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What would their perfect solution look like?

____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________

What is it that they really want, more than anything else?

____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________

What would they be willing to pay almost anything for?

____________________________________________________________________
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How can your product or service match up to your customer's real needs and
desires? How can your business help solve your customer's problems? What is
it that you are trying to provide your customers?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
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7. Now, create a short story about your customer avatar.

Include details about their life and professional background. Explain what impact a
problem is having. How is this problem making your customer feel? What types of
frustrations does your customer keep having? What does your customer need more
than anything? How can your business best provide the product or service thats
needed most? Write down your story here. Make as many copies of this page as
necessary, or use additional sheets of paper:

______________________________________________________________________
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Review your customer avatars on a regular basis to make sure that your marketing
efforts are directed to their needs and desires.