Picture one person. Is this person a male or female? What does she/he look like (for simplicity sake I am going to use “he" in this example)?



How old is he? Where does he live? What does he wear? What does he drive? What does he do for a living? What does he do in his free time? What does he need? What does he want? What thing does he want that he won'’ admit to?

What thing does he say he wants but in reality he doesn’t? What are his friends like? What’s a typical week like for this gentleman? Is he married or single? Gay or straight? Religious or not?

And perhaps more importantly: why? Why does he drive the car he drives? Why does he live where he lives, wear what he wears, and work where he works? Why does he buy the things he does and do the things he does? (Hint: there’s a big difference in attitude between someone who drives a Hummer and someone who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid car).

Ok, now the only hard bit, write all this down on a list, then tidy it up, so what do we have on this list?

We have your ideal customer, and if you spent some time just writing everything about this person that came into your head, you probably also have a list of his desires. Now let’s look at your product and see how its benefits coincide with your ideal customer’s desires.

List out the features, benefits and outcomes of your product (e.g., what will happen if someone uses your product). Don’t accept the surface benefit – go deeper to get at your target market’s true desires.

For example, a dog training product may help your customer get a well-mannered dog who doesn’t chew or bark inappropriately, the dog comes when called, and knows other obedience commands.

These are what I call “surface" benefits. Your job is to dig deeper. Ask yourself WHY would someone want a well-mannered dog? When you ask this question, you may find yourself listing a whole other set of benefits (deeper benefits, or desires).

For example, a dog owner might want a well-mannered dog so that they can leave for the day and not worry about the neighbors complaining about the barking. Or perhaps they want to protect their $5000 leather furniture from the destructive chewer.

Perhaps the potential customer wants a well-mannered dog in part because of the compliments she receives when she’s in public with the dog. “Oh wow, your dog is so well-behaved" will put a smile on any dog owner’s face.

Yet another dog owner may use his dog to help attract women. If he has a well-mannered dog, he’ll likely do better getting phone numbers the next time he walks his dog at the park. Dogs – and particularly puppies – are like magnets and great conversation starters!

Do you see how we’re tapping into the customer’s deeper desires? On the surface the owner may want a dog who doesn’t jump on people, but the deeper desire is to have a well-mannered dog that will help him land a few dates with attractive women.