METM16 presentation 


Getting to know your ideal client  

Jo Rourke, Saintfield, Northern Ireland 

“Everyone is not your customer.” Or so says Seth Godin. But who exactly are your customers? If you’re going to make any progress on marketing your services, then you need to know who they are. So, where do we start? We start with what we’ve already got. As language service providers we often have a one dimensional way of looking at our client base. We think rates and regularity of work, but it doesn’t give us the whole (holistic) picture. I propose a four step analysis to get to know your ideal client, looking at the Four Rs of client collaboration:
 
Relationship
Reliability
Return 
Reward
 
By the end of this first exercise, we’ll have learnt the questions to ask to assess our current client base. Once we’ve established the clients we like, we will produce a profile for clients we really want to work with. I will give you ideas on the questions to ask, the information to seek and where to find it.
 
We then need to establish your clients' needs and show potential clients what they actually get from working with you. They don’t care that you’re smart (that’s a given). They care that you solve their problems. 
 
By the end of the presentation, you’ll have learnt how to assess:
 
1. Your current client base (RRRR analysis)
2. Your ideal clients (and how this helps us identify potential ones)
3. Their problems and needs (plus how to communicate them)
 
You’ll receive templates for the RRRR Analysis on your existing clients and the Ideal Company & Client profiles so you can continue the good work after the conference. 


Jo Rourke has worked as a freelancer translator and writer for over 13 years. She started Silver Tongue Translations in 2013, providing translation and content creation in (most of) the major European languages. She recently branched out into delivering training on content and copywriting for translators. Basically, if words are involved, Jo is on board.