How to Find Your Ideal CSA Customer

Who are your CSA customers?

I mean… really.

Do you know?

Actually, let me back up… who is your ideal CSA customer?

Because if you’re like me, you’ve got all kinds of CSA clients. 

You’ve probably got some who are beginners, some who are ho-hum about the whole thing, and others who are raving fans.

But let me ask you a questions: if you could sell to just one kind of CSA customer  — what would they be like?

Who is your ideal customer?

Let’s focus on those raving fans… what could you tell me about them?  

Answering this question is probably one of the most important things you can ever do for your business.

Who is your ideal customer?

The Hertzfelds are some of our most loyal CSA clients. What do I need to know about them?…

Are they male or female? How old are they? What are their hobbies? Why did they sign up for YOUR CSA and not someone else’s? What do they say they love about you? Why do they love buying vegetables from you? How do they cook your food? How’d they hear about you? Where do they shop? Do they have kids?

Allow me to let you in on a little secret I recently learned:

The more you know about your “ideal” CSA customer, the better.

In fact marketing gurus will tell you that the first thing you must do before preparing your marketing strategy is identify this ideal customer and learn everything you can about them.

You have to get inside their head and know how they think, how they talk, and why they buy.

Because once you have this information, it becomes a whole lot easier to figure out how to talk to them and find more of them.

In the marketing world, the term for this kind of perfect customer is “Ideal Customer Avatar” — or “ICA” for short.

Why does knowing your ideal customer avatar matter so much?

Have you ever heard the phrase: “If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one”?

Every product has its perfect audience.

• An expectant mom will suddenly become very interested in researching different car seats.
• A new puppy owner will suddenly want to know everything they can about dog obedience and how to buy the perfect collar.

Use a tool like this Avatar worksheet to help you get clear on who your customer is.

Likewise, there’s a certain kind of person who will love your CSA.

And if you could sit down and interview a whole bunch of CSA foodie lovers, you’d find out that they actually have a lot of things in common.

They think a certain way. They talk a certain way. They value certain things.

Trust me, subscription box companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh have done this market research. And you can tell exactly who their customer avatar is just by looking at the fancy brochures they send in the mail, and by how they write the copy on their website.

(Go ahead… check out their websites and see if you can describe who they are targeting).

What if you took the time to get to know your perfect fit customer too?

Now I remember, when we first started our CSA 10 years ago we just wanted to fill our CSA with warm bodies. I didn’t have the luxury of asking myself, “Are they a good fit?”

And over the years, some of these people would stay, and some would move on.

But after a while, I began to notice that a certain kind of customer thrived in our CSA.

In fact, they stood out a mile away.

And one year, I had a brilliant idea: What if I called them up and interviewed them?

I can now say that this was the single most valuable thing I ever did in my business.

Why?

Because I figured out who my ideal customer avatar was.

After talking with 30 of my best customers, there were noticeable patterns in their behavior and mindset. They did certain things:

• They talked about how much they loved food.
• They liked to experiment in the kitchen.
• They liked cooking.
• They seemed to love buying local and organic.
• They liked variety.
• They lingered and talked to me at pick up sites.
• They cared about the environment.
• They were on Facebook.
• They wanted their kids to eat healthy.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

They also talked a certain way. I was able to write down phrases that appeared over and over again like “knowing where my food comes from.” And “fresh quality ingredients.” And “I wanted to support local.”

Armed with this knowledge, I changed the way I tried to sell my CSA.

I stopped trying to sell to everyone. And I started talking only to my ICA.

My customers love to interact with each other now. I have found the perfect collection of foodies who see themselves as a community.

See here’s the thing… not everyone is an ideal CSA customer.

You know this is true. But it was a hard lesson to learn.

I used to try to turn everyone into a CSA member. I thought anyone could eventually learn to love the CSA way.

But I have since embraced the reality that no matter what I do — no matter how much support I provide, no matter how much I try to teach them how to eat my food —  CSA is not for everyone.

And that’s okay.

The minute you become crystal clear about who your ideal customer is, you will be able to draw a line in the sand and say, “This is who my product is for…”

But perhaps even more important, you will also be able to say: “This is who my product is NOT for.”

(And not feel bad about it.)

Great messaging attracts as much as it repels.

And only once I got clear about who my target audience was, did things get a whole lot clearer for me.

• I spoke to the feelings, problems and desires of my “perfect fit customer” in my ad copy.
• I knew what to write about on the sales pages.
• I knew what kinds of lead magnets would attract my ideal customer.
• I knew what kinds of stories to tell that would tap into their feelings and ultimately lead to a sale.

This is the power of knowing your ideal customer.

So how do you figure out who your ICA is?

I use a tool called the Customer Avatar Worksheet.

This worksheet helps you create a kind of “profile” of your perfect world customer.

Here’s how to use the tool. Imagine the person that you would love to work with. Picture that person in your mind and then start describing everything you can about them, using the worksheet prompts.

1. Start with demographics.

Are they male/female? Kids? Age? Education? Location? Employment? Hobbies? Interests. This information will help you when it comes to Facebook advertising and targeting.

2. Go deeper.

But the real gold of this research is getting beyond the demographics. Ask yourself these questions to help you get inside the customer’s motivations and feelings.

1. What problem do you solve for them with your product?
2. Why do they want your product? How does it help them?
3. How do they feel before they use your product? How do they feel after?
4. What do they value as it relates to your product?
5. Who makes the buying decision?
6. What objections do they have to buying your product?

A great way to mine this information is to send out a customer survey.

With a few carefully chosen questions, geared at getting this very data, you can see your customer’s very words — which can later be used to help you write sales pages and ad copy.

FYI: If you need some step by step help with this process, I have an online course called Customer Research Bootcamp. This course will walk you through the process of HOW to do customer research, what questions to ask your customers to get the most helpful intel, how to analyze the data, and how to apply it to your marketing collateral. You’ll walk away with a detailed Customer Avatar profile that will help you target more of your ideal customers and know how to talk to them to attract them.

Learn more about the course here.

Another way to get this information is to interview your best clients on the phone.

One of my customers makes a mixed drink from one of our CSA box ingredients EVERY week. Our ideal client is a foodie through and through.

I did this with 30 of my best customers — and asked them all kinds of questions trying to get at these core questions. After a while you start to hear themes.

Whether you use surveys or telephone interviews — diving into your ideal customer’s head is the key to building your marketing strategy.

I wish I’d known this strategy 8 years ago. It would have saved me a whole lot of heartache and money.

Don’t skip this step. Do the research. Take the time.

Not only will you start seeing more leads, you’ll be a whole lot clearer about who your ideal customer is so you can find more of them.

So stop trying to sell your CSA to everyone.

Figure out who your product is perfect for… get into their heads. Learn everything you can about them, how they speak and think and feel.

Then talk to THEM, using their own words in all your marketing assets.

When you tap into that secret lingo with your marketing message, look out.

Everything changes.

Enjoyed this blogpost? Ready to dive in and research your customer?

I have an online course called Customer Research Bootcamp. This course will walk you through the process of HOW to do customer research, what questions to ask your customers to get the most helpful intel, how to analyze the data, and how to apply it to your marketing collateral. You’ll walk away with a detailed Customer Avatar profile that will help you target more of your ideal customers and know how to talk to them to attract them.

Learn more about the course here.