Most small businesses attract the wrong customers because their message is aimed at everybody, so the people who respond are whoever happens to be looking, not the people who are a great fit. The fix is to get clear on the one type of customer you serve best, learn what problem they urgently want solved, and speak directly to that problem everywhere you show up.
If you've ever had a month full of customers who haggled over every detail, disappeared after the first meeting, or never seemed happy no matter what you did, you're not alone. And it's usually not because you're bad at what you do. It's because your marketing invited them in.
In more than 40 years as an entrepreneur, I've made this mistake myself, and I've watched countless business owners make it too. Here's why it happens and what to do about it.
Why does marketing to "everybody" bring in the wrong people?
When your message tries to speak to everyone, it connects with no one, so you end up with whoever is left over.
I hear it all the time. Someone asks a business owner who they help, and the answer is "anyone who wants to grow their business" or "anyone who wants to feel better." It sounds friendly and open. But nobody hears that and thinks, "That's me!"
One of my longtime mentors said something I've never forgotten: "Your target market does not have a credit card. A person does." A market is a category. A customer is a real person with a specific frustration, a specific goal, and a specific reason to buy. If your marketing doesn't describe that person, the RIGHT people walk right past it.
The truth is simple: if you're marketing to everybody, you're marketing to nobody.
What are the signs you're attracting the wrong customers?
You can usually spot the pattern in your own week. Watch for these signs:
- People mostly ask about price before they ask about results
- Prospects say "I'll think about it" and you never hear from them again
- You spend more time explaining what you do than actually doing it
- Your hardest customers rarely refer anyone to you
- Your referral partners aren't sure who to send your way
- You say yes to work you don't enjoy because "business is business"
If two or three of those sound familiar, the problem is probably not your skills. It's your clarity.
Why does assuming you know your customer backfire?
Assuming stops you from listening, and when you stop listening, you start pitching to people who were never your customer in the first place.
Here's something that happens to me all the time. Someone selling CBD pain cream walks up and immediately starts telling me how much it will help my pain. My pain? I never said I was in pain. They assumed. They jumped straight into features instead of asking a single question.
That's what "everybody is my customer" looks like in real life. It feels pushy to the wrong person, and it never earns the trust of the RIGHT one. Your best customers want to feel understood before they feel sold to.
Is your best customer the one who pays the most?
No. Your best customer is the one who creates the most value for your business over time, through loyalty, repeat business, referrals and an easy working relationship.
When I owned my tutoring business, some families came for a short while and then disappeared. Others stayed for years. One family stayed with us from the time their child was in first grade all the way through college. They trusted us, they referred other families, and they were a joy to work with. On paper they didn't look extraordinary at first. Over the years, they were worth far more than many customers who paid more up front.
So when you picture your RIGHT customer, don't just ask "who pays the most?" Ask:
- Who was easiest to work with?
- Who referred others to me?
- Who respected my expertise and actually used my advice?
- Who would I happily work with again and again?
How do you start attracting the RIGHT customers?
Start by describing one specific customer and the problem they want solved, then build your message around their result, not your services.
I learned this the hard way. My tutoring business message used to be "I offer tutoring." Accurate, but flat. Then I realized parents weren't really buying tutoring. They were buying relief from nightly homework battles after long workdays. So we changed the message to: "No More Homework Headaches. Get Your Family Time Back." Same business. Same services. Completely different response.
Here's a simple way to start this week:
- Write down how you describe your audience today. Be honest, even if it's "everybody."
- List your five best customers, past or present. Note what they have in common.
- Name the one problem those customers wanted solved most. Use their words, not industry words.
- Rewrite your description as "I help [specific person] get [result they care about]."
- Test it on a referral partner. If they instantly think of someone to send you, you're on the right track.
Being specific doesn't mean turning everyone else away. It means giving the RIGHT people a reason to recognize themselves, and giving everyone else a clear picture of who to send your way.
If you'd like a complete, step-by-step system for this, it's exactly what I teach in ACT, the marketing program I helped build. ACT stands for Analysis, Creation and Traffic: first you get clear on who your best customers really are, then you create messages that speak to them, and only then do you decide where to show up. Most business owners do it backwards, starting with traffic, which is why so much marketing brings in the wrong people.
What changes once you get clear?
Almost everything gets easier. When business owners get clear about who they want to attract, networking conversations go better, referrals improve, and marketing messages connect faster. The tactics don't magically change. The strategy does.
One of the best ways I know to become the obvious choice for your RIGHT customers is to write a book about the problem you solve. A book does the explaining for you, so people arrive already trusting you. If you've ever thought about writing one, here's how I help business owners get published.
You don't need more leads. You need the RIGHT leads.
Want the whole roadmap? My free ebook, Attract the RIGHT Customers, walks you through my A.T.T.R.A.C.T. Framework step by step, so you can name your RIGHT customer this week and start speaking straight to them. Every chapter ends with simple action steps. Get your free copy here.
Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend programs I've helped build, use or trust. Learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop attracting bad clients?
Look at your current marketing and ask who it's really speaking to. If it's vague or aimed at everyone, rewrite it for one specific type of customer and the problem they want solved. Clear messages naturally filter out poor fits before they ever call you.
How do I find my ideal customer as a small business?
Start with the customers you already have. List your best ones, look for what they share (their problem, how they found you, why they stayed), and describe that person in one sentence. Then talk to a few of them and ask why they chose you. Their answers will tell you what to say in your marketing.
Won't focusing on a niche cost me business?
Usually the opposite. A specific message is easier to remember and easier to refer. You can still serve other people. You're simply choosing a clear starting point so the RIGHT customers recognize you right away.
How long does it take to start attracting better customers?
That depends on your business and how often you show up where your customers are. What you can do right away is tighten your message. Many owners notice that conversations feel different as soon as they describe their customer and that customer's problem clearly.
Sue is a marketing coach, author and speaker with 40+ years as an entrepreneur, and the former national trainer for Alignable. She teaches business owners how to attract the RIGHT customers. More about Sue
