Start with 2 heaping cups of Google for every version of “design firm” and “branding company” (or whatever you’re looking for) in your city.  Next, add a dash of modern short attention span and click through their websites and see if you can get around easily/find any attractive people who work there. Next, call 3 tablespoons of your friends for recommendations. Stir in an initial meeting or two to bargain down the prices. Sprinkle on buzzwords (like “SEO” and “digital marketing”) and see how they react. Finally, bake at 450 degrees and sign on the dotted line and get the perfect provider for your specific need.

What most people forget, then, is that there’s an equally specific art to being a great client. And more importantly, great clients are crucial to great results.

It’s funny how we often forget this, because so few businesses are operating only on one side of the service provider/client equation. You purchase goods and sell them. You pay for services to sell your services. And as a result, we all have horror stories of bad business deals on both ends. But after they’re over, we bury them away and forget the Golden Rule of Business – be the kind of client you want to have.

If you were baking a delicious cake of Perfect Client, you might follow this recipe instead:

Start with 1 cup of clear expectations of what you’re looking to get and willing to offer. (and if you aren’t sure, know the questions you need to to ask get there). Add a sprinkle of negotiating room on both ends. Stir in 2 tablespoons of email prowess – overly communicate every step of the way about any questions or concerns you have. Add two heaping cups of punctuality, remembering that your quick responses are just important to meeting deadlines as your service provider’s. Add a dash of creativity, honesty and humor to keep the process smooth. Generously drizzle trust and flexibility on top, remembering that you came to this provider for their expertise, not to do it yourself. Finally, bake at 450 degrees with mutual respect for a smooth transition of services.

A well baked Perfect Client cake leaves a service provider feeling full, satisfied and happy to help. This kind of client takes the guesswork out of the process they are paying for. That means better first drafts and fewer angry business “break-ups.” That means walking away before a bad deal is made. That means network recommendations, time saved, and fluffy whipped frosting.

The theme of the hour? …Target Audience.

It seems like a little bit of an obvious conversation, but sometimes – especially among startups and entrepreneurs – it’s actually a very easy thing to neglect. At the beginning stages of something, it’s common to get sucked into the race to revenue. If someone (anyone) is willing to give you money, you’re tempted take it.

BUT, if you have any kind of long-term vision for your business, the “bird in the hand” mentality doesn’t exactly play to your favor. As a company, you have the opportunity to curate – at least to some extent – your customers and clientele, and opening the floodgates is not how to establish that niche you’re excited about.

Why did you start this business? Who do you hope to help? Why is this help needed?

What types of customers and clients make you excited to come to work everyday? You owe it to yourself to put in the hard work to find THOSE people.

In the Brand Landscape questionnaire we send to all new clients, we ask these questions:

Who is your ideal audience? What do they look like? Where do they live? How old are they? Where do they shop, work, and spend free time? What groups do they belong to? Be as detailed as possible.

We ask it this way, because identifying your target market isn’t as simple as saying “single men.” That’s far too broad. And if you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up being nothing to no one. When you start narrowing your descriptors, you’ll find that you can learn a lot about your ideal customer or client. You’ll know where to find them, how to talk to them, and the best way to meet their needs. Most importantly, you’ll know how to build something that resonates with them.

(Photo credit)

As I sat there, I thought about how quick we all were to believe that the only person trying to sell us something was the professor as he tried to convince us of the importance of supply and demand curves… but that couldn’t be further from the truth. While not a single one of my fellow students was uttering a single word in support of the Apple brand or any of its products, our actions speak louder than words.

To my left were at least ten of my peers wearing Apple’s recognizable classic white ear buds – very discretely, I might add. To my right, some friends were exchanging iMessages on their iPhone 5s. And in all directions, were glowing little apple’s-with-a-bite-taken-out, lighting up the silver backs of almost every computer in my 200+ person lecture hall.

As I took this all in, my thoughts immediately go back to the Apple vs. Microsoft television commercial I had seen the night before, and it resonates true with me…

I am a Mac. I say that, because when I purchase an Apple product, I’m not just buying a physical piece of technology; I am buying a part of an identity, a much more abstract value. I am implicitly saying that I, too, want to be “cool” and “personable” instead of “geeky” and “behind-the-times,” and I believe that the Apple product can help me represent this reflection of what I want to be.

Even though most of these considerations occurred on a subconscious level, they were still motivating factors behind my choice – and the choices of all my peers – to purchase our iPhones, our iPods, and our Macbook Pros over all the other phones, music players, and computers on the market. I’m not a computer wiz or a tech expert, I can’t say that I necessarily know of any legitimate facts or data to support why my Apple products are “better,” but I do know I, like many others, have believed and trusted in Apple’s brand promises enough to invest in their culture, in the Apple “experience,” time and time again.

Apple’s founder and CEO Steve Jobs once spoke of Apple’s success in creating loyal and passionate (often ‘cult-like’) customer base, saying:

“Some people say, give the customers what they want, but that’s not my approach… People don’t know what they want until you show it to them… Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do.”

In this way, Apple has accurately made a cohesive connection between integral identity and reflected image, how the company wants to be perceived and what cultural values it actually represents to consumers. They have recognized and tapped into how I want to see myself, and, from that, they have created a brand that is both emotionally and cognitively empathetic to my values, building upon that so that their products further enhance this desired image in my life.

A good consumer-company relationship should look like that of the relationship between close friends. They trust each other because they can genuinely relate to each other, engaging in meaningful communication that is continually believed to be true, committing to enhancing each other’s identity and image, how they see and understand themselves, and how they are perceived by others.