One of the biggest realizations I had this year was the value that comes from collecting and leveraging customer data, giving me the data to finetune and further identify my ideal client.

For example, of the clients who found me via LinkedIn this year, 62% purchased a LinkedIn profile as an add-on service. Also, a third of new clients who were referred go on to refer more new clients, creating somewhat of a “wildfire” scenario to my sales.

How would you leverage this information?

Would you change your sales and marketing messages based on in-depth data you have about your clients?

I bet you would.

With advanced and segmented information on clients, you too can identify where to focus your sales efforts, which clients to stay away from, who your clients really are, and a plethora of additional data to consider and use to strategically position your business.

Going forward, I will post challenges to you. Each challenge will encourage you to examine and critique your resume business to identify what’s holding you back and provide you with the tools, advice, and coaching you need to morph your business into a more profitable entity.

Here’s today’s challenge:

Start collecting and leveraging customer data on new clients — and start building profiles on past clients as well. Focus on eventually having collected enough data to answer the key questions to help you increase sales.

For example, you might consider data that answers the following:

Where do clients really come from? Where do clients come from demographically?

You might find you work with more local versus national clients, or learn that you pull most of your clients from only a handful of states/cities.

What problems are clients facing?

You might learn you aren’t fulfilling exactly what clients need and are willing to pay for.

Who are problem clients?

You might see disconnect in your pricing structure for clients who require more of your time. Problem clients can include those who continuously negotiate price or spend far too much time nitpicking and reworking resume content. (My favorite nitpickers are those who change the content I provide only to later change back to what was there originally — somehow they do a full circle.)

Are more customers coming from LinkedIn, Facebook, Google SERPs, your website, or somewhere else?

You might discover that you’re focusing too much time marketing in one place when you should be focusing more on another. Dig deep. Learn the keyword or key phrase that clients used to find you via search engines if possible.

How long is it taking you to close the sale?

You might learn that your sales message is causing prospects to take unnecessary pause or ask too many pre-sale questions, which lengthens your sales cycle.

How many of your customers purchase add-on services?

You might realize that you’re leaving customers stranded without the added benefits that come from continued professional assistance.

In short, the more you know about your clients can have a major impact on how you continue to grow your business. You need to identify what areas of your business are generating the best returns. After all, we all have the same 24 hours in a day and 7 days each week — although we can streamline our businesses so it appears we work 25/8.

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