How to Double Your Revenue Through Customer Profiles

Our sales are low this quarter. Let’s give discounts to customers.

With over ten years in marketing, I’ve often come across this advice in different startups. But here’s the catch: discounts aren’t a magic fix for business growth.

They might help from time to time, but relying on them too much reveals a bigger problem. It’s like having a puzzle with a missing piece — the one that connects your product to your customers.

This missing link means your business isn’t relevant to customers because you do not know them enough to answer their needs. I faced this challenge when I worked for a ride-sharing service.

The Problem

We were doing well in Germany, but things didn’t go as planned when we tried to grow in Paris.

In Paris, people liked scooters for commuting, so there was market demand.

We spent a lot on email campaigns, but our business didn’t grow. There was a limited number of regular customers. We gave discounts without knowing what our customers needed.

So, it was time to profile our customers. I put on my consumer psychologist hat and began customer profiling.

The Method

Customer profiling explores customers’ needs and expectations. It is the backbone of your marketing strategy, so you need reliable insights.

You must use online surveys and interviews for the most reliable results.

1. Online Survey

Starting from scratch, we created a short online survey using Survey Monkey.

Targeting engaged Parisian customers, our survey questioned our assumptions:

How often do you use our service?
When do you use our service?
Why do you choose our service over others?

Here is our example survey design by Survey Monkey.

The survey results revealed a clear mismatch between our assumptions and the reality:

Most customers use our service a couple of times a week, not every day.
They used our service to go out after work & for special events.
Their main reason for using the service is freedom and fixed thirty-minute pricing.

We talked about convenience, but they wanted freedom. They used our service for special occasions rather than daily commutes. Still, we needed deeper insights with interviews.

2. Interviews

Why do customers use our service occasionally? Why do they value fixed pricing?

We crafted interviews for thirty survey respondents, keeping these questions in mind. After the interviews, the participants received $10 for their time.

We needed to make the interview feel like a chat, not an interrogation. So, it was important to spare quality time for the interview plan.

Here is what we had at the end:

Section 1 – Intro

Brief self-introduction and the purpose of the interview
Customer introduction with age, occupation, etc.

Why?

In casual conversations, people share more about themselves.

Section 2 – Usage

Frequency of service usage.
Occasions for using the service.
Desired features for increased usage.

Why?

Revenue-driving marketing comes with relatable content that refers to customers’ use cases.

Section 3 – Need and Motivation

Emotional state while riding.
Why our service over others?

Why?

The customers’ feelings toward our service are key to creating customer loyalty.

Section 4 – Price Model

Perception of fixed pricing.
Comparison with minute-based pricing.
Willingness to pay more for the service.

Why?

Your customers’ opinion of pricing helps your business stand out from competitors.

After the interviews, it was time to reveal the needs and expectations of our customers. The first step is to clean the interview notes and write a summary.

Here is an example:

“This customer is a young professional who works in tech. They use our service mainly on weekends to get to special events. They think our scooters are stylish. They feel good using our service because they are ahead of others on the road. They enjoy getting on a date without hassle, with no sweat and no smell. They like the flexibility of fixed pricing as they do not count the minutes.”

Then, we made a word cloud from the summaries to see common topics. It took about a month, but we finally got a clear picture.

The common needs of our customers – in a word cloud. Source: Monkey Learn.

The reasons why customers choose us:

Stylish scooter design
Feeling special and trendy with our stylish service
Flat/fixed pricing for thirty minutes

With the needs spotted, we could define our full customer profile:

Young professionals aged 25–40
They seek hassle-free and stylish transportation.
Consider themselves tech-savvy pioneers.
Enjoy being ahead at traffic lights.
Love the sleek design of our scooters, feeling special.

Example customer profile. Image by Canva.

What Did We Do with the Customer Profile?

We changed newsletters to focus on “feeling different, special, and free.”
Our hassle-free pricing became a central message.
We used tech-savvy individuals in our content.

The Solution/Result

What happened when we changed our communication strategy with customer profiles?

The newsletter conversion rate tripled. People who opened our emails had a ride three times more.

Most importantly, we doubled our revenue in a month that we had called a stagnant market. Our business had significant revenue growth after refreshing our communication strategy.

What Is Your Takeaway From All This?

Never assume you know your customers. Leave the meeting room, roll up your sleeves, and start profiling them.
Use surveys and interviews together for the most reliable results.
Start with a survey to refine the framework. Follow-up with interviews to get deeper insights.
Analyze your interview results carefully. Refine your interview notes with similar words. Then, find the common topics.
Apply your findings to your messages. Your communication should reflect your customer profile on any channel.

Customer profiles will be a game-changer for your business. Start building your customer profile now to grow your business.

I’m Selen, a seasoned CRM & customer lifecycle expert currently working at Wolt. Here is my Linkedin for more collaboration.