John Melchinger The Marketing Coach

The Affluent

The "affluent" come in all types. Segment them by cross-referencing the type of wealth they have (income and net worth) and the nature of their wealth (where the money comes from). Think through the characteristics of each segment in the blank chart before leaping to the general answers in the second chart.

	A High Net Worth	B High Net Worth & High Income	C High Income
1 Business Owner Closely Held Family Non-family Partnership	1A	1B	1C
2 Employed/ Employee	2A	2B	2C
3 Event-Based Acquisition of Wealth or Income	3A	3B	3C

	A High Net Worth	B High Net Worth & High Income	C High Income
1 Business Owner Closely Held Family Non-family Partnership	1A probably older, retired may have or want to retain control of the business may be lid-sitting for new, unproved management until they have the skills and knowledge to take charge savoring the accomplishments of a lifetime primary motivation: control	1B has been at it for a while; not yet retiring may be waiting to see if children develop abilities and desire to come into the business may not yet be thinking seriously about selling the business to others primary motivation: control	1C relatively new to the business or has not accumulated assets may think more in terms of income and cash flow than capital and growth probably younger; more tactical than strategic enjoying the excitement of making things happen higher risk tolerance primary motivation: control
2 Employed/ Employee	2A retired executive or professional may have given up professional interests to pursue other personal interests in retirement tends to think of personal assets as money or dollars, not as wealth per se primary motivation: quality of life	2B probably older, still employed children may be grown thinking about retirement, perhaps as opportunity for a “new life” after work primary motivation: quality of life	2C young professional; MBA, engineer, attorney, doctor, accountant, super sales maker on commission/bonus financial focus is on income tax as impediment to living better, purchasing goods, accumulating wealth thinks more in terms of cashflow than accumulating pools of money or other assets primary motivation: style of living
3 Event-Based Acquisition of Wealth or Income	3A inherited wealth — may be tangible vs liquid assets; lottery winner with long-term payout; trust fund beneficiary may have limited or no control over assets may have limited skill to manage assets they did not create (a business, stock portfolio, farm, etc.) primary motivation: unknown; perhaps more income from assets	3B trust fund beneficiary with substantial income; professional sports player with savings or large signing bonus; patent owner receiving income from it; large lottery winner with significant annual payout primary motivation: preserving wealth during own lifetime may also seek personal recognition in addition to financial success	3C professional sports player; author or artist with royalty income from book, record, etc.; high income earner with bad spending habits; high commission sales person in big ticket sales probably younger or early middle age primary motivation: having enough to spend; maybe starting to squirrel away some money

Once you have an idea which segments most appeal to you as targets, devise the perfect messages for you to send those segments.