A process of “cloning” — or duplicating — your top clients can help you to grow your business by adding the type of clients you most enjoy working with.

“A client-cloning process is used when you want [prospects] to emulate what your top clients look like, so you can actually get more like them,” says Sylvia Garibaldi, a business-building coach with SG and Associates in Toronto.

Follow these tips to set up a successful client-cloning process to help you develop a book of top clients:

> Identify your best clients
Create an ideal-client profile, Garibaldi says. Look for similarities among your favourite clients and decide which clients you want to duplicate.

Look through your clients’ quantitative and qualitative characteristics. Quantitative characteristics include net-worth, investible assets, profession, age and family situation.

Qualitative traits refer to the client’s personality. For example, is he or she an open communicator, easy to approach and open to taking your advice?

> Survey a short list of candidates
Narrow down your top clients, Garibaldi says, to a list of about 20 whom you would feel comfortable approaching with a survey.

“[These candidates] typically desire your expertise to manage their finances,” Garibaldi says. “They’re well-connected within the community and they really just enjoy working with you.”

The survey will help you to find out more about these clients, their social connections and how they feel about your business.

> Craft questions carefully
The survey will reveal where and how you can meet people similar to your top clients, Garibaldi says. So, you must think carefully about the questions you include.

Survey questions should cover a client’s hobbies and interests, his or her involvement in associations and clubs and strong relationships he or she might have with other professionals, such as lawyers, accountants or mortgage brokers.

As well, Garibaldi says, the survey should cover your service level. Ask why the client chose you as an advisor, what he or she likes about your business and what could be improved.

Typically, the survey should include about 10 to 12 questions.

> Make clients feel important
For a higher survey participation rate, let clients know you value their feedback.

“You really need to make the clients feel special,” Garibaldi says. “Tell them you’ve been taking a look at your business and you want to focus your energy and time on serving more top clients like them.”

Garibaldi recommends emailing the survey to clients to be filled out in their own time. Follow up with a phone call if a client has not returned the survey within the agreed-upon time.

> Follow-up with clients
Take each client to lunch to thank them for answering the survey and to ask a few more questions.

A lunch is a great way to re-connect with top clients and to show how much you value them. Says Garibaldi: “It is truly a gold mine of information.”

If the client listed associations or clubs in the survey, she says, ask if they know of anyone in those organizations that you could speak with. Ask if there may be an opportunity to do a presentation for members or contribute to a newsletter.