Define the ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer persona so marketing, sales, and product all target the same person. A fuzzy ICP is why campaigns underperform and sales chases bad-fit deals. Precision here makes everything downstream sharper — and a good ICP is as much about who to exclude as who to chase.
Ideal Customer Profile (the company)
- Firmographics: industry, company size, geography, business model.
- Trigger / fit signals: what's true about a company right now that makes them a great fit (a tool they use, a team they've hired, a stage they've hit).
- Disqualifiers: who this is explicitly NOT for. Be specific — this saves everyone time.
Buyer Persona (the person)
- Role & goals: their job title, what they're measured on, what a win looks like for them.
- Job-to-be-done: the progress they're trying to make (the real reason they'd buy).
- Pains & triggers: the problem that makes them start looking, and the moment it becomes urgent.
- Objections: what makes them hesitate (budget, trust, effort, timing).
- Where they are: the channels, communities, and sources they actually trust.
Rules
- Base it on evidence, not wishful thinking — real customers, sales calls, patterns you've seen. Flag where you're guessing.
- Be specific enough to disqualify. "Anyone who uses AI" is not an ICP.
- Focus on the job and the pain, not just demographics — that's what drives buying.
Output the ICP and persona as structured sections. Mark any field you inferred so a human can validate it against real data.