An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the type of company most likely to buy your product, get value from it and stay a customer.
Building and using an ICP
An ICP describes companies; a buyer persona describes the people inside them. Most ICPs combine firmographics (industry, size, region), technographics (the systems a company runs) and situations (a recent acquisition, a new regulation, rapid hiring) that make the problem you solve more likely. The usual failure is a profile so wide that half the market fits it. Teams usually build the profile from current customers who bought quickly, got value and stayed, then check it against the deals they lost.
- FirmographicsIndustry, size, region
- TechnographicsThe systems a company runs
- SituationsAn acquisition, a new regulation, rapid hiring
- FirmographicsIndustry, size, region
- TechnographicsThe systems a company runs
- SituationsAn acquisition, a new regulation, rapid hiring
In sales, the ICP decides who gets prospected. It earns its keep when every rep can say, for each target account, which problem in the profile this company has and how they know. That sentence becomes the first line of the cold email. Without it, reps send the same message to every company on the list. Our outbound coaching guide covers coaching that work, or talk to us about checking drafts before they go.
Example (illustrative)
A company selling scheduling software defines its ICP as multi-site healthcare providers in the US with 10 to 50 clinics, a central operations team and a recent expansion. A rep finds a provider that opened eight clinics last year and is advertising for front-desk staff at several of them. That is the fit, in evidence the rep can point to.
A weak first line could go to any provider on the list: "I work with healthcare organizations like yours to streamline scheduling." A strong one could only go to this provider: "You opened eight clinics last year and you're hiring front-desk staff at several of them. How is scheduling holding up across sites?" A manager can test any draft in a 1:1 with one question: which line would be false if you sent it to the next company on the list?
Related terms
- What is a cold email?: the first message to an account on the ICP list.
- How to write a cold email: turning the fit into a first line.
- What is account-based selling?: selling to a short list of named accounts.
- What is a buying committee?: the people inside an ICP account.
FAQ
What is the difference between an ICP and a buyer persona?
An ICP describes the kind of company that fits, such as industry, size and situation. A buyer persona describes a person inside that company: their role, goals and concerns. Teams use the ICP to choose accounts and personas to shape the message to each person.
What should an ideal customer profile include?
An ideal customer profile should include industry, company size, region, the systems the company uses, and the situations that make the problem likely, such as growth or a regulatory change. A useful ICP also names the problem the company has and how a rep can spot it from the outside.
How often should you update your ICP?
Review it at least once a year, and sooner when you enter a new market or launch a product. Compare it with recent wins and losses: if deals outside the profile keep closing, or deals inside it keep stalling, the profile needs to change.