How to define your ideal customer profile (ICP) in 5 steps

Most prospecting problems start before the first email: the target is too broad. An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the companies that get the most value from your offer and are most likely to buy. Here is a five-step method to define yours.

1. Start from your best customers

List your 10 to 20 best customers: the ones who paid well, stayed longest, were easy to work with and recommended you. What do they have in common? This is more reliable than guessing who might buy.

2. Describe the companies (firmographics)

• Industry and sub-sector
• Company size (employees, revenue)
• Country and region, language
• Business model (B2B, B2C, subscription, projects…)
• Tools or technologies they already use

3. Identify the people who decide

B2B purchases often involve several people. Note who uses your solution, who decides and who pays: for example an operations manager, the managing director and the finance director. Your messages will differ for each.

4. Find the buying signals

Some events make a company much more likely to buy now: hiring in a key role, raising funds, opening a new site, entering a new market, changing regulations. List the signals that preceded your past deals; they tell you when to reach out.

5. Write it down and test it

Summarize your ICP on one page and share it with everyone who sells. Then test it: run a small campaign on two segments and compare reply and meeting rates. Refine the profile every quarter.

Mistakes to avoid

• Targeting “everyone who could use it”: focus wins replies.
• Ignoring who is not a fit: exclusion criteria save as much time as inclusion criteria.
• Never updating it: markets change; your ICP should too.

Need an outside view? Our B2B market research & ICP study delivers your ICP, the buying signals to watch and a verified list of target companies in two weeks.