How to Build Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
As a Fractional VP of Sales, I work with multiple organisations at different stages.
Most of them are either starting up or trying to recover from some difficulties in their revenue trajectory.
However, there’s often one thing missing when I come in: a real understanding of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Without a clear understanding of who we are serving, there can be no outbound effort. Without targeting the right audience with the right message, there can be no success. And without an ICP, there can be no sales.
What is an Ideal Customer Profile?
An ideal customer profile is a detailed description of the type of customer most likely to buy your product or service.
It includes information such as their role, their pains and challenges, and how your product can serve them.
Think of this as a body scan.
You have to look at each ICP and go granular about them: what they like, and dislike, why they should be interested in your product, and why they should not buy it.
How to Create an Ideal Customer Profile
Creating an ideal customer profile requires research and analysis, but it doesn’t have to be too complicated.
I always suggest that my clients get together with their co-founders and brainstorm for 3-5 hours in front of something to eat and drink for a fun offsite activity.
Here are some steps you can take to create your ideal customer profile:
1) Problem
List 2-3 strategic problems your solution/product might solve. The more strategic they are, the better.
Example:Let’s assume you are an Event Management Solution that digitalises events. Your ICP might be HR leaders. HR leaders spend 3 hours per week organising events which are not core to their role, which is almost 10% of their total working week.2) Customer Segments
Analyse your current customer base and identify the characteristics that they have in common. This can include demographic information, industry, company size, and pain points.
3) Unique Value Proposition
Create a single, clear, and compelling value proposition about your solution/product that’s worth paying attention to.
Example:Our Event Management Solution helps HR managers save 10% of their weekly time by digitising their events’ creation and management.4) Solution
Outline the solution for each problem in step 1.
Example:By using our platform, HR managers can save up to 3 hours per week and focus on their core job. Our solution helps to outsource the painful management of events through a beautifully crafted platform and the largest events suppliers in Italy.5) Unfair Advantage
This is something that the competition cannot easily buy or copy.
Example:Our solution has +500 event suppliers across Italy, which is the largest catalogue present right now. In addition, we have +20 integrations with accounting software and CRMs to streamline expenses and cost management around events, which is again the largest integration library.Use the information you have gathered to create a detailed description of your ideal customer.
This should include information such as their title, industry, company size, pain points, and buying behaviour (see my template below).
As you gather more data and insights, refine your ideal customer profile to ensure it accurately reflects the characteristics of your target market.
I suggest revising your ICP at the beginning of the quarter based on the data and sales interactions you gathered.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding your ideal customer profile is critical for success in outbound sales. By creating a detailed profile of your ideal customer, you can create targeted campaigns that are more likely to generate leads and close deals.
Use ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) for your sales playbook and onboarding. Use it to explain to the rest of the company how you are positioning your product and how you help people.
Don’t waste your time and resources on sales and marketing efforts that are not targeted to your ideal customer.
Instead, invest your time in creating an ideal customer profile first, then start outbound sales.
