How to Identify the ICP - and why it's good business
The Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is the company that is the best fit for your highest value product.
An Ideal Customer Profile is a hypothetical characterisation of the type of company that would realise the most value from your product or solution. Identify your Ideal Customer Profile to clearly understand your target profile - this will help you create activities that attract and convert high-quality leads.
Getting Started
By filling out the Ideal Customer Profile framework, you’ll figure out who your ideal client is and better understand their willingness, readiness, ability, success potential and more. In addition, you’ll get clarity for your client facing teams on who they’re talking to and the insights to create some really great and focused marketing materials.
There is an art to understanding and refining the definition of your ICP.
Once you dive into the 7 categories in the ICP framework you will discover that your ICP is not easily identified. And team members may not agree on the definition.
The Ideal Customer Profile framework is often the framework that we spend most time debating with B2B companies in transition from sales-led to marketing-led growth. And it’s worth it.
The Ideal Customer Profile framework was developed by Lincoln Murphy who is often referred to as the father of customer success.
He would also argue that the vital category in this framework is number four; Success Potential and the question “Will our product will solve their problem?“.
Key questions to ask before you start filling out the framework ☟
Who is the Customer?
What is the Problem?
What happens if the Customer does not fix the Problem?
When and where does the Customer search for a Solution?
Go for Ideal Customers - bad fit customers are costly
And why should you go for Ideal Customer Profile companies?
Because the ideal companies tend to have a quick and successful sales cycle, a great customer retention rate and would be a great representative of your brand.
Look out for bad fit customers.
Bad fit customers can hurt your business in many ways.
Customer success overload
Derailed focus
Misguiding feedback
Higher churn rates
Invalid signals throughout your customer journey
And when are companies a bad fit? Easy, when they are not an ideal fit.
You can use tools like lead scoring to assess whether or not a company can become an ideal customer. Maybe the company can not be categorised as ready today, but they might be ready after four newsletters and a webinar?
As a fast growing company, we recommend that you review and update your Ideal Customer Profile framework every 3-6 months to iterate and refine the ideal customer definition.
“SaaS Churn Rate Reduction Starts with Attracting the Right Customers” by Lincoln Murphy.
“Success Potential: The Foundation of Customer Success” by Lincoln Murphy.
💡 This is your Resource Library. Explore a collection of frameworks, methods, and playbooks that have driven results and shaped Go-to-Market Strategies for B2B growth companies across Europe.
