“My Sales Reps aren’t closing deals because the leads we’re getting aren’t high quality! We need to step up our marketing,” says the Head of Sales. Meanwhile, the marketing metrics look really solid. There is a steady flow of inbound leads and engagement with the newsletter, LinkedIn, and website, all moving up and to the right. So what’s the deal? Is there a marketing problem or a sales problem? Or both?

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Ask yourself, “Are both sales and marketing actually targeting the same type of prospect?”  Every organization has an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).Shockingly, few have discussed it, and even fewer have written it down. 

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This is hugely important. Why? Every person on the sales and marketing teams thinks they know the ideal customer. They also likely have an aspirational ICP they are moving towards(larger clients, increased adoption of one of your products, etc.). However, these are virtually guaranteed to be different from person to person UNLESS the conversation is grounded in data.

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Let’s venture down the path of:

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• Using your CRM data to find your historical ICP
• Enriching the data with new attributes as needed
• Defining the Buyer Personas within those ICPs

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What is an Ideal Customer Profile?

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An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) defines the type of company that perfectly aligns with your product or service. Think of it as the “dream client”—an organization that would derive maximum value from what you offer and, in turn, generate significant value for your business. This is not about individuals but about the companies themselves, making the ICP a cornerstone of ABM.

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We analyze a combination of attributes to define an ICP, typically focusing on:

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• Industry: What sector is the business in? (e.g., SaaS, finance, healthcare)‍
• Company Size: Measured by employee headcount or annual revenue‍
• Geography: Regional focus (e.g., companies operating in specific states or countries)‍
• Technology Stack: Software and platforms currently in use.

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These criteria ensure that your outreach targets the companies most likely to convert and thrive with your offering.

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Many companies believe they know their ICP, but the data often tells a different story. For instance, a company might believe it primarily serves large tech enterprises. However, upon analyzing customer data, the highest lifetime value and greatest profitability may be with mid-sized fintech companies. Understanding your historical ICP, rather than relying on assumptions, is critical.  

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How to Find Your Historical ICP

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Does the historical ICP, as defined by your actual customers, need to be your ICP going forward? NO!!! It is completely fine to have an “aspirational” ICP. In fact, you should have an aspirational ICP. It may be a few degrees off your historical ICP - or it may be 90 degrees. What matters is that everyone in your organization knows the difference.

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Many companies believe they know their ICP, but the data often tells a different story. For instance, a company might believe it primarily serves large tech enterprises. However, upon analyzing customer data, the highest lifetime value and greatest profitability may be with mid-sized fintech companies. Understanding your historical ICP, rather than relying on assumptions, is critical.‍ ‍ 

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Step 1: Data Extraction

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So, how do you know your ICP? Use your CRM data. Login to Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Pipedrive, or whatever CRM you use and download the data from your past customers. You can usually do the same from Quickbooks or your accounting software. It’s fine to eliminate outliers (i.e., customers you know you should not have taken on). Ideally, this data will include revenue from the customer.

Why is revenue important?

Revenue makes it possible to analyze lifetime value. Without it, you can only establish where you have the highest frequency of customers. This may not be your highest lifetime value. Some businesses with highly variable projects or COGS (cost of goods sold) also demand looking at the profitability of each customer. We find that assuming the same profitability across customers is a fine starting point. However, there will usually be other important attributes that are unknown. For example, what is the employee headcount for each customer?

So, we “enrich the data” to add these.‍

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Step 2: Data Enrichment

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If your data does not include all the attributes you need, the cheapest/easiest data service to add that information is Apollo. Other (more expensive) providers like Zoominfo and HG Insights offer more accuracy and breadth, but Apollo will get the job done for this exercise.

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It’s ok for your ideal customer to be somewhat broad in specific attributes. For instance, at Everpeak, there are multiple ERPs with which we work. But we know that Netsuite, Rootstock, IFS and Odoo are where we can specialize.

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Step 3: Historical vs Aspirational

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Your results will be an ICP based upon the attributes of your customers. Does this need to be your ICP going forward? NO! It is completely fine to have an “aspirational” ICP.

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In fact, you should have an aspirational ICP.

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But knowing your historical ICP will ground the internal discussion. It will also allow your sales and marketing teams to align on how their operations need to change to move from the historical to aspirational. And they need to change together.

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Our goal isn’t just to reveal who your best customers have been but to empower you to attract and win over the ones you aspire to serve.

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What about Buyer Personas?

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‍An ICP zeroes in on the "what"—the companies that align with your product or service.

Buyer Personas delve into the "who"—the individuals within those companies that hold the keys to a successful partnership.

Buyer Personas work in tandem with your ICP.

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Write it Down

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I was once told, “Unless you write it down, it doesn’t exist.”

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This is surprisingly accurate when it comes to internal business discussions. Writing down your ICP grounds the internal discussion in data—not opinions. It also allows your sales and marketing teams to align on the best path forward. This requires collaboration. If sales is focused on a certain type of customer while marketing is focused on another, your close rate will tank, not to mention the internal finger-pointing from one department to another. Write it down, discuss it, and establish some timelines. Everpeak can help you pull the data and ICPs together; your internal meeting is 45 minutes.

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It’s a meeting that you won’t regret.

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