ICP: what it is and how it differs from a buyer persona
Most teams mix up the ICP with the buyer persona and write emails to 'an agency owner, 35-45, ambitious'. The problem: the company doesn't fit the product, so no email will help. The ICP answers 'what COMPANY do we write to', the persona answers 'what PERSON inside the company'. Prospecting starts with the company.
ICP = a description of the ideal customer company: industry, size (headcount, revenue), location, technology, business model, plus buying signals and pain points. Buyer persona = a description of the decision-making person: role, seniority, responsibility, motivations. In prospecting: first the company (ICP), then the person (persona). If the company doesn't fit the ICP, you don't write at all — even if the persona is ideal. The 80/20 rule: 80% of fit is decided by the company, 20% by the person.
- BAD
- Unstructured prospecting without ICP filters and generic outreach to random accounts.
- GOOD
- ICP: marketing agencies, 10-30 people, Warsaw or Krakow, revenue 2-10M, using HubSpot or a manual spreadsheet for leads, actively hiring salespeople. Persona (for this ICP): Head of Sales / Founder who manages the pipeline and owns growth. A lead fits when the company fits the ICP and the person is a decision maker.
You are a go-to-market strategist. Context: I sell [PRODUCT] — a solution for [WHAT IT DOES]. My best won deals are: [2-3 CUSTOMER EXAMPLES: industry, size, what hurt them]. Task: Based on the described deals, propose an ICP: 1. Companies: industry, size (employees and revenue), location, technology, business model 2. Decision-making person: role, seniority, responsibility 3. The 3 pain points that most often trigger a purchase 4. 2 disqualifiers (when NOT to write) Format: sections with bullet points.
Variations & alternative scenarios
New product version: without won deals — AI creates ICP hypotheses from the product description, to verify over 10 conversations.
Services version: extend the ICP with budget and collaboration model (retainer vs project).
Practical exercise
List 3-5 of your best deals from history (or customers you served). For each: industry, size, what they bought, why they chose you. Find the common denominator — that's the seed of your ICP.