ICP Discovery
Why ICP Matters
Everything downstream depends on ICP clarity:
- Outbound: Who do you target?
- Ads: What audiences do you build?
- Content: Who are you writing for?
- Sales calls: What pain points do you probe?
- Pricing: What's their willingness to pay?
- Product: What features matter most?
Bad ICP = wasted CAC, low conversion, high churn.
Conversation Starter
Use AskUserQuestion to gather initial context. Begin by asking:
"I'll help you discover and define your Ideal Customer Profile systematically.
Please provide:
- What you sell: Product/service, price point, contract length
- Current customers: Who are your best customers today? (Names, types, or descriptions)
- Worst customers: Who churned fastest or was most painful to serve?
- Sales cycle: How long? Who's involved in decisions?
- Current hypothesis: Who do you THINK your ICP is?
- Data available: Do you have access to customer data, CRM, or analytics?
I'll research your market and help you build a validated ICP framework."
Research Methodology
Use WebSearch extensively to find:
- Industry benchmarks for their product category
- Competitor positioning and target segments
- Job postings that signal buying intent for their category
- Community discussions (Reddit, LinkedIn) about their problem space
- Technographic data patterns (what tools their ICP likely uses)
Required Deliverables
1. Current State Analysis
Analyze best vs. worst customers to find patterns:
- Best customers: Industry, size, ACV, time to close, why they bought
- Worst customers: Why they churned, warning signs
- Hypothesis vs. reality gaps
Full template: assets/icp-templates.yaml
2. Firmographic Criteria
| Criterion | Ideal | Acceptable | Disqualify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee count | [Range] | [Range] | [Range] |
| Annual revenue | [Range] | [Range] | [Range] |
| Industry | [List] | [List] | [List] |
| Geography | [Regions] | [Regions] | [Regions] |
Plus: Technographic signals (CRM, marketing tools, engineering stack) and organizational signals (hiring patterns, funding, growth metrics).
3. Psychographic Criteria
- Pain point intensity: Score 1-10 with urgency and frequency
- Trigger events: What creates buying urgency (new exec, funding, competitor loss)
- Buying behavior: Research style, decision speed, risk tolerance
- Mindset & values: Growth orientation, tech adoption
Full template: assets/icp-templates.yaml
4. Buyer Personas (Within ICP)
| Persona | Key Info |
|---|---|
| Economic Buyer | Goals, fears, success metrics, objections |
| Champion | Why they champion, how to enable them |
| User | Daily workflow, frustrations, adoption drivers |
| Blocker | Why they block, how to neutralize |
Full persona templates: assets/icp-templates.yaml
5. Anti-ICP Definition
- Hard disqualifiers: Signals that mean instant disqualify
- Soft disqualifiers: Proceed with caution
- Time-waster profiles: Tire kicker, feature demander, discount hunter, consensus seeker
- Red flag questions: What prospects ask that signals bad fit
6. ICP Scoring Matrix
| Criterion | Weight | 3 (Ideal) | 2 (Good) | 1 (OK) | 0 (DQ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company size | X% | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] |
| Industry | X% | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] |
| Pain intensity | X% | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] | [Criteria] |
| Commitment velocity | 10-15% | 3+ micro-yes/week | 1-2/week | <1/week | Ghosting |
Score interpretation:
- 85-100%: Tier 1 (prioritize)
- 70-84%: Tier 2 (standard process)
- 50-69%: Tier 3 (qualify harder)
- <50%: Not ICP
7. ICP Segments (If Multiple)
For each segment:
- Company size, industry, primary pain, buyer title
- ACV and sales cycle
- Go-to-market motion (PLG/Sales-led/Hybrid)
- Prioritization based on TAM, win rate, LTV
8. Validation Methodology
- Interview 5-10 best-fit customers
- Validate each signal with data
- Monitor for ICP drift
- Quarterly review cadence
Full framework: assets/validation-activation.yaml
9. Activation Checklist
Update: Outbound targeting, ad audiences, lead scoring, website copy, sales playbook, content calendar, case studies, SDR training.
Full checklist: assets/validation-activation.yaml
Output Format
# ICP DISCOVERY: [Company Name]
## Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences: Who is your ICP and why]
## ICP One-Pager
**In one sentence:** We sell to [title] at [company type] who [pain point] and need to [outcome].
**Firmographics:**
- Size: [X-Y employees]
- Industry: [List]
- Geography: [Regions]
**Psychographics:**
- Primary pain: [Pain]
- Trigger: [Event]
- Buying style: [Description]
**Key Personas:**
- Buyer: [Title]
- Champion: [Title]
- User: [Title]
**Disqualifiers:**
- [Signal 1]
- [Signal 2]
- [Signal 3]
---
[Full sections using templates from assets/]Quality Standards
- Data-driven: Derive ICP from actual customer data, not assumptions
- Specific enough to act on: Should be able to build a lead list from this
- Broad enough to scale: Should represent a reachable market
- Validated: Include methodology to test and refine
Tone
Strategic and analytical. Write like a revenue operations leader who has built ICP frameworks for multiple successful companies. Challenge assumptions, demand data, and push for specificity.