ICP and IBP

In this section we want to cover two basic, very important concepts: ICP and ICB.

In short:

• Your ideal customer profile (ICP) is a description of the type of company you should try to sell to
• Your buyer persona (IBP) is a detailed analysis of the people within that company who buy from you

ICPs and IBPs are different, but linked. You could have an ICP that has a few IBP's that your marketing team creates content for, and your sales team is confident speaking to.

As an example we can use Solar Boost, a B2B company that provides solar panel installations Below, you can see their ICP and the buyer personas that they have defined:

 

Why are ICP's and IBP's important?

Creating your ICP is the first thing you do - before anything else.

Why? Because it ensures you're targeting the companies your product provides the most value for, and therefore are more likely to convert!

For salespeople, it doesn't make sense to spend time on leads that won’t close because they simply can’t; because of their company size, revenue, or other predetermined factors. ICP's help you prioritize accounts that are a good fit.

Once you've done this, you can use your buyer personas to determine whom and how to sell to individual buyers within these organizations.

Let's dive a little deeper into each one in the following lessons.