Ideal customer profile
An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the kind of company that gets the most from what you sell and is most likely to buy, stay and pay well. It lists traits you can check before the first call, such as sector, number of staff, location, current setup and the events that make a company ready to buy.
Also called: ICP, ideal client profile
What goes in an ideal customer profile?
Salesforce groups ICP traits into six types: firmographic, demographic, geographic, technographic, behavioural and psychographic. For an MSP, the useful ones are usually firmographic (sector and size), geographic (how far you will drive), technographic (what they run today) and the trigger events that start a buying process.
This sample ICP is for a UK MSP that sells managed IT and security to professional services firms.
| Trait | Sample entry |
|---|---|
| Sector | Accountancy, law and financial advice firms |
| Size | 20 to 150 staff, one to three offices |
| Location | Within 90 minutes of [Your MSP]'s office |
| Current setup | Microsoft 365, a mix of laptops and desktops, no in-house IT person |
| Needs | Cyber Essentials for client or insurer requirements, data protection, reliable remote working |
| Trigger events | An office move, a cyber insurance renewal, a failed audit, a partner retiring from looking after IT |
| Not a fit | Under 10 staff, wants break-fix only, chooses on hourly rate alone |
A written list of who you turn away stops the team chasing leads that will never be profitable.
Why does an ICP matter for an MSP?
A clear ICP makes every piece of marketing easier to write, because you know whose problems you are describing. It also changes results. TOPO's 2019 Account Based Benchmark Report, a survey of more than 150 practitioners, found that organisations with a strong ICP reported 68% higher account win rates. Read it as what those teams reported about themselves, not a measured result.
ChannelE2E's Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs report found that these firms grew annual recurring revenue by 11% in 2024, to $2.5 billion. MSPs focused on healthcare grew revenue by 28%, financial services by 18% and manufacturing by 11%. The report does not compare them with generalist MSPs. A vertical focus is one form of ICP: the MSP picks a sector and learns its software, rules and language better than a generalist can.
How do you build an ICP from your best clients?
Start with the clients you already have. List your ten best by margin, length of relationship and how easy they are to work with, then look for what they share. You will often find two or three patterns, such as a sector, a size band and a trigger that brought them in. Write those down as your ICP, add the traits of your worst clients as the "not a fit" list, and test it against the leads in your pipeline. If most current leads fail the test, your marketing is reaching the wrong companies.
Review the ICP once a year or when your services change. A new security service, for example, can open a sector you could not serve before.
Where Yori fits
Yori, the AI marketing assistant for MSPs and resellers, keeps your ideal customer profile as an Audience in Knowledge: firmographics, personas, challenges, needs and goals on one page. Generate it from a short brief, or from files such as customer notes, win reviews and case studies, then check what Yori wrote before you rely on it. Add the Audience to a project, and every chat and Service in that project writes for the same companies. The Persona Development Service then builds buyer personas for the people inside them.
Creating an Audience with AI can use credits, and every reply shows how many. The free trial has 25 one-time credits, needs no card and expires after one month. Pro is £49 a month with 25 monthly credits. Start the free trial and follow the ideal customer profile guide with the top three clients from your list of ten.
Often confused with
- Buyer persona
- HubSpot writes: "ICPs tell you which companies to pursue. Buyer personas tell you how to sell to the people inside those companies." An MSP's ICP might be a 50-person law firm; its personas are the managing partner, the practice manager and the person who looks after IT today.
- Target audience
- A target audience is whoever a single message or campaign is written for. An ICP is the wider definition of which companies you want as clients. One ICP can have several target audiences, such as a webinar for practice managers and an email for finance directors.
Questions
How do you define an ideal customer profile?
Describe the company that gets the most value from what you sell and is most profitable to serve. Cover sector, size, location, current setup, needs and trigger events, and add a list of companies that are not a fit. Base it on your best current clients, not on who you would like to win.
What is an example of an ICP?
For a UK MSP: accountancy and law firms with 20 to 150 staff, within 90 minutes of the office, on Microsoft 365, with no in-house IT person, and a reason to buy now such as a cyber insurance renewal or an office move.
How many ICPs should an MSP have?
Start with one, and add a second only when you have the services and case studies to win in it. Every extra ICP needs its own messages, examples and proof.
What is the difference between an ICP and a buyer persona?
An ICP describes a company. A buyer persona describes a person inside that company, with their role, goals and worries. You need both: the ICP to choose who to target, the personas to know what to say.