Free recipes / Strategy and Positioning

Build Your Ideal Customer Profile

A practical profile of your best customer: who they are, what they want, what stops them buying and where to find them.

You want to stop marketing to everyone and focus on the people who buy most and complain least. Saves about 30 minutes

The prompt

Act as a customer research analyst for small businesses. Build an ideal customer profile (ICP) from what I tell you, without inventing facts about me. My business: [BUSINESS_TYPE] in [LOCATION]. My best customers: [BEST_CUSTOMERS]. My worst-fit customers: [WORST_CUSTOMERS]. What sells best: [TOP_PRODUCTS]. Task: Create an ICP with these sections: (1) who they are in plain terms, (2) their top 3 goals, (3) their top 3 frustrations, (4) what triggers them to start looking, (5) the objections that nearly stop them, (6) the words they probably use to describe their problem, (7) five specific places to reach them near me or online, (8) red flags that signal a poor-fit customer. Constraints: Label anything you are inferring as 'Assumption' so I can check it. No stereotypes. Keep each point to one or two sentences. Format: Numbered sections, then a checklist of 5 questions I can ask new enquiries to see if they fit.

Fill in these brackets

`[BUSINESS_TYPE]`	e.g. family-run bakery with two shops
`[BEST_CUSTOMERS]`	e.g. 3 repeat buyers, mostly women 30 to 50, local, order monthly
`[WORST_CUSTOMERS]`	e.g. discount hunters who haggle and cancel
`[TOP_PRODUCTS]`	e.g. wedding cakes and custom orders
`[LOCATION]`	e.g. Leeds, or online only

Pro tip

Add real quotes from customer emails or reviews to your inputs. Real wording beats guesses.

Variation

Build a second profile for the customer you want to attract more of in the next year, and compare it with your current one.

Want 14 more like this, free?

Get the Prompt Starter Pack: 15 recipes across sales, marketing, support, admin and more.

More free recipes: Write a Clear Positioning Statement · Find Gaps in Competitor Offers