Ideal customer profile (ICP) in B2B: how to define it using data
The ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the companies that buy most readily, pay the most relative to the cost to serve and stay the longest. This article shows which data an ICP is built from, how to compare segments using a worked example, how to record the criteria in the CRM and which mistakes to avoid.
Amounts and values in the examples are illustrative and show how the calculation works. In projects, we use the client's data.
Dominik Dębski · Lemur Media · · reading time: 4 min
Reviewed by Dominik Dębski, 1 November 2026
What is an ideal customer profile (ICP)?
The ideal customer profile (ICP) is a description of the type of organisation for which the offering creates the most value and which at the same time gives the company the best sales and service economics. The ICP relates to the account, i.e. the customer's company as a whole. It consists of firmographic characteristics (industry, headcount, revenue, region), technographic characteristics (systems the customer already uses, e.g. an ERP or an online shop platform) and situational characteristics, i.e. events that trigger a purchase: expansion into a new market, a regulatory change, a new management board. A buyer persona describes specific people inside companies that match the ICP and suggests how to talk to them.
| Feature | Ideal customer profile (ICP) | Buyer persona |
|---|---|---|
| Level of description | Company (account) | Person in the company |
| Application | Choice of markets and accounts, lead qualification, sales priorities | Communication, arguments, marketing content |
| Typical data | Industry, size, revenue, systems, buying events | Role, goals, concerns, vendor evaluation criteria |
| Owner | Board with input from sales, marketing and finance | Marketing with input from sales |
Which data is an ICP built from?
An ICP is built on data about current and lost customers, with results across the whole customer journey: from sales win rate through margin to revenue retention. A description based solely on salespeople's opinions usually overrates the largest and most visible customers in the company. Financial data shows which customers actually make money for the company once implementation and service costs are taken into account.
- Export of won and lost opportunities from the CRM for the last 18–24 months, with industry, company size and acquisition source.
- Linking to financial data: revenue, gross margin, implementation and service cost per customer.
- Adding revenue retention after 12 months for each customer.
- Dividing customers into 4–6 segments and comparing metrics across segments.
- Interviews with the 8–12 best customers about the event that triggered the purchase and the alternatives they considered.
How do you compare segments? An example
Segments are compared by the expected value of a single sales opportunity, the time needed to close it and revenue retention after one year. The number of opportunities in a segment shows demand. The value of a segment, however, depends on how much each opportunity is worth.
| Segment | Opportunities | Wins | Win rate | Average annual contract value | Median cycle | Expected value of an opportunity | Value per cycle day | Revenue retention after 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Manufacturing, 250–999 employees | 40 | 12 | 30% | PLN 120,000 | 90 days | PLN 36,000 | PLN 400.00 | 92% |
| B. E-commerce, 50–249 employees | 80 | 16 | 20% | PLN 48,000 | 45 days | PLN 9,600 | PLN 213.33 | 78% |
| C. Services, 1–49 employees | 120 | 18 | 15% | PLN 18,000 | 30 days | PLN 2,700 | PLN 90.00 | 65% |
Segment C generates half of all opportunities (120 of 240), but a single opportunity in segment A is worth more than 13 times as much (36,000 ÷ 2,700 = 13.3). Segment A also has the highest revenue retention. In this example, the ICP describes segment A, segment B remains a second-choice market, and segment C is served through a cheaper channel, e.g. website or partner sales, or abandoned.
How do you record the ICP so that it works in sales and marketing?
The ICP is recorded as a set of verifiable criteria that a salesperson or a system can assess before the first meeting. A description such as "mid-sized companies that value quality" does not allow you to reject any lead. Each criterion needs a data source and a field in the CRM.
| Criterion | Value in the ICP (example) | Data source |
|---|---|---|
| Industry | Industrial manufacturing, PKD codes from section C (Polish classification of activities) | Company register, CRM |
| Size | 250–999 people | Register, company databases |
| Revenue | PLN 200m–1bn | Financial statements |
| Systems | ERP system in place | Qualification call, technographic data |
| Buying event | New plant, new export market, change of management board | Press releases, conversation |
| Exclusions | Companies in restructuring, groups with central purchasing abroad | Register, conversation |
Based on the criteria, accounts are divided into tiers: tier 1 meets all criteria, tier 2 most of them, and the rest go to low-cost service. The tiers feed lead scoring, the account-based marketing plan and the allocation of accounts to salespeople.
What mistakes are made when defining an ICP?
- A description based on a few of the largest customers without checking margin, cost to serve and retention.
- A profile so broad that it covers most of the market and changes no decision.
- No exclusion criteria: the sales team keeps accepting every enquiry.
- Confusing the ICP with the buyer persona and describing job titles instead of companies.
- An ICP recorded in a presentation without CRM fields, so the share of ICP accounts in the funnel cannot be measured.
- No review: a profile set once does not reflect changes in the product and the market. A review every six months is enough for most companies.