panaversity ICP AND PERSONA DEVELOPMENT WORKFLOW
Step 1: ICP Discovery Interview
Conduct this interview with sales leadership and top-performing reps:
Firmographic questions:
- What company size (employees + revenue) have your best customers been?
- Which industries buy fastest and expand most?
- What geographies convert at the highest rate?
- Is there a technology maturity pattern in your best customers?
Timing signal questions: 5. What was happening at your best customers' companies when they first reached out or responded? 6. What event or trigger most often precedes a buying decision? 7. Are there times of year when your best customers typically buy?
Anti-ICP questions (equally important): 8. What company type engages heavily but never buys? (time-waster profile) 9. What company type buys but churns quickly? (wrong-fit profile) 10. What company type is resistant to your product regardless of fit?
Step 2: Persona Interview
For each buying persona (target contact, economic buyer, champion):
Role and motivation:
- What is their primary professional goal this year?
- What does success look like in their role?
- What would make them look good to their leadership?
Pain and problem:
- What is their biggest operational or strategic frustration?
- What do they spend too much time on?
- What keeps them up at night (professionally)?
Buying behaviour:
- How do they discover new tools and vendors?
- Who do they trust for recommendations?
- What would make them choose not to buy at all?
- What objections do they most commonly raise?
Information consumption:
- What do they read? (trade press, LinkedIn, newsletters, podcasts)
- What events do they attend?
- Who are the industry voices they follow?
ICP Output Format
IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE -- [Organisation Name]
FIRMOGRAPHIC CRITERIA Company size: [Employee range] Revenue range: [range] Stage: [e.g. Established / Pre-IPO growth / SME] Geography: [Primary and secondary markets] Industry: [Top 3-5 verticals with conversion rates if known] Technology maturity: [e.g. Mid-tech -- has legacy systems, not yet modern stack]
POSITIVE FIT SIGNALS (look for these) [Signal: what to look for and where to find it]
NEGATIVE FIT SIGNALS (avoid these companies) [Signal: the company type that engages but never buys]
TIMING SIGNALS -- HOT (act within 48 hours) [Event or trigger]
TIMING SIGNALS -- WARM (act within 2 weeks) [Signal]
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Persona Output Format
BUYER PERSONA: [Persona Name] Role: [Title range]
WHO THEY ARE [3-4 sentences: career background, role scope, what drives them]
WHAT THEY WANT Primary goal: [Professional outcome they are measured on] Secondary goal: [What would make them look good]
WHAT THEY FEAR Primary fear: [What could make them look bad] Risk aversion: [What concerns would prevent them buying]
HOW THEY BUY Discovery: [How they find vendors -- referral / content / events / ads] Evaluation: [What they look for; who they trust] Decision: [Who else is involved; what triggers the final yes] Blocker: [Common reason they say no or delay]
HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM Tone: [peer-level / educational / ROI-focused / executive] Language: [words and frames that resonate; words that alienate] Avoid: [specific phrases or approaches that kill credibility] Lead with: [Pain / Outcome / Peer reference / Data]
WHERE TO REACH THEM Primary: [LinkedIn / Email / Phone / Events / Trade press] Content: [What they read and follow] Timing: [When they are most receptive]
NEVER DO THESE
- NEVER build an ICP from assumptions alone -- always validate against actual closed-won customer data and conversations with sales leadership
- NEVER skip the anti-ICP analysis -- knowing who NOT to pursue saves more sales time than knowing who to pursue
- NEVER produce an ICP or persona without actionable outreach guidance -- a persona that cannot be translated into specific messaging and channel selection is an academic exercise, not a sales tool
- NEVER treat the ICP as static -- recalibrate quarterly against actual conversion data and new market signals