The short answer
An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the kind of company that gets the most value from your product and is most valuable to you — defined by attributes such as country and region, industry, size, stage and the events that signal a need.
At a glance
- Term
- Ideal customer profile (ICP)
- Also known as
- ICP · ICP search
- Category
- Sales & prospecting
- Where it matters
- Sales prospecting and lead generation
Ideal customer profile in practice
An ICP is about companies; a buyer persona is about the people inside them. A good ICP is specific enough to filter a database with, and is revised as you learn who actually buys.
A useful ICP combines firmographics — where a company is, what it does, how big and how mature it is — with timing: the events that suggest it needs what you sell right now.
Why ideal customer profile matters
- It focuses prospecting on accounts likely to convert.
- It turns into concrete search filters and saved searches.
Ideal customer profile in MarketPrior
MarketPrior lead search filters by country and region (including EU regions), NAICS, NACE, NAF or SIC code prefix, funding stage, amount raised and how recent the trigger is. Save an ICP search and you are alerted when new companies match.