Most outreach doesn’t fail because of the email copy. It fails earlier, at the question of who you send it to. If you write to companies that don’t need you, even the best copy won’t save it.
That’s why we always start with the ideal client profile, or ICP. In this article I’ll show you how to build one from what you already have, and how to test it in practice.
What an ideal client profile is
An ideal client profile describes the company your service or product helps most and that you work with best: its industry, size, region, the situation it is in, and the people who make the buying decision.
Don’t confuse it with a persona. A persona describes a person: their worries, goals and the way they talk. You need both, but the company comes first. If you pick the wrong company, the right person inside it won’t help you.
A good profile tells you three things:
- Who to look for. Which companies, and which people inside them.
- Who to contact first. Which companies probably need you right now.
- Who to leave out. Where you would only waste time.
Step 1: Look at your best clients
Don’t start with who you would like to work with. Start with who it actually works with.
Take your last ten to twenty deals and write down for each:
- the industry and what the company does,
- its size in people and roughly in revenue,
- where it is based,
- who made the buying decision and who signed,
- why they were looking for you then, and what was happening at the company,
- how long it took from first contact to deal,
- whether they pay on time and are good to work with,
- whether they come back or refer you.
Then rank them. Put the ones who brought the most money and the fewest headaches at the top.
Step 2: Find what they have in common
Look for repeating traits in the top third of your clients. Usually these are:
- an industry, or a few related ones,
- a size range, such as 20 to 200 people,
- a region or language you do business in,
- how mature the company is, for example it has its own sales team but no marketing department.
Don’t be afraid to narrow it down. “Every company in the country” is not a profile. A narrower profile means fewer companies but far more replies.
Step 3: Work out who decides
For every deal you noted who made the decision. Now look for the pattern. In smaller companies it is usually the owner or managing director. In larger ones, the head of sales, operations or engineering. In purchasing, it’s the buyer who chooses suppliers.
Write down two or three roles you’ll contact. Add the role that won’t sign the deal but can help you get further. A generic address like info@ does not belong on the list; messages sent there usually stop at reception.
Step 4: Find the triggers that make them need you
The same company may not need you at all today and need you badly six months from now. Think back to what was happening at the company when it came to you. It is often:
- hiring: the company is looking for people to do work you could help with,
- funding or growth: new money, a new branch, a new plant,
- changes on the website or in the product: a new site, a new product, a new market,
- a new person in leadership: a new director often brings new suppliers.
These triggers are called buying signals. When you know them, you know not only who to write to, but when.
Step 5: Write down who to leave out
Who you don’t want matters as much as who you do. Go through the clients where it didn’t work. Were they too small? Too big for you to matter to them? In an industry you don’t understand? Slow to pay?
This gives you a short list of exclusion rules. It will save you more time than anything else in this article.
Step 6: Put it into one paragraph
The whole profile should fit into one paragraph that a colleague who wasn’t involved can understand. For example:
Engineering and metalworking manufacturers in Moravia, 50 to 250 employees, with their own purchasing department. We write to buyers and technical directors. The best moment is when the company is hiring in production or expanding the plant. We leave out companies under 20 people and companies that do their own machining.
This is a made-up example. Yours will look different, but it should have the same parts: industry, size, region, roles, triggers and exclusions.
How to test the profile in practice
A profile isn’t finished when you write it. It’s finished when the replies confirm it.
- Reach out to a small sample of companies that fit the profile.
- Watch who replies and who is interested. Not just how many reply, but which ones.
- Adjust the profile based on what you learn. If mostly smaller companies reply, shift the range. If a different role responds, write to that role.
- Repeat at regular intervals, for example once a quarter.
A few questions to check before you use the profile:
- Can I tell from public information whether a company fits?
- Can I name at least three real companies that belong in it?
- Do I know why they should reply now?
- Is it clear who we leave out?
The most common mistakes
- A wish list, not data. You write to companies you’d like to work with but haven’t done anything for yet. Start with the ones where you have results.
- A profile that is too broad. “Companies that need marketing” covers almost everyone. A message written for everyone fits no one.
- Only industry and size. Without roles and triggers you know where to look, but not who to write to or when.
- A profile that never changes. The market moves, and so do you. What held last year may not hold today.
How HypeLead helps
In HypeLead you just enter your website. The AI sales rep builds a company profile, an ideal client profile and a first campaign from it. You adjust them based on what you know from experience.
It then checks every contact it finds against your profile and marks it hot, warm or cold, with the reason it fits. It also watches companies for buying signals: hiring, funding, website changes and news. So you know who to write to first.
Want to see the ideal client profile the AI sales rep would build from your website? Try HypeLead free for 7 days. Enter your website and in a few minutes you’ll see the first companies that fit.
