Ideal customer profile
Also called: ICP
ELI5
The kind of customer the company is best suited to serve.
Used in conversation
“The ideal customer profile should include disqualifying conditions.”
Definition
A description of the organisation or customer type most likely to receive value and be commercially attractive.
Here “Ideal customer profile” means: A description of the organisation or customer type most likely to receive value and be commercially attractive.
Pitch context
You will see “Ideal customer profile” in strategy decks, market analyses, business plans and planning workshops when the discussion reaches customers, users & segmentation.
Why it matters: It helps a reader interpret customers, users & segmentation without confusing the measure, decision, role or evidence being discussed.
Connected terms
- Buyer personaA buyer persona describes a human archetype; an ideal customer profile describes the type of organisation or account that best fits.
- Target marketA target market is a broad group the business may serve; an ideal customer profile narrows the organisations or accounts that are the strongest fit.
Sources & evidence · 5
Supporting source families. This entry is an editorial synthesis rather than a quotation from one canonical glossary.
- Strategyzer — Business Model Canvas resourcesSupporting source family · practitioner · checked 2026-08-16
- Strategyzer — Value Proposition Canvas resourcesSupporting source family · practitioner · checked 2026-08-16
- LEANSTACK — Lean CanvasSupporting source family · practitioner · checked 2026-08-16
- U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division — Herfindahl-Hirschman IndexSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-16
- U.S. Census Bureau — Business and economy dataSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-16