Define your ideal customer

Who this is for

Founder led lower-middle market companies with 5 to 50 million in annual revenue that need clear focus for sales and marketing.

The quick answer

Describe one buyer, one problem, and one must win use case. Add three firmographic filters and three disqualifiers. Share it on one page that fits in a rep’s hand and update it each quarter based on real wins and losses.

The method in six steps

Name the buyer and the job to be done
Write the role, what they are measured on, and the painful problem they need solved right now. Keep it in their words.
Define one must win use case
Describe the specific situation where you deliver an obvious win. Include the event that triggers urgency and the outcome in numbers.
Add three firmographic filters
Size, industry, and geography or tech stack. Use your last twelve months of wins to set realistic bounds.
Set three disqualifiers
Deal breakers such as no budget owner, wrong system fit, or very low service level expectations. Disqualifiers save time and protect margin.
Collect proof
Two short case notes, one metric that shows value, and a customer quote. Proof turns a description into something sales can trust.
Publish and use
Fit it on one page. Add discovery questions, common objections, and the next step you want. Train sales and marketing to use the same page.

Example

A services firm focused on operations directors in multi site healthcare who needed faster response during audits. The must win use case was audit preparation with a thirty day deadline. Filters were one hundred to five hundred staff, regulated environments, and Eastern Canada. Disqualifiers were no local champion, price only buyers, and unsupported legacy tools. Win rate rose and average deal size increased.

Pitfalls and fixes

Vague buyers. Name one role and what they care about.
Laundry list of use cases. Start with one use case and add later.
No disqualifiers. Protect time and margin.
Not using the page. Put it in the deck, CRM, and website.

Checklist

Buyer, problem, and one use case written in plain words
Three filters and three disqualifiers set
Two proof points and one quote
One page format with discovery questions
Review cadence each quarter