Before we architect your website, we need to know who it’s for — the organizations you most want as clients, and the people inside those organizations who influence the decision to hire you. This worksheet walks you through both, so your site’s structure, messaging, service-page emphasis, proof points, case studies, and calls to action are built around real buyers, not guesses.
Recommended scope: 3–5 Ideal Client Profiles and 3–6 buyer personas. Use real clients and engagements as reference points — specific, rough notes are more useful to us than polished marketing language.
1. What Is an Ideal Client Profile (ICP)?
An Ideal Client Profile describes a type of organization that’s a strong strategic, financial, and working-style fit for your business. It describes the organization — not an individual contact.
For each ICP, define:
- Organization type or industry: What kind of company, employer, or institution is it?
- Size and complexity: Employee count, revenue, number of locations, and any structural or regulatory factors that shape the engagement.
- Geography or footprint: Does it operate locally, regionally, across multiple states, or nationwide?
- Needs and triggers: What’s driving the need for what you offer — ongoing support, a specific project, compliance, growth, a crisis?
- Internal resources: Does the organization have in-house staff or leadership in this area, or an existing outside vendor/partner model?
- Why the fit is strong: Relevant experience, relationship potential, economics, working style, and long-term growth value.
- Poor-fit signals, if helpful: Situations, budgets, expectations, or project types you don’t want to prioritize.
Example ICP Shape
An established organization with [employee count / revenue range] and an internal [relevant function] team, with a recurring need for [type of work] across [locations or markets]. Priority sectors might include [industry], [industry], and [industry].
This is only a template. Your actual ICPs should be based on your real client, revenue, and relationship data — not assumptions.
2. What Is a Buyer Persona?
A buyer persona describes a real role within an ICP and explains how that person participates in finding, evaluating, approving, hiring, or working with you.
For each persona, capture:
- Role and context: Title, seniority, organization type, and relevant responsibilities.
- Place in the buying circle: Initiator, researcher, evaluator, approver, day-to-day user, or executive sponsor.
- Trigger: What happened that makes the need urgent or important now?
- Priorities and desired outcomes: What is this person trying to protect, fix, avoid, or accomplish?
- Concerns and objections: Cost, responsiveness, disruption, risk, trust, internal politics, fear of making the wrong choice.
- Selection criteria and proof: What builds confidence — expertise, judgment, track record, accessibility, efficiency, cultural fit, case examples, credentials, or cost transparency?
- Website needs: What must this person quickly find, understand, and believe before taking the next step?
Common Buying-Circle Roles
These are illustrative — adapt titles and responsibilities to match how decisions actually get made at your ICPs.
Day-to-Day Champion
Often initiates the search and works with you day to day once engaged. This person may value accessibility, practical advice, quick turnaround, and confidence that urgent questions get timely attention.
Technical or Subject-Matter Evaluator
Evaluates depth of expertise, judgment, and the ability to collaborate effectively with internal teams. This person may look for relevant experience, strategic thinking, discretion, and a clear understanding of the organization’s realities.
Budget Holder (e.g., CFO)
May review or approve the budget. This person may be especially concerned with cost transparency, efficiency, predictability, and whether you can resolve issues without unnecessary expense or complexity.
Executive Sponsor (e.g., CEO, President, Executive Director)
May sponsor an urgent, sensitive, or high-stakes initiative. This person is likely to value confidence, discretion, a strong track record, sound judgment, and peace of mind that you have the organization’s back.
What to Send Us
For each ICP, give us a short name and roughly 4–6 bullets. For each persona, give us the role, place in the buying decision, trigger, top needs or concerns, and the proof that earns trust.
Use anonymized, real-world examples whenever possible. Note where a persona’s role, priorities, or concerns change based on the ICP, organization size, or service line.
Avoid false precision: Don’t invent ages, hobbies, personal preferences, or demographic details unless they directly affect the decision. An ICP is not every organization you can serve — it’s the kind of organization you most want to attract.
Simple Response Format
ICP #1: [name] - Organization type or industry: - Size and complexity: - Geography or footprint: - Needs or triggers: - Internal resources: - Why this is a strong fit: Persona #1: [role or title] - Role in the buying decision: - Trigger: - Priorities and desired outcomes: - Concerns or objections: - Proof needed to build trust: - What this person needs from the website:
You’re All Set!
Once you send this over, we’ll use it to shape your site’s architecture, messaging, and content priorities. If you have questions or want to talk it through, reach out to us and we’ll walk through it together.