Most founders/CEO’s I meet believe they know their customer. Very few actually do.
Most entrepreneurs build their customer list by accident: Whoever says yes becomes their market.
But if you want consistent, predictable growth, you cannot build your business on randomness. You must build it on alignment.
And alignment starts with understanding your ideal customer.
Not a “perfect customer.” Not a mythological creature. But a standard, a benchmark, against which you measure every real customer you deal with.
The truth: You’ll never find the perfect customer, but you should ALWAYS define one.
Your ideal customer isn’t a real person. (I do not like the word Avatar) It’s a profile built from the patterns of your best customers, the ones who:
Value what you do
Pay on time
Don’t haggle
Respect your process
And give you the highest return on effort
Once you define this, you can start to: ✔ Attract more of the good ones ✔ Identify potential headaches early ✔ Increase margins ✔ Reduce friction ✔ And build a business that grows with less stress
This is where most businesses go wrong.
The 2 Forces Behind Every Great Ideal Customer Profile
There are only two categories that truly matter:
1. Demographics (the objective stuff)
This includes:
Size of the business
Number of end users
Location
Compatibility with your systems
Age/condition of their equipment
Distance from your service EU.- USA or Timbuktu
These are measurable. Easy to spot. Not enough on their own.
Because demographics don’t tell you how they think.
And that’s where the biggest mistakes happen.
2. Psychographics (the invisible stuff that actually drives buying decisions)
Psychographics reveal your customers:
Attitude toward quality
Openness to innovation
Values and ethics
Decision-making style
Attitude toward suppliers
Importance placed on reputation
Their desire for Win-Win or adversarial relationships
Here’s the part most salespeople don’t realise:
Psychographics determine whether the sale will be smooth, profitable, or a nightmare.
Demographics tell you who they are. Psychographics tell you how they behave.
And behaviour always wins.
Why this matters more now than ever
Today’s best companies, from SaaS to manufacturing, are built around culture, not price. They look for partners who:
Value quality
Innovate
Build long-term relationships
Want mutual success
If your ideal customer doesn’t align with these values, you will always be: Under pressure, Underbid, Undervalued
And you’ll end up chasing deals instead of choosing them.
A simple framework to find your REAL ideal customer
Here’s the exact process I encourage founders and sales leaders to use:
Step 1: Identify your best customers
Not by revenue, but by: Low maintenance, High appreciation, Winning mindset, Long-term relationship potential.
Step 2: Identify your worst customers
We all know them. The ones who: Beat you down on price, Slow decisions, Don’t value service, Turn everything into a struggle
Step 3: Extract the characteristics
List the traits that appear repeatedly in your best customers. Do the same for your worst. Then take the opposites of the worst and blend them with the best.
Step 4: Narrow it to 5 core traits
These become your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Everything, marketing, sales, pricing, and delivery, should align with these.
Step 5: Test your current customers
Ask: “How well does this customer match my ideal profile?
You’ll be shocked at how quickly clarity arrives.
Here’s the punchline: People don’t buy just to solve business problems; they buy to win personally.
Every sale is both:
A business win, and
A personal win
People buy because your solution aligns with their values, beliefs, and identity — not just because it “works.” This is why psychographics matter so deeply in Sales Craft™.
If you want to grow faster, start by choosing better customers.
Stop selling to everyone. Start selling to the ones who: ✔ Value you ✔ Align with you ✔ Grow with you
Your ideal customer is the foundation of:
Your pricing power
Your brand strength
Your sales process
Your profitability
And your sanity
Build this profile well, and everything else becomes easier.
Joe Dalton
Entrepreneur • Sales Mentor • Founder of Breakthrough Brands Creator of Sales Craft™ — helping founders and teams close deals 33% faster through psychology, structure, and human connection.
Host of The Weekly Sales Show with Joe Podcast
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