| name | persona-research |
| description | Build a deep profile of a buying persona — motivations, challenges, buying behaviour, language they use, and where to find them. Helps reps understand who they're selling to before they reach out.
|
Persona Research
Use this skill to build a rich profile of a target buyer persona. The output gives reps
the context they need to engage the right person with the right message — regardless of
what tools you use for prospecting.
No CLI or special tools required. Works from web research alone.
Input
Ask the user for:
- Job title / persona — e.g. "Head of RevOps", "VP of Sales", "CFO at a Series B SaaS"
- Company profile — the type of company this persona works at (size, industry, stage)
- Context (optional) — any known information about this persona from deals or calls
If ICP context is already available from signal-discovery or extract-icp, use the buying
committee from there and skip asking.
Step 1 — Research the persona
Use web search and any available tools to answer these questions:
Role and context
- What does this person own? What are they measured on?
- Who do they report to? Who do they manage?
- What does success in this role look like at the end of the year?
Day-to-day reality
- What does a typical week look like for them?
- What meetings do they run or attend?
- What decisions are they responsible for?
Challenges and frustrations
- What slows them down?
- What problems keep coming up that they haven't solved?
- What did the job posting say about the challenges this role will tackle?
Buying behaviour
- Do they initiate purchases or respond to internal requests?
- How do they evaluate new tools? (trials, demos, peer recommendations, analyst reports)
- Who else is involved in the decision? Do they control budget?
- How long do decisions typically take at their company stage?
Language and content
- What words and phrases do they use to describe their problems? (pull from reviews, LinkedIn posts, conference talks)
- What content do they consume? (newsletters, podcasts, communities, conferences)
- What topics do they post about?
Best sources:
- LinkedIn job postings for this title — the "you will" and "you have" sections describe the person
- G2 / Capterra reviews written by this persona — the "pros/cons" language is gold
- LinkedIn posts from people in this role
- Conference session titles and speaker bios
- Substack / newsletter bylines
Step 2 — If Saber CLI is available (optional enrichment)
Run contact-level signals on specific people in this role:
saber signal --profile <linkedin-url> --question "Is this person posting about [relevant challenge] recently?"
saber signal --profile <linkedin-url> --question "Has this person been in their current role for less than 12 months?"
Step 3 — Output the persona profile
PERSONA — [Title] at [Company Type]
ROLE CONTEXT
Reports to: [who they typically report to]
Manages: [team / function / budget they own]
Key metrics: [what they're measured on — e.g. pipeline generated, quota attainment, CAC]
DAY-TO-DAY
[2–3 sentences describing what they actually spend their time on]
GOALS
Short-term: [what they're trying to accomplish this quarter]
Long-term: [what career or company outcomes they're working toward]
CHALLENGES
1. [Specific, observable challenge — use their language]
2. [...]
3. [...]
BUYING BEHAVIOUR
Initiator: [Do they start the search or respond to one?]
Evaluation: [How do they assess vendors — trials, demos, peer refs, G2?]
Decision power: [Do they own budget? Who else signs off?]
Timeline: [How long does a decision typically take at their stage?]
LANGUAGE THEY USE
[Exact phrases pulled from reviews, posts, and job descriptions — not paraphrased]
- "[quote from a G2 review or LinkedIn post]"
- "[another phrase they use]"
WHERE TO FIND THEM
Online: [communities, Slack groups, subreddits, LinkedIn groups]
Content: [newsletters, podcasts, blogs they read]
Events: [conferences or meetups they attend]
WHAT TO AVOID
- [Common mistake reps make with this persona]
- [Messaging that lands poorly — e.g. features they don't care about]
- [Tone or approach that feels off]
Step 4 — Suggest next steps
- Use this profile to guide messaging in
write-outreach or build-sequence
- Use the "language they use" section when writing signal questions in
generate-signals
- Share with the team as a reference doc before a campaign kicks off
