| name | Ideal Customer Profile |
| slug | ideal-member-profile |
| category | Strategy |
| one_shot | false |
| description | Builds a vivid, specific ideal customer profile through a structured interview — covering who they are, where they are now, what they want, what stops them, and what makes them buy and stay. Output feeds directly into your content and marketing skills. |
| keywords | ["ideal customer","buyer persona","customer profile","target audience","ICP","ideal client","audience research","customer avatar"] |
Ideal Customer Profile
Build a vivid, specific profile of the person your business is built for — not a demographic sketch, but a real portrait: who they are, what they're struggling with, what they want, what's stopping them, and what finally makes them buy and stay.
Every other skill works better when it knows who it's writing for. This skill produces that foundation.
Output: A standalone ideal customer profile document you can reference in any skill or share with collaborators.
Before Starting
Check reference docs first:
If reference/target-reader.md exists and is filled in, read it before asking questions. Use what's already there and skip any questions already answered. If the doc exists but is thin, this skill fills it in.
How This Works
This is a structured interview — not a form. Ask questions in small groups (2–3 at a time), listen to the answers, and follow up where details are thin. The goal is specificity: a profile nobody could confuse with someone else's.
Work through the 7 sections below, in order.
Section 1: The Real Person
Ask these together:
To build a profile we can actually use, I want to describe your ideal customer as a specific, real person — not just a demographic. Let's start here:
- Give them a name. How old are they? Where do they live? What's their life situation — job, family, daily context?
- What's their relationship with money? What's their income situation, and what would "financial success" actually feel like to them?
- How comfortable are they with technology — completely non-technical, capable (can follow tutorials, use AI to unblock themselves), or closer to a developer?
What to listen for: Specificity signals the person knows their audience. Vague answers ("anyone who wants to...") need a follow-up: "Think of your best current customer or the person you most enjoyed working with. Describe them."
Section 2: Where They Are Right Now
Ask together:
Now let's look at where they are before they find you:
- What are they currently doing? (Their work, their tools, their platforms, how they're currently trying to solve the problem your business addresses)
- What's already working for them? What have they figured out on their own?
- What's not working — where are they stuck, frustrated, or plateaued?
What to listen for: The gap between what's working and what's not is where your value lives. If they can't articulate this gap clearly, probe: "What's the thing they keep trying that never quite works?"
Section 3: What They Want
Ask together:
- What is their primary measurable goal — the specific outcome, number, or milestone they're chasing?
- What's the emotional goal behind that? What do they actually want to feel — not just achieve?
- If everything worked out, what does their life or work look like in 12 months?
What to listen for: The measurable goal is what they say they want. The emotional goal is what they actually want. Both matter — but the emotional goal drives buying decisions. If they only give a measurable goal ("$5k/month"), push for the feeling: "Why does that number matter — what does hitting it change for them?"
Section 4: The Blocker
Ask together:
- What is their #1 fear or hesitation — the thing that keeps them from moving forward, even when they know what to do?
- How does overthinking or self-sabotage show up for them? What do they do instead of shipping?
- What almost stopped your best customers from buying? What were they on the fence about?
What to listen for: The blocker is usually fear of failure or fear of commitment — but it often looks like "I need to research more" or "I need to get X right first." The overthinking pattern is often more honest than the stated fear.
Section 5: Beliefs, Triggers, and Churn
Ask in two parts:
Part A — Beliefs:
13. What do they believe right now that's true but limiting them? (The mindset or assumption that keeps them stuck)
14. What do they need to hear — the reframe or permission — that unlocks action for them?
Part B — Buying and staying:
15. What triggers them to finally buy? Name the 2–3 moments when they become a customer.
16. What keeps them coming back or staying engaged after they buy?
17. What causes them to disengage or cancel?
What to listen for: The "what they need to hear" answer often becomes the thesis of your best marketing. The churn triggers reveal retention risks worth designing against.
Section 6: How to Reach Them
Ask together:
- Where do they hang out — platforms, communities, search, word of mouth?
- What types of content do they trust, save, or share? (Frameworks, checklists, case studies, behind-the-scenes, tutorials?)
- What language do they use to describe their own problem? Any exact quotes or phrases you've heard from real people?
What to listen for: The exact phrases people use to describe their problem are gold for copy. If the user has heard people say a specific thing repeatedly, that phrase often belongs in the headline of their sales page.
Section 7: The Transformation and Messaging
Ask together:
- What's the core transformation your business delivers — where do customers start, and where do they end up? (Complete the sentence: "From: ___ → To: ___")
- What are the 3–5 messaging angles that make your ideal customer feel most "seen" — the themes that make them think "this is exactly me"?
Output: The Ideal Customer Profile
After completing the interview, produce the full profile in this format:
# Ideal Customer Profile — [Business Name]
## The Person
**Name:** [First name]
**Age:** [Age]
**Location:** [City/region/context]
**Life situation:** [Job, family, daily context — 2-3 sentences]
**Income/money relationship:** [1-2 sentences]
**Tech comfort:** [Non-technical / Capable / Developer]
## Where They Are Right Now
[2-3 paragraphs: what they're doing, what's working, what's not — told as a mini-narrative, not a list]
## What They Want
**Primary goal:** [The measurable outcome]
**Emotional goal:** [The feeling behind the goal]
**12-month success picture:** [What their life/work looks like if everything works]
## The Blocker
**#1 fear:** [The thing that stops them]
**How overthinking shows up:** [The self-sabotage pattern]
**What almost stopped your best customers:** [The fence they were on]
## What They Believe and Need to Hear
**Core belief (limiting):** [What they believe that's true but holding them back]
**What unlocks action:** [The reframe or permission they need]
## Buying and Staying
**Buying triggers:**
1. [Moment 1]
2. [Moment 2]
3. [Moment 3]
**What keeps them:** [Retention/engagement drivers]
**What causes drop-off:** [Churn or disengagement triggers]
## How to Reach Them
**Where they hang out:** [Platforms and communities]
**Content they trust:** [Formats and types]
**Their words:** [Quotes and phrases they actually use]
## The Transformation
**From:** [Current state]
**To:** [Desired state]
**In their words:** "[A short statement in their voice that captures it]"
## Messaging Angles
1. [Theme that makes them feel seen]
2. [Theme]
3. [Theme]
4. [Theme, if applicable]
5. [Theme, if applicable]
After the Profile
Once the profile is complete, offer to save it:
"Want to save this to reference/target-reader.md? It will be available to all other skills automatically when working in this repo."
Also note what to run next:
"Now that you have your ideal customer profile, the linkedin-post and instagram-post skills will use it to write in the right voice for the right person. Fill in reference/writing-style.md next to complete the picture."
