Technology companies often have the opposite problem to other sectors: the product works for almost everyone, and the ideal customer ends up too broad. “Small and mid-sized companies that want to go digital” helps no one refer you.
Here you will find examples from both sides: software companies defining their own customer and those who sell to technology companies. All fictional. To build yours, use the tool right below the examples.
Fictional example: Company in the sector
Management software company for auto repair shops
Independent auto repair shops with 3 to 15 employees in southeastern Brazil, where the purchase decision is made by the owner, who also works the front counter, and the problem is losing approved quotes for lack of control over work orders.Define my ideal customer
Fictional companies. Each sentence states the type of company, the size, where it is, who decides and which problem is solved. The label shows whether whoever defined it is in the sector or sells to it.
Independent auto repair shops with 3 to 15 employees in southeastern Brazil, where the purchase decision is made by the owner, who also works the front counter, and the problem is losing approved quotes for lack of control over work orders.
Manufacturers and distributors with 50 to 199 employees in Santa Catarina and Paraná, where the purchase decision is made by the operations director with support from the IT manager, and the problem is an old system that does not talk to the online store.
Software companies with 10 to 49 employees that sell subscriptions to other businesses, where the purchase decision is made by the founding partner, and the problem is terms of use and data protection contracts copied from the internet.
In small technology companies, the founder decides almost everything, including purchases outside their area. They want to hear about growth and time, and have little patience for long meetings.
Reviews anything that touches the product or the infrastructure. They can veto a purchase on their own if it creates technical dependency or security risk.
Once the company passes a few dozen people, benefits, accounting and internal tools go through someone in people or finance, who compares price and contract.
The problem your company solves is the last part of the ideal customer sentence, and almost always the one that weighs most in the buyer's decision.
Eight questions about your best customers. At the end, a ready sentence with sector, size, region, who decides and the problem you solve, plus a warning if it is too broad. Free and with no sign-up.
Open the ideal customer builderBy starting with the customers who have used the product the longest, pay on time and refer others. Look at what they have in common: sector, size, who made the purchase decision and which problem they solved. That slice is worth more than the entire market the product could serve.
No. The ideal customer describes the company: sector, size, region and the problem. The persona describes the person inside it, such as the owner or the technical lead. First the ideal customer, then the personas of who decides and who uses.
Almost always the owner, who is often also the user. In mid-sized companies, the user recommends and the leadership or finance approves. That is why the same product calls for different conversations depending on company size.
They work for talking to companies in other sectors that have said they are looking for what you offer, without relying on ads. See how business rounds for technology work. Each company's first round is on the platform.
In an online business round you have several short meetings with companies looking for what you offer. Your company's first round is on us, with just your CNPJ (Brazilian company tax ID).