Defining ICP and USP for Sales and Marketing

Who is your ICP?

What are your USPs for your brand, service or product?

If you’ve never seen those acronyms, you’ll have no idea how to answer those questions. So real quick, here’s the basic definitions so you’ll be armed to answer those questions in the future.

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)

This is the person or persons you are targeting with your product or service. This profile should be well-defined and paint a clear picture of the type of individual who would most benefit from your offer. Simply saying, “My ICP is a business owner in the United States,” is not sufficient. There are over 33 million registered business owners in the United States and millions of ways to segment that audience. A better statement of your ICP might be, “My ICP is the Owner of a pest control business serving multiple communities over 30,000 in size, with 25+ employees, and 10+ years of operations.” The ICP is clear, well-defined and directed, allowing you to know exactly who you’re speaking to, where to look to find them, and how to position your products, services and brand.

USP (Unique Selling Point or Proposition)

This is the same as your differentiator. When someone asks you what your USPs are, they’re wanting to know what makes your business, service or product unique. If your competitors were lined up next to you in a comparison chart, which characteristics are only true for your business? For example, if you sell a technician route software for pest control companies, your USPs might be APIs to their CRM software and booking tools, the lowest price on the market, and 20 hours of on-site onboarding training for their staff.