Templates

Copy-and-adapt templates for personas and ICPs

Four templates ready to copy: ICP one-pager, persona canvas, JTBD interview guide, and buying committee map. Adapt for your company. Use them in your CRM, your campaign briefs, and your sales playbooks.

1. ICP one-pager template

Copy this structure into Notion, Coda, or a Google Doc # ICP One-Pager · [Company Name] Last reviewed: [Date] · Next review: [Date + 6 months] ## Firmographics - Industry / sub-industry: [...] - Company size (employees): [Range] - Annual revenue: [Range] - Stage: [startup / scale-up / mid-market / enterprise] - Geography: [North America / EMEA / APAC / specific countries] - Business model: [B2B / B2C / B2B2C / marketplace] ## Technographics - Required tech stack: [e.g., uses Salesforce or HubSpot] - Adjacent tools (signal): [e.g., uses Segment, Mixpanel, etc.] ## Trigger events - What makes this company start looking? [List 3-5] ## Decision drivers - Top 3 things they evaluate on: [List] - Common objections: [List] ## Internal language - How they describe the problem: [3-5 verbatim phrases from interviews] ## Anti-patterns (who is NOT a fit) - [List 3-5 disqualifiers] ## ICP-fit score rubric (0-100) - Firmographic match: ___ / 40 - Technographic match: ___ / 20 - Trigger event present: ___ / 20 - Champion identified: ___ / 20

2. Buyer persona canvas template

One persona per page · Copy template for each persona # Persona · [First name only, e.g., "Marketing Marcus"] Role: [Job title or function] · Seniority: [IC / Manager / Director / VP / C-suite] ## Quote (verbatim from interview) "[Direct quote that captures their voice]" ## Goals - [What outcome do they own?] - [How is their performance measured?] - [What does success look like for them?] ## Pains - [Top 3-5 frustrations or barriers] - [What's broken in their current state?] - [What workarounds are they using?] ## Trigger events - [What makes them start looking for a solution?] ## Decision criteria (in priority order) 1. [Most important] 2. [...] 3. [...] ## Decision process - Who else is involved: [committee roles] - Typical timeline: [weeks/months] - Approval flow: [who needs to sign off] ## Information sources - [Where they go to learn — publications, podcasts, communities, peers] ## Internal language - [Phrases they use that we should mirror] - [Phrases we use that confuse them — to avoid] ## Common objections - [Top 3-5 concerns that almost stop the deal] ## Sample messaging - Hero line: [Headline that resonates with this persona] - Email subject: [Subject line approach] - Sales opener: [How sales would lead with them]

3. JTBD interview guide template

Use for 30-minute customer interviews · Record and transcribe # JTBD Interview Guide · [Interviewee name, Date] ## Setup (2 min) "I appreciate you taking time. I want to understand the path that led you to [product]. I'm going to walk you backwards through the decision and ask some specific questions. This isn't a feature request session — I'm trying to understand the situation you were in." ## The first thought (5 min) "When did you first start thinking you needed something like [product]?" Probe: What was happening at the time? What changed? ## The trigger (5 min) "What was the moment you decided you HAD to do something?" Probe: What pushed you from thinking about it to acting? ## The search (8 min) "Walk me through what you did next." Probe: Who did you talk to? What did you search for? What did you read? ## The alternatives (5 min) "What else did you consider? Why did you rule those out?" Probe: Did you consider doing nothing? Building it internally? A workaround? ## The choice (3 min) "What made you finally pick [product]?" Probe: What concerns did you have? What almost stopped you? ## Reflection (2 min) "Looking back, what about your situation made this feel like the right choice?" ## Wrap (1 min) "What's the biggest job [product] does for you, in your own words?"

4. Buying committee map template

One per active enterprise deal · Update weekly # Committee Map · [Account name] · [Deal stage] | Role | Name | Title | Sentiment | Last contact | Next action | |------|------|-------|-----------|--------------|-------------| | Champion | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Economic Buyer | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Technical Buyer | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | End User | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Procurement | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Legal/Compliance | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Influencer | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Specific next step] | | Blocker | [Name] | [Title] | + / 0 / - | [Date] | [Strategy to address] | ## Risk assessment - Unknown stakeholders: [List] - Negative sentiment: [Who and why] - Process risks: [Procurement timeline, legal review, etc.]

Using these templates

Templates are starting points, not finished products. Customize each one to your business. The structure matters more than the specific fields — what you want is a consistent way to document and update these artifacts across your organization.

The single most important habit: treat these as living documents. Personas and ICPs decay. Review every 6-12 months. Update when you ship a new product, enter a new market, or notice your best-customer cohort shifting.

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