An Ideal Customer Profile is the central concept unifying the entire go-to-market organization, including marketing, sales, customer success, and product development. This holistic alignment is why successful modern companies build a 'go-to-market system' rather than just optimizing a 'sales system' for one department.
Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) in three tiers. 'Green' is your core target for outbound efforts. 'Red' are customers you cannot serve. 'Yellow' is a periphery zone for strong inbound leads or clear-fit opportunities, allowing structured exploration and expansion into adjacent markets without derailing focus.
Instead of proactively targeting unproven segments, use a 'Yellow' ICP category to test expansion. When prospects adjacent to your core ICP arrive as strong inbound leads, you can selectively engage. This allows the market to pull you into your next profitable segment, as exemplified by Snowflake's organic move into the enterprise.
When refining your ICP, don't ignore legacy customers who no longer fit. Instead, segment them and provide a lower-cost service model (e.g., 1:200 account manager ratio vs. 1:30). Acknowledge and forecast higher churn for this cohort, allowing you to focus primary resources on your ideal customers without creating a bad market reputation.