How to build your ICP definition document.
Most advisors skip this step entirely. They have a rough sense of who they work with, but nothing written down — which means every piece of marketing they produce is aimed at a slightly different person. This is the document that fixes that.
Your ideal client profile is not a demographic. "Professionals aged 40–65 with $500K+ in assets" describes roughly 4 million Canadians. That's not a target — that's a country.
A real ICP is a written, specific description of one type of person your practice is uniquely positioned to serve well. It includes what keeps them up at night, how they make decisions, where they look for advice, and what they've probably already tried.
Start with your current book, not your aspirational one. Open your CRM and look at your top 10–15 clients — the ones you'd clone if you could. What do they have in common that isn't just an asset level?
Look for patterns in: profession or industry, how wealth was created (salary, business, inheritance, professional practice), life stage and what triggered them to engage an advisor, and what they were frustrated with before they found you.
Once you see the pattern, write it out in one paragraph. Not a list of attributes — a paragraph, in plain language, as if you were describing a specific person to a referral partner.
Your ICP document should answer eight questions. You can use our template below, or build your own — the format matters less than actually having answers written down.
The eight questions: Who are they (profession, life stage)? How did they accumulate wealth? What's the financial complexity they're navigating? What do they worry about that isn't on a balance sheet? Who do they trust for advice? What have they already tried? Why did they choose you specifically? What does a great outcome look like from their perspective?
Want help defining your ideal client? We can work through the ICP document together on a call.
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