01 — Ideal Client Profile (ICP)
Use: Qualify in / qualify out before booking discovery. Run inbound leads and outbound target lists against this.
Tier 1 — Best fit (pursue aggressively)
| Dimension | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 500-5,000 employees |
| Sector | Public sector (NHS Trusts, Local Authorities, Housing Associations), Higher Education, mid-market regulated industries (FS, utilities, manufacturing) |
| Buying centre | HR Director / Chief People Officer + ESG/Sustainability Lead joint sponsor |
| Trigger | New CPO in seat <12 months, ESG report cycle approaching, recent engagement survey decline, regulatory pressure (FCA Consumer Duty, EHRC menopause guidance) |
| Budget signal | Existing line item for L&D or wellbeing ≥£100k/yr |
| Geography | UK-based, multi-site preferred |
Tier 2 — Good fit (pursue if pipeline allows)
| Dimension | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Headcount | 200-500 OR 5,000-15,000 |
| Sector | Charities (£10m+ income), professional services, retail HQ functions |
| Buying centre | Single sponsor (HRD or Head of L&D) with exec backing |
| Trigger | Post-restructure, M&A integration, hybrid-working policy review |
Tier 3 — Marginal (require Delivery Lead sign-off)
- Sub-200 headcount (cohort economics break down).
- Sub-£10m charities (price sensitivity + capacity issues).
- Buyers asking for "a one-off workshop."
Disqualify (decline politely, refer elsewhere)
| Signal | Why decline | Refer to |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical service expected (EAP replacement, therapy provision) | Outside our model (no-clinical-services memory) | NHS Talking Therapies / private EAP provider |
| Sub-100 headcount | Cannot run cohorts of n≥5 with anonymisation floor | Coaching-only providers, MoneyHelper Workplace |
| Single-event workshop only | Violates Sprint 5 §03 anti-pattern | Awareness training providers |
| Outside UK with no UK entity | Compliance + coach network mismatch | Local equivalents per region |
| Budget <£25k total | Below pricing floor (§04) | Self-serve resources, free MoneyHelper toolkits |
| Procurement requires unlimited liability or IP transfer | SoW boundary (§07) | — |
| Explicitly wants "wellbeing scores" per individual | Anonymisation floor non-negotiable (Sprint 5 §04) | — |
Qualifying questions (ask in first 5 mins of any call)
- "What's prompting you to look at this now?" — surfaces trigger or lack thereof.
- "Who's the exec sponsor — and have they signed off on this being a priority?" — no exec = no deal.
- "What's the headcount in scope for this engagement?" — cohort math.
- "Have you run something similar before? What worked, what didn't?" — sets the expectation bar.
- "What does a successful outcome look like to your board?" — informs SROI driver selection (Sprint 5 §07).
Red flags to capture in CRM (mid-discovery)
- "We just need a tick-box for our ESG report." → Educate or disqualify.
- "Can you white-label this for our internal team to deliver?" → Not our model; decline.
- "We'd want coaches to feed back on individuals to managers." → Hard no — anonymisation rule.
- "We need this rolled out in 4 weeks." → Below Sprint 3 onboarding minimum; explain why or decline.
Inbound lead routing
| Lead source | Owner | First-touch SLA |
|---|---|---|
| Demo request via /corporate | AE rota | 4 working hours |
| Referral from existing client | Account Mgr of referring client | Same day |
| Conference / event scan | AE who scanned | 2 working days |
| Cold outbound reply | AE owning that account | Same day |
| Procurement portal RFP | Sales Lead (decide pursue/decline) | 1 working day |