name: ideal-client-profile-review-runner description: > Runs the quarterly Ideal Client Profile review — roster analysis, profile refinement with updated inclusion/exclusion criteria, pipeline comparison, and outreach alignment check. Mid-quarter, two weeks after QBR. metadata: author: "Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders" version: "1.0.0" date: "2026-04-28" sop: "Ideal Client Profile Review" category: "Practice Strategy" frequency: "Quarterly" estimated-time: "30 min" trigger: "Mid-quarter, two weeks after QBR"

Ideal Client Profile Review — Runner

You are executing the Ideal Client Profile Review SOP for an independent consultant. Your Ideal Client Profile drifts without you noticing — a client you took on because they could pay becomes the template for who you pursue next, and six months later you're fully booked with clients who drain your capacity and don't refer. This runner keeps your practice mix intentional.

Do not skip steps. Do not ask questions across multiple turns — collect everything upfront.

What you'll have when this is done: A refreshed Ideal Client Profile with current inclusion and exclusion criteria, a flagged list of any pipeline prospects who no longer match, and updated targeting inputs ready for your next Cold Outreach Batch and Referral and Partnership Campaign.

Step 1: Collect All Inputs

Gather the following from the user in a single prompt. Accept whatever detail level they provide. Flag gaps but keep moving.

Current Client Roster — for each active client:

• Client name or descriptor (can be anonymized)
• Industry vertical
• Engagement type (retainer, project, sprint, advisory)
• Duration of engagement so far
• Monthly revenue
• Referral activity (has this client referred anyone? yes/no/how many)
• Energy read — honest gut: does this client energize or deplete you? (energize / neutral / deplete)

Friction Notes from Last Quarter:

• Any clients who caused scope creep, payment delays, or energy drain
• Specific patterns: what made them difficult?
• Any clients you would not re-sign if given the choice?

Best Engagements (minimum 3, ideally 5+):

• Which current or recent clients were your best engagements?
• For each: how did they find you? What made the engagement great? Did they refer?
• Entry point — what they initially asked for

Worst Engagements (minimum 3, ideally 5+):

• Which current or recent clients were your worst engagements?
• For each: how did they find you? What went wrong? Key issue?
• Entry point — what they initially asked for

Pipeline — for each active prospect:

• Name or descriptor
• Industry / company size
• How they found you (referral, cold inbound, content, outreach)
• Current stage (Lead, Discovery, Proposal, Negotiating)
• Characteristics: decision-making speed, prior investment in solving the problem, internal capacity to implement

Revenue and Capacity Targets:

• Quarterly revenue target
• Ideal client mix (e.g., "80% retainer, 20% project")
• Capacity available for new engagements (hours/week or number of clients)

Current Outreach Targeting:

• Who is your Cold Outreach Batch currently targeting? (vertical, company profile, role)
• Who are your Referral and Partnership Campaign sources targeting?

Previous ICP (if available):

• Your current Ideal Client Profile document (inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, scoring rubric)
• Date of last review

If the user hasn't provided enough engagements to see patterns (fewer than 6 total across best and worst), say so and note that confidence will be lower.

Step 2: Review Current Client Roster

Using the roster data from Step 1, build a roster summary:

2A. Client Roster Analysis

2B. Roster Health Summary

Calculate and present:

• Total active clients: [count]
• Revenue concentration: Top client = [X]% of revenue. Top 3 = [X]%
• Energy distribution: [X] energize, [X] neutral, [X] deplete
• Referral producers: [X] of [total] clients have referred ([X]%)
• Friction clients: [list names from friction notes]

Write 2-3 sentences interpreting the roster. Flag any pattern where depleting clients represent more than 25% of revenue or where referral activity correlates with energy (it almost always does).

Step 3: Run the Ideal Client Profile Refiner

Using the best/worst engagement data from Step 1, execute the profile refinement.

3A. Engagement Analysis

Best Engagements

Worst Engagements

3B. Pattern Identification

Positive Predictors (traits shared by best engagements but absent from worst):

Strength ratings:

• Strong: Appears in 80%+ of best, <20% of worst
• Moderate: Appears in 60%+ of best, <40% of worst
• Weak: Directional but not definitive

Negative Predictors (traits shared by worst engagements but absent from best):

Risk ratings:

• High: Appears in 80%+ of worst
• Moderate: Appears in 60%+ of worst
• Contextual: Depends on other factors

Irrelevant Factors (Don't Filter On These)

Important: Look beyond industry and size. Behavioral traits usually matter more: decision-making speed, whether they've tried to solve this before, internal capacity to implement, whether the economic buyer is in the room during discovery, and how they found you (referral vs. cold inbound vs. content).

3C. Qualification Scorecard

Build a weighted scoring rubric from the top 5-8 positive predictors:

Weights: 3 = critical, 2 = important, 1 = nice to have.

Thresholds: Pursue: [X]+ | Caution: [Y]-[X] | Pass: Below [Y]

Calculate thresholds based on total possible score. Pursue = top 30%, Caution = middle 40%, Pass = bottom 30%.

Every criterion must have a specific discovery question. Generic questions ("tell me about your business") fail. Specific questions ("what have you already tried to fix this, and what happened?") reveal readiness.

3D. Disqualification Triggers

From the worst engagement patterns, identify 2-4 hard filters:

These are non-negotiable. A prospect who scores perfectly on the scorecard but hits a disqualification trigger should still be passed.

Rule: The graceful exit language matters. Bad-fit prospects often know good-fit prospects. How you decline shapes your referral pipeline.

3E. Updated Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Synthesize the analysis into a clean profile:

Inclusion Criteria (pursue):

• [Criterion 1 — from positive predictors and scorecard]
• [Criterion 2]
• [Criterion 3]

Exclusion Criteria (pass):

• [Criterion 1 — from negative predictors and disqualification triggers]
• [Criterion 2]
• [Criterion 3]

Changes from Previous Profile:

• [What was added]
• [What was removed]
• [What was adjusted and why]

If no previous profile was provided: "First profile build — no comparison available."

Step 4: Compare Refined Profile Against Pipeline

Using the pipeline data from Step 1 and the updated profile from Step 3, evaluate each active prospect:

For each prospect marked Deprioritize:

• State why they no longer match (which criteria changed, which trigger they hit)
• Recommend action: deprioritize follow-up, finish current stage but don't advance, or remove from pipeline
• Note any sunk cost (proposals sent, discovery completed) that makes the decision harder — acknowledge it, then recommend based on the profile anyway

For each prospect marked Caution:

• State the mixed signals
• Recommend the specific discovery question that would resolve the uncertainty

Step 5: Check Outreach Alignment

Compare the updated profile against current outreach targeting:

5A. Cold Outreach Batch

5B. Referral and Partnership Campaign

If outreach is built around the old profile, state explicitly: "Update targeting criteria before the next batch runs."

Step 6: Assemble Final Output

Present one unified document:

# Ideal Client Profile Review
## [Date] | Quarterly Review

### Roster Health
[Summary table and narrative from Step 2]

### Engagement Analysis
[Best/worst comparison tables from Step 3A]

### Pattern Analysis
[Positive predictors, negative predictors, irrelevant factors from Step 3B]

### Qualification Scorecard
[Scorecard table and thresholds from Step 3C]

### Disqualification Triggers
[Trigger table from Step 3D]

### Updated Ideal Client Profile
[Inclusion and exclusion criteria from Step 3E]
[Changes from previous profile]

### Pipeline Review Against Updated Profile
[Prospect evaluation table and recommendations from Step 4]

### Outreach Alignment
[Cold Outreach and Referral/Partnership alignment tables from Step 5]

### Leave Alone / Watch For
- **Leave alone:** Caution-range prospects still deserve a conversation. The ICP is a filter, not a straitjacket. Some of your future best clients will be the ones who surprised you. Use the hard disqualification triggers aggressively; use the scorecard as a conversation guide, not a gate.
- **Watch for:** Whether your actual pipeline matches the refined profile over the next 90 days. If you're consistently attracting prospects who don't match the ICP, the problem isn't the profile — it's your positioning or your lead sources.

### SOPs to Trigger
- [ ] **Cold Outreach Batch** — update targeting criteria if outreach alignment gaps found
- [ ] **Referral and Partnership Campaign** — update referral ask language if profile shifted

Quality Check

Identify the weakest section. Rewrite it. Verify the rewrite before presenting.

Rules

1. Always build from real data. If the user hasn't provided enough engagements to see patterns (fewer than 6 total), say so and note reduced confidence. Do not invent patterns from thin data.
2. Include behavioral traits, not just demographics. Industry and size are proxies. Decision-making speed and prior investment in solving the problem are signals.
3. Every scorecard criterion must have a specific discovery question. A criterion you can't assess during intake is useless.
4. Name the irrelevant factors explicitly. These prevent filtering on instinct rather than evidence.
5. Disqualification triggers are hard stops, not preferences. If the data doesn't support hard stops, say so rather than inventing them.
6. The profile only matters if it changes what you do next. A revised ICP that doesn't filter active prospects or update outreach targeting is decoration, not a system.
7. Don't optimize for revenue only. The clients who refer are the ones who also energize. A high-revenue client who drains you and never refers is quietly degrading your practice mix every quarter.
8. Never build a profile so narrow it eliminates viable prospects. The goal is better filtering, not zero volume.
9. The graceful exit language matters. Bad-fit prospects often know good-fit prospects. How you decline shapes your referral pipeline.
10. If data is incomplete, work with what's available and note assumptions. Never fabricate engagement details, patterns, or metrics.
11. Escape dollar signs as \$ for Notion compatibility.

Copyright (c) 2026 Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders Licensed under the Practice Builders Skill License v1.0 See https://practicebuilders.ai/license for terms.

This skill is part of the Consulting Practice SOP Manual, a Practice Builders product. Redistribution, resale, or derivative use without written permission is prohibited.