Designing Sales Plans Around the Ideal Customer Profile

Owners misperceive sales as a goal, not a system. They want growth but often fail to align the team to achieve the desired result. Brian’s Bikes, a case with two stories, illustrates this point.

Brian’s Bikes – A Sales Plan Gone Wrong:

Brian’s Bikes was coming off a decent year. Nothing spectacular, but steady enough to feel optimistic. At the new year’s first planning meeting of the year, Brian prepared to unveil the big target for the year: selling more E-Bikes.

After some quick announcements, Brian addressed the number. “Our plan is to grow by selling more E-Bikes.” The bike shop sold 100 E-Bikes that year, riding a wave. The staff, mostly mountain and road bike enthusiasts, were astonished at this phenomenon – “isn’t pedal assist kind of like cheating?”

E-Bikes were selected as a focus because the other three lines of business – manual bikes, accessories, and parts/repair were flat or up 1-2%. Still, the team was surprised when Brian set the mark at 150 E-Bikes to sell in the new year — the competition had inventory now, and there was a fear that the price might fall, especially with cheaper online import options gaining traction.

But no one thought to ask, “Exactly how will we produce this number?”

The Outcome

In Q1, things were promising: the phone was ringing, and the website was getting plenty of traffic.

But sales of E-Bikes lagged behind. By June, they were behind, so Brian shaved $200 off the price to remove the optics of a $3,000 purchase. $2800 sounded better.

By September, Brian decided to drop the price again. At $2600, surely Q4 would be better. By year end, Brian’s Bikes came in at 105 E-Bikes sold, or 5% growth, but nowhere near the goal.

Meanwhile, Brian was frustrated. The panicked discounts had destroyed the company’s margins. The team was demoralized. Technically, there was growth, but not what they had hoped for.

What Went Wrong with the Sales Plan?

Industry momentum can be misleading. While E-Bike sales increased slightly, the team lacked any real understanding of who was buying, why they were buying, or how those sales were generated. Without that insight, there was no repeatable process—no “muscle memory”—to build on.

That disconnect led to reactive decision-making, culminating in margin-eroding discounts. This wasn’t a sales plan; it was guesswork. And guesswork doesn’t scale.

A Different Ending: How Brian Emboldened his Team to Enable Sales Success

Jane, one of Brian’s top sellers, asked Brian, “Exactly how will we produce this number?”

Brian replied, “We are going to figure this out together by starting with the customer.” Knowing that his more active team didn’t ride E-Bikes themselves, Brian correctly detected that the group needed to pinpoint the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and the progress these Customers want to make within their circumstances.

Brian selected Jane to conduct a survey of the 100 E-Bike Purchasers from last year, and she found that the ICP was 55–75-year-olds who stated they bought an E-bike because:

• “I need it to help my aging and aching body.”
• “I really want to be part of a group again.”
• “I can’t ride comfortably and confidently on a manual bike.”
• “I just want to feel like myself again — independent and respected.”

Building an Improved Sales Plan

Armed with this information and now aware of who they are selling to, Brian gave his team a detailed sales plan that came out to:

$450,000 (Revenue) = 350 Opportunities x 35% Win-rate x $3000 average price.

With the Sales Planning “Math” in hand, the team went to work designing sales activities to reach that goal:

• Hosting group rides in 55+ communities where their ICP lived.
• Launching a new referral program to activate their existing customer base.
• Creating low-barrier entry points through in-store ride incentives.

The team wasn’t guessing anymore — they were executing against a defined system.

The Final Result

By year-end, Brian’s Bikes sold 169 E-Bikes, exceeding their goal without relying on margin-eroding discounts. More importantly, they built something repeatable: a clear understanding of their customer, a structured path to generate opportunities, and a team aligned around execution.

The difference wasn’t effort—it was clarity. Sales stopped being a goal and became a system the team could run, measure, and improve.