# Ideal customer profile: training providers

A starting ICP for an independent trainer or training company selling courses to employers. That could be health and safety, first aid, leadership, compliance, sales, software or AI skills. Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own details, delete what doesn't fit, then paste the whole file into Claude, Copilot or ChatGPT.

## How to use this file

Paste this file into a new chat, then try one of these:

- "Using this ICP, list 10 sectors in [region] most likely to need [our training] and how to find employers in each."
- "Here's a company: [name and website]. Score it against this ICP and suggest who holds the training budget."
- "Write a first email to the HR manager at [company]. Plain text, under 90 words, one question at the end."

## About us

- Business: [Your business name]
- What we teach: [Course names or topics]
- How we deliver: [On site, online, blended]
- Accreditations: [e.g. IOSH, NEBOSH, CPD, awarding body approvals]
- Where we work: [Region or UK wide]
- Typical booking: [£ per course or per day, group size]

## Who we want to reach

- Employers with roughly 50 to 500 staff
- Sectors where training is a legal or regulatory need, or where the work is changing fast: [e.g. construction, manufacturing, care, logistics, hospitality, professional services]
- Growing, or going through change (new site, new managers, new systems)
- Location: [region, or UK wide for online]
- Legal form: limited companies, LLPs, public bodies and other incorporated organisations (see the rules section)

## Who makes the decision

- HR manager or people manager
- Learning and development manager
- Health and safety manager
- Operations director or managing director in smaller firms

## What they care about

- Training that sticks, not a day out of the office
- Proof of training for audits, insurers and inspections
- Courses that fit around shifts and busy teams
- A provider who handles bookings, certificates and reminders
- A clear price per head

## Signals that it's a good time to get in touch

- Hiring lots of people, or recently promoted a batch of new managers
- Opening a new site or taking on a big new contract
- A change in the rules for their sector
- New systems or software being rolled out
- A recent public inspection report that points to training (for regulated sectors such as care)

## Where to find them

- Apollo or a similar tool, filtered by sector, headcount, location and the titles above
- Companies House advanced search by SIC code for our target sectors: [ask Claude to suggest codes for your sectors]
- Job boards, for companies hiring at volume
- Sector regulators' public registers and reports, where relevant

## Who to leave out

- Very small firms with no training budget
- Large organisations with an in-house academy or a locked preferred supplier list
- Sectors we have no credibility in yet
- Sole traders and partnerships (see the rules section)
- Anyone who has asked us not to contact them

## The offer we lead with

[Make it low commitment. For example: "A free 20 minute training needs chat, with a short written plan afterwards." Or: "One pilot session for up to eight people before you commit to a programme."]

## How we write

- Plain text. No course brochures attached, no tracking.
- Under 90 words. One clear question at the end.
- Link the training to something true and public about the company (growth, new site, sector changes), never to anything personal.
- Never imply they are breaking the law or doing a bad job.
- Sound like a practitioner who has done the job, not a course catalogue.

## Rules we follow (UK)

- We only cold email corporate subscribers: limited companies, LLPs, public bodies and other incorporated organisations. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships need to have opted in first, so they stay off the list.
- Every email says who we are and gives a simple way to opt out. Anyone who opts out goes on a suppression list for good.
- A named contact is still personal data under UK GDPR. We rely on legitimate interests, keep only what we need, and link to our privacy notice.
- This is not legal advice. The ICO is updating its guidance after the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, so check the latest before you send.