What is a buyer persona?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional profile of a typical person involved in buying your product, based on their role, goals and concerns.
Why it matters for sales teams
Different people care about different things. A finance leader asks about cost and payback, an operations manager asks about daily workflow, and an IT lead asks about security and integration. Personas help reps tailor their opening, questions and proof points to the person on the line, instead of using one pitch for everyone.
A useful persona covers the person's responsibilities, how they are measured, what frustrates them and the objections they usually raise. It is based on real conversations with customers and prospects, not guesses.
Example
A team defines two personas for its sales software. "Sales manager Sam" wants more conversations per rep and better visibility into activity. "Revenue operations Riley" cares about clean CRM data and setup effort. SDRs use a different cold call opener and different questions for each.
Buyer persona vs ICP
The ideal customer profile defines which companies to target. Buyer personas define whom to talk to inside those companies and how. In B2B, one deal often involves several personas, including a decision-maker and a champion.