The Difference Between Customer Profiles & Buyer Personas

A common way to compile information on your customers is through a buyer persona. But a buyer persona might not be the right tool for truly getting into your customer’s shoes, especially when exploring new value propositions. In this post, we’ll explain how the Customer Profile in the Value Proposition Canvas can be a much more actionable evidence gathering tool than developing a buyer persona.  

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Deep customer understanding is the first great skill of any successful enterprise. The more you know about your audience, the more likely you’ll design a value proposition that answers customer priorities.

The Customer Profile, or "the circle" is the right hand side of our Value Proposition Canvas.

Buyer personas are frequently developed by sales and marketing teams hoping to reach out to a specific customer target. But buyer personas aren’t always an accurate collection of customer segments, customer priorities, or customer learning.

We believe the Customer Profile (the circle in our Value Proposition Canvas) is a much more actionable tool for getting to know your customers. We point out why in the table below.

If you're new to the Value Proposition Canvas, we encourage you to check out these links:

• Webinar #3: How To Use The Value Proposition Canvas
• 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Using The Value Proposition Canvas
• 8 Tips For Conducting Interviews That Deliver Relevant Customer Insights