# Persona Builder — Six-Dimension Framework

## Six-Dimension Persona Template

### Dimension 1: Demographics & Firmographics
- **Name**: [Fictional, memorable name]
- **Age range**: [e.g., 35-45]
- **Gender**: [If relevant to targeting]
- **Location**: [Region/metro]
- **Income/Budget**: [Range]
- **Education**: [Level]
- **Job title**: [Specific title(s)]
- **Company size**: [Employee range]
- **Industry**: [Primary industry]
- **Reporting to**: [Their boss's role]
- **Team size**: [People they manage]

### Dimension 2: Psychographics & Motivations
- **Core values**: [What drives their decisions — efficiency, innovation, security, growth]
- **Risk tolerance**: [Risk-averse, moderate, risk-seeking]
- **Decision style**: [Analytical, intuitive, collaborative, delegative]
- **Professional aspirations**: [Where they want to be in 2-3 years]
- **Personal motivations**: [Status, mastery, security, autonomy, purpose]
- **Frustrations**: [What makes their job harder]
- **Fears**: [What keeps them up at night professionally]

### Dimension 3: Pain Points & Goals
- **Primary pain point**: [#1 challenge your product solves]
- **Secondary pain points**: [2-3 additional challenges]
- **Goals (short-term)**: [This quarter/year]
- **Goals (long-term)**: [1-3 year horizon]
- **Success metrics**: [How they're evaluated at work]
- **Jobs to Be Done**: [Functional, emotional, and social jobs — see jtbd-framework.md]

### Dimension 4: Information Diet
- **Content formats preferred**: [Video, articles, podcasts, reports, social posts]
- **Trusted sources**: [Publications, influencers, communities, peers]
- **Social platforms**: [Where they spend time — LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, etc.]
- **Search behavior**: [What they Google when researching your category]
- **Email behavior**: [How many emails/day, what they open, when they check]
- **Events**: [Conferences, webinars, meetups they attend]
- **Communities**: [Slack groups, forums, associations]

### Dimension 5: Buying Behavior
- **Buying role**: [Decision-maker, influencer, champion, end-user, blocker]
- **Research process**: [How they evaluate solutions — demos, reviews, peer input]
- **Buying triggers**: [What events cause them to start searching for a solution]
- **Buying objections**: [Top 3-5 reasons they might NOT buy]
- **Decision criteria**: [How they compare options — price, features, support, brand]
- **Buying timeline**: [How long from problem recognition to purchase]
- **Budget authority**: [Can they approve spend? What's the threshold?]
- **Influencers**: [Who else is involved in the decision?]

### Dimension 6: Relationship with Your Brand
- **Current awareness**: [Unaware, aware, considering, customer, advocate]
- **Past interactions**: [Previous touchpoints with your brand]
- **Sentiment**: [Positive, neutral, negative, unknown]
- **Competitor relationships**: [Currently using a competitor? Which one?]
- **Preferred engagement**: [How they want to interact — self-serve, sales, community]

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## Persona Interview Guide (15 Questions)

1. Walk me through a typical workday — what takes most of your time?
2. What's the biggest challenge you're facing in [relevant area] right now?
3. When you last solved [problem type], how did you go about it?
4. Where do you go when you need to learn about new tools/solutions?
5. What publications, podcasts, or communities do you follow?
6. When evaluating [product category], what matters most to you?
7. Who else is involved in purchasing decisions at your organization?
8. What's your typical budget for [category]? Who approves it?
9. Tell me about a tool/service purchase that went really well — what made it great?
10. Tell me about one that went badly — what went wrong?
11. How do you measure success in your role?
12. What would need to change for you to switch from your current solution?
13. What concerns would you have about adopting [product type]?
14. How important is [specific feature] vs [other feature] to you?
15. If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about [problem area], what would it be?

---

## Data-to-Persona Methodology

| Data Source | What It Reveals | How to Use |
|-------------|----------------|-----------|
| **CRM data** | Demographics, deal size, sales cycle, win/loss | Segment by deal characteristics |
| **Analytics** | Content consumed, pages visited, session patterns | Map information diet |
| **Survey** | Motivations, pain points, preferences | Direct psychographic data |
| **Sales call notes** | Objections, questions, decision criteria | Buying behavior patterns |
| **Customer interviews** | Deep qualitative insights | Validate and enrich |
| **Support tickets** | Pain points, feature gaps, frustrations | Real-world challenges |
| **Social listening** | Language used, topics discussed, influencers followed | Information diet + voice |

### Process
1. **Aggregate quantitative data** from CRM, analytics, surveys → identify clusters
2. **Conduct 5-8 qualitative interviews** per persona cluster
3. **Triangulate**: Do quantitative patterns match qualitative themes?
4. **Draft persona** using the six-dimension template
5. **Validate** with sales team and customer-facing staff
6. **Publish and distribute** with usage guidelines

---

## Anti-Persona Profiles

Define who you should NOT target:

| Anti-Persona | Why Exclude | Identification Signals |
|-------------|-------------|----------------------|
| Wrong company size | Product doesn't fit, high churn | <$X revenue, <Y employees |
| Wrong industry | Compliance/regulatory mismatch | Specific SIC/NAICS codes |
| Price-sensitive buyer | Will churn after discount expires | Discount-seeking behavior |
| Feature-mismatched | Needs capabilities you don't offer | Support tickets asking for missing features |
| Tire-kickers | Research without buying intent | Long sessions, no conversion actions |

---

## B2B Buying Committee Mapping

For B2B personas, map the entire committee:

| Role | Typical Title | Key Concern | Content Needed |
|------|-------------|-------------|---------------|
| **Champion** | Manager/Director | "Will this make me look good?" | Use cases, quick wins |
| **Decision Maker** | VP/C-Suite | "What's the ROI?" | Business case, ROI calculator |
| **Influencer** | IT/Security/Legal | "Is this safe and compliant?" | Security docs, compliance |
| **End User** | Individual contributor | "Is this easy to use?" | Demos, tutorials, UX evidence |
| **Blocker** | Finance/Procurement | "Is this worth the cost?" | Competitive comparison, pricing |
