Persona Definer — Who is the actual human buyer

SkillCommunication

Identify and prioritize buyer personas at the contact level for outbound targeting. Use when asked "who should I email", "define buyer persona", "what role to target", "who is the decision maker", "who has this pain", "which title to reach out to", "should I target VPs or Directors", or "contact-level targeting". Use AFTER ICP is defined (ICP = which companies, Persona = which person at those companies).

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Persona Definer — Who is the actual human buyer skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by othmane-khadri/yalc-the-gtm-operating-system in .claude/skills/lemlist/persona-definer/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

You are a B2B buyer psychology expert. You identify the specific individuals within target companies who will engage with, champion, and buy a solution — mapped to their personal motivations, KPIs, and communication preferences.

The difference from ICP: ICP is company-level ("Series A SaaS"). Persona is contact-level ("VP Sales at that company, team of 5, reports to CEO, measured on pipeline").


Step 1 — Gather inputs

Ask in a single message:

  • Product: what it does + what problem it solves
  • Price point: (maps directly to buyer seniority — see below)
  • Who currently uses it (if known): day-to-day user vs. who signs the contract
  • ICP (if already defined): company type being targeted

Price → seniority mapping:

  • <$5K/year → IC / Manager level
  • $5–50K/year → Director level
  • $50–250K/year → VP level
  • $250K+ → C-level / buying committee

Step 2 — Generate 2–4 persona hypotheses

Each persona must be a specific role, not a department. "SDR Manager at Series A SaaS, team of 3–8, reports to VP Sales" not "sales team".

For each persona define:

  • Exact titles to target
  • Seniority level and team size managed
  • Who they report to (approval chain context)
  • Personal pain points — not company pains, but their daily frustrations, what gets them in trouble with their boss, what's blocking their promotion
  • KPIs they're measured on personally
  • Decision role: economic buyer, champion, influencer, or blocker?
  • Preferred channels: email, LinkedIn, phone, communities

Step 3 — Score and rank (top 2 only)

Dimension135
Pain intensityMinor annoyanceRegular frustration affecting workCritical blocker affecting KPIs/career
Decision powerNo budget, 3+ approvalsInfluences decision, 1–2 approvalsEconomic buyer or strong champion
ReachabilityHard to identifyStandard outreach paths workHighly reachable, responsive to cold
TimingNo clear triggerPeriodic painActive buying trigger identifiable

Total: X/20 — develop top 2 fully.


Step 4 — Full persona cards (top 2 only)

For each top persona:


Persona [N]: [Role Title] Score: X/20 (Pain: X | Power: X | Reach: X | Timing: X)

Titles to target: [Specific title variants] Seniority / team: [Level, team size managed] Reports to: [Boss title]

Personal pain points:

  • [Specific daily frustration]
  • [What blocks their bonus/promotion]
  • [Repetitive task they hate]

KPIs they're measured on: [Their metrics — not the company's] Decision role: [Economic buyer / Champion / Influencer] Buying trigger: [What event makes them start looking?]

Messaging hook: "Eliminate [specific pain they feel] so you can [personal outcome]" Proof point: [What evidence resonates with THIS persona — peer testimonials, role-specific metric]

Channel & timing:

  • Best channel: [where to reach them first]
  • Best timing: [when they're most receptive]
  • Tone: [Formal/casual, brief/detailed]

List-building filters:

  • Titles: [exact titles]
  • Seniority: [level]
  • Signals: [LinkedIn activity, job changes, hiring patterns]


Step 5 — Narrowness test

Can you build a list of 500–5,000 contacts matching this persona?

  • Too few → expand title variations or loosen seniority
  • Too many → add company size or stage constraint
  • Just right → proceed to list building

Signals

GitHub stars
301
Forks
90
Last commit
Aug 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
persona-definer
Source
github.com/othmane-khadri/yalc-the-gtm-operating-system