The Big A-ha
Expertise in Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP) and the creation of tailored approaches gives top Sales performers an “unfair advantage” over the typical Seller.
Why It Matters
Understanding this unfair advantage can help all Sales leaders improve their conversion rates and make their quota.
Go Deeper: Elements of the “Unfair Advantage”
Top sales leaders consistently outperform their peers by focusing on high-value, strategic opportunities and avoiding wasting time on dead-end deals.
A key driver of their success is mastery of their ICP and the ability to ruthlessly prioritize the right deals. Let’s look at some key elements of this mastery:
#1: A Deep Understanding of Their Best-Fit Customers
Top sales leaders invest in learning about the attributes, priorities, challenges, and buying triggers of their ideal customers. They use both data and instincts to isolate the factors that help their products address customer needs, deliver the most value, and drive customer retention and growth. For example, top tech sales leaders know how key ICPs make complex purchasing decisions, their business KPIs, challenges with current tools, evaluation criteria, and the typical timeline to purchase based on role and company size.
#2: Qualifying and Prioritizing Ruthlessly
Top sales leaders rigorously qualify and filter sales opportunities based on key ICP criteria. They will pass on or minimize time on deals unlikely to yield a highly satisfied, valuable long-term customer even if there is a chance to close business. For example, an enterprise software leader will rarely waste time on small mid-market clients whose needs do not match their solution or who have no path to becoming a significant account. They understand being selective upfront enables focus on accounts that truly matter for sustainable success.
#3: Aligning Resources to ICPs
Top sales leaders align teams, solutions, tools, and processes with the needs and buying journeys of their target ICP segments. They create playbooks for their teams using a combination of segment, technographic, use case, and buying trigger attributes. These playbooks help the team effectively engage and win each major ICP segment, leading to higher relevance, win rates, and efficiency.
#4: Driving Continuous Improvement
Top sales leaders regularly revisit their ICPs to adjust to evolving customer needs, new technologies, and competitive shifts. They analyze performance across current ICP segments to adjust their strategies or expand into new markets. For example, leaders may find a new set of criteria that improves qualifying for a certain ICP segment and update their model accordingly. Or they might expand their reach to include emerging mid-market companies whose needs now match solutions and potential lifetime value for their offerings. Continuous learning and optimization of their ICP and approach are what allow top leaders and teams to stay on the cutting edge of productivity and growth.
Interested in identifying and targeting your Active ICP?
Sales leaders at fast-growing companies like Esper, Hiya, iSpot, and more rely on Relevvo to prioritize their Active ICP accounts and contacts. Relevvo’s AI-powered platform automatically surfaces Active ICP accounts and contacts along with the relevant context for targeting. Click here to get a demo today!