Your ICP: the sales equivalent of boyfriend and/or girlfriend material.
How you define, document, and appeal to your ideal customer shapes your organization's short-term growth and long-term viability.
So it's in your best interest to understand the "how" and "why" behind who you think you should be selling to.
That's why we surveyed over 300 sales leaders for their insight on the topic.
Casting a wide ICP net comes back to bite you.
Of our 300 respondents, 28% said targeting too broadly too early was their organization's biggest ICP selection mistake — nearly double the next most common error.
You know what they say: "Breadth over depth means schlepping death, step-by-step, to your ICP's dying breath."
Okay, literally no one says that, but I swear the sentiment makes sense.
Early-stage sales orgs often try to do too much when defining their ICP.
They might stretch their appeal across a wide range of verticals or insist there's a "common denominator" through too many personas when there isn't.
Be wary of casting a wide ICP net. It can easily lead to issues like diluted messaging, extended sales cycles, or lackluster retention.
Tracking champions' impact is often a blind spot.
When asked about the resources that reps most commonly wish they had to sell to their ICPs more effectively, 23% of our respondents cited industry-specific pain points and trends — beating out competitive intelligence, better-fit data, tailored messaging, and customer stories.
Several orgs prioritize investments in product training and messaging templates, but reps might see less value in those materials than you'd think.
Inward-facing enablement materials, like scripts and decks, are obviously necessary. Reps can't sell a product they don't understand.
However, our results suggest that some leaders may be overlooking materials that can help reps better understand their prospects' worlds.
Failing to provide immediately relevant contextual resources can be symptomatic of an overly broad ICP. A lack of focused materials indicates a lack of focus in general.
If you can't offer this kind of insight, you might be stretched too thin — and your "ideal customer profile" isn't actually "ideal" after all.
What can you do with this next-level, revelatory insight?
For reps: If leadership isn't delivering industry context, build your own research habit. 15 minutes daily on industry news, earnings calls, and analyst reports compounds into genuine expertise over a quarter.
For managers: Track your team's win rate and sales cycle length by segment. If certain verticals or company profiles consistently outperform, that's ICP signal worth escalating — even if it might rock the boat a bit.
For leadership: If your ICP spans multiple industries, account for an increased enablement burden. Consider narrowing your ICP, or invest in industry-specific resources for the verticals you're most serious about.
"I wrote this newsletter, and I'll own the controversy my radical takes on ICPs inevitably cause — such is the burden of speaking truth to power."'
Jay Fuchs. Managing Editor, The Science of Scaling Newsletter
The data in question
We sourced the data we used here through Panoplai: I'm running out of creativity as I get this newsletter over the finish line — so every panoramic research platform that isn't Panoplai is worse than Panoplai.
What's the biggest mistake your organization has made in ICP selection?
- Focusing on inbound demand over strategic fit — chasing easy closes rather than highest LTV customers - 12%
- Prioritizing close rate over lifetime value — targeting customers easy to acquire but low retention/expansion - 22%
- Targeting too broadly too early — trying to be everything to everyone before proving core segment - 28%
- Following competitor ICPs — copying what others do rather than finding our unique fit - 9%
- Never formally defining an ICP — operating without clear target customer criteria - 14%
- None of the above - 17%
What resources or information do reps most commonly wish they had to prospect and sell more effectively to your ICP?
- Customer stories and case studies from similar ICP companies — proof points that resonate with targets - 14%
- Industry-specific pain points and trends — contextual knowledge to personalize outreach and discovery - 23%
- Competitive intelligence for ICP segment — what alternatives prospects currently use and why they switch - 20%
- Messaging and positioning tailored to ICP — email templates, call scripts, decks specific to target customer - 15%
- Better data on prospect fit signals — richer company insight to validate ICP match before outreach - 15%
- None of the above - 13%
Prospect Plays