Your ICP Is Too Broad to Be Useful

From: Selling Signals Newsletter

Date: May 6, 2026

May 06, 2026

Your ICP Is Too Broad to Be Useful

“Fits our ICP” has become the easiest way to justify the pipeline.

The company looks right, the title matches, and the industry checks out. So, the lead moves forward. But “fit” doesn’t mean the buyer has a real problem, a reason to act, or even a clear understanding of why they’re talking to you; it just means they could buy.

During Small Business Week, there’s a lot of focus on how smaller teams do more with less. What gets overlooked is the fact that they don’t have the luxury of vague targeting.

When every lead counts, “fit” isn’t enough. It has to be right, and right now.

Patrick Dillon, CRO at Nudge Security, framed it in the simplest possible way:

“If you can’t point to what’s happening that makes now the right time, you’ve defined a market, not a buyer.”

🩺 Diagnosis: Your ICP defines who qualifies, not who converts.

Marketing Movement

Most ICPs are built on firmographics.

Industry. Company size. Revenue range. They are clean, easy to segment, and easy to report on. But none of those explain why a buyer is in the market. And that’s where things break.

Two companies can look identical on paper and behave completely differently in the pipeline.

i-did-not-notice-a-lot-of-differences-ashwin-ganesh

Example:

Two 300-person SaaS companies enter your funnel. One is replacing a broken tool after a failed rollout, while the other is “exploring options” for next year’s roadmap.

Same ICP and campaign, but only one is actually a buyer. But both get the same messaging.

That’s the problem: you’re targeting static traits, while buying is driven by dynamic context.

Michael Maximoff, Co-founder at Belkins, saw the same issue when they tightened their targeting:

“We cut about 70% of accounts that technically fit our ICP but weren’t a real match, and engagement went up.”

Bill Flynn, CEO of Catalyst Growth Advisors, puts it more bluntly:

“If two companies look the same in your ICP but behave differently in the pipeline, you’re probably sorting companies, not buyers.”

🎯 Recommendation:

Anchor your ICP to buying triggers, not just attributes. Instead of targeting “mid-market SaaS,” define segments by situations like post-failure replacement, rapid scaling, or compliance pressure. These are the conditions that create urgency and actually drive the pipeline.

Expert opinion

Submissions have been edited for length & clarity

What’s the clearest signal that an ICP is too broad to drive real pipeline decisions?

“You usually see it in the pipeline. You’ll have two deals that look the same on paper — same size, same industry — but one moves and the other just… doesn’t.

That’s when you realize your ICP is describing companies, not what’s actually going on inside them.”

How should teams redefine the ICP around buying context rather than firmographics?

“If you want to fix it, don’t start with the profile.

Go back and look at your last handful of wins and the ones you thought you had but lost. What was actually happening in the business when those deals started?

That’s where the pattern is. It’s seldom size or industry; it’s the situation they were in.”

- Bill Flynn, CEO at Catalyst Growth Advisors

Marketing Signals

📅 Top B2B Social Media Planner Templates for Faster Growth — Plan content by buyer stage and channel so social posts support awareness, nurture, and sales conversations instead of becoming calendar filler.

📧 From Noise to Revenue: The Modern B2B Cold Email Playbook — Improve deliverability by replacing generic AI-assisted outreach with tighter targeting, cleaner lists, and buyer-specific messaging.

🎯 10 Signs Your ICP Marketing Is Targeting the Wrong B2B Customers — Audit weak-fit leads, poor engagement, and low conversion to spot when marketing is feeding the pipeline with accounts that only look good on paper.

Sales Action

Sales feels this immediately.

Because once a lead enters the pipeline, the expectation is movement. But if the buyer isn’t actually in a buying situation, there’s nothing to move. So, reps compensate by asking more questions, extending the discovery, and trying to create urgency where none exists.

Example:

A rep takes a call with a Head of Marketing who fits the ICP perfectly. It’s a great company with the right size and in the right industry. However, halfway through the conversation, it becomes clear there’s no active initiative, no defined problem, and no timeline.

The call goes well, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Still, the deal gets logged, and follow-ups are sent. Eventually, it just… stops.

No clear “no.” No clear next step. Just silence.

That’s the signal. You didn’t lose the deal because there was no deal to begin with.

Andy Springer, Director of Sales Training at RAIN Group, sees this pattern constantly:

“You’re qualifying for fit, not for whether there’s actually a reason to act.”

🎯 Recommendation:

Introduce a “buying signal check” before a lead becomes an opportunity. Reps should confirm a triggering event, a defined problem, and a reason to act now. If those aren’t present, keep the lead in nurture instead of forcing it into the pipeline.

Sales Signals

👤 6 Essential B2B Buyer Persona Templates Every Sales Team Needs — Build personas around decision drivers, pain points, objections, and buying roles so sales can tell the difference between a good-fit account and a real buyer.

📡 Identifying B2B Buying Signals in Sales: A Rep's Guide — Prioritize outreach based on what buyers are doing now, not just who they are, so reps focus on accounts showing actual intent.

🔎 B2B Discovery Questions: 40 to Uncover Need and Risk — Use discovery to confirm urgency, risk, constraints, and decision criteria before pitching, so reps don’t force weak-fit conversations into the pipeline.

Mixed Signals

Lead quality looks fine, the pipeline volume is healthy, and activity is high. However, close rates don’t improve because the issue isn’t who you’re targeting; it’s when you’re targeting them.

Broad ICPs make it easier to fill the pipeline, but they also make it harder to move it.

Marketing sees qualified leads, and sales sees stalled deals, while leadership sees growth. But the system isn’t selective. Without selectivity, the pipeline becomes a holding area rather than a signal of demand.

What to change this week:

🎯 Add buying triggers to your ICP definition.
Identify events like tool replacement, hiring spikes, or process breakdowns that indicate real demand, not just eligibility.

🧠 Separate active buyers from passive ones in your pipeline.
Tag leads based on urgency and intent so sales can focus on deals that can actually move.

🚫 Make timing a required qualification criterion.
A lead shouldn’t become an opportunity unless there’s a clear reason to act now.

Not every good fit is a real opportunity, and treating them like one is what slows everything down.

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Meet Our Writer

Bianca Caballero

Senior Staff Writer

Bianca has spent the past four years helping businesses strengthen relationships and boost performance through strategic sales and customer engagement initiatives. Drawing on her experience in field sales and territory management, she transforms real-world expertise into actionable insights that drive growth and foster lasting client partnerships.