When It Finally Clicked: The Day I Let Go of “Good Enough” Leads

I still remember the moment it clicked.

I was on a sales call with a potential customer and was discussing a redesign for their omnichannel ads and social media. On paper, they looked like a perfect customer for us: right industry, good budget, and had some interest.

But after ten minutes, I could feel it: the conversation was flat. They weren’t really engaged, and we weren’t connecting. There was some curiosity about our services, but no real commitment.

It suddenly occurred to me that I was wasting my time. No demonstration of value or slick sales technique was going to close this customer. I wrapped up the call, thanked them for their time, and moved on.

Later that week, I had a follow-up call with another prospect to start a similar multi-channel social campaign. It was a smaller company with fewer decision-makers, and a slightly smaller budget. But they were laser-focused.

They knew exactly what problem they needed to solve, and our solution fit like a glove. They asked smart questions. We laughed and joked. The conversation flowed! We were aligned.

That second call turned into a long-term customer who’s still with us today.

Those two interactions taught me something simple but powerful: not every lead is the right lead. The real “win” for a business isn’t casting a wider net – it’s knowing which leads to connect.

So many businesses skip it, or only loosely define it: the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

It matters.

Why? Because it’s the foundation of every interaction, strategy, and decision your business makes.

Intentional Talk

Customer engagement with your brand isn’t simply about visibility, it’s about an intentional connection. Intentional interactions. Intentional discussions.

What is the key to making those connections count? A defined Ideal Customer Profile – that’s weaved through every aspect of your business.

The ICP zeroes in on both the people who need what you offer, and the people who see the most value in what you provide. In return, these people offer long-term value to your business by becoming likely, long-term customers.

But knowing who to target is only half the equation. The strategy comes together and delivers results when you also identify where and how to reach prospects that look like your existing best customers. This means having in-depth conversations with your current customers, which will reveal how to find your new customers.

What’s an Ideal Customer Profile, Really?

Your ICP is more than defining your target market. It’s developing a detailed blueprint of your best-fit customer. What industries do you want to sell to? What companies do you want to work with? And more. Your ICP includes:

Industry(s) and company size
Job titles and roles of employees to connect with
Challenges and goals those companies face in their market
Buying behaviors
Preferred communication channels
Decision-making process

That may seem like a lot of details to understand. But by taking extra time to strategize a solid ICP, your business won’t guess (read as, waste time and money), it will engage with precision.

Your chances of selling to new customers increases exponentially because you know you’re talking to the right people.

According to Gartner, companies that invest in a well-defined ICP achieve faster sales cycles, higher conversion rates, and greater average annual contract value (ACV) and lifetime value (LTV).

Creating your ICP can occur while your business operations continue. That is, you’re still prospecting, selling, and fulfilling transactions while also discussing, researching and narrowing down your long-term ICP.

Pro Tip: Your current best customers are your main resource for finding your next best customers.

Find New Customers Who Are Like Your Current Ideal Customers

What better place to start than interacting with your current ideal customers? You know, the ones where you say, “I wish I had 20 more like this one.” Your business probably has many touchpoints that provide opportunities to have strategic conversations with your best customers.

These strategic conversations will reveal new info to refine your Ideal Customer Profile. And that will help you find new “best” customers.

So what touchpoints provide opportunities for these strategic conversations?

1. Sales Calls & Demos

These are your most direct forms of engagement. Use them to ask questions, get to know pain points, and learn how prospects search for solutions like yours.

Ask how they go to market.

Notice the language and vernacular they use, so you can use it, too.

Come prepared with industry-specific examples that prove you understand them.

Have your marketing team members listen in on (or even attend) demonstrations and sales calls so they understand the obstacles your salespeople face when selling your solution.

The insights from these interactions will refine your ICP over time.

2. Service Calls & Customer Support Interactions

Service and support calls aren’t simply about fixing problems. They are chances to build loyalty.

Your service teams should be trained to recognize ICP signals and peel back layers of information that can benefit the marketing, sales and product teams.

Turning a Support Ticket into an Upsell Opportunity
A customer contacts your service team about a technical issue with your software. During the conversation, the rep notices that the customer is using an advanced feature set. The customer casually mentions they’re expanding to a new region and plan to onboard multiple teams next quarter.
A well-trained service rep would recognize this as an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) signal – growth-oriented, engaged, and planning to scale. Instead of simply solving the support ticket, the rep asks a few strategic follow-up questions: “That’s great to hear you’re expanding! What kinds of teams will be using our product in the new region?” “Are there any new challenges you’re anticipating as you scale?”
The rep captures this info in the CRM and flags it for both Sales (as an upsell opportunity) and Marketing (to tailor messaging for similar expansion-stage customers). The Product team also gets insight into how larger teams are using advanced features.

Every support call is an opportunity to reinforce your value.

Your marketing team members can sit in on these calls, too. Hearing issues directly from customers can spark ideas and add to the details that refine your ICP.

3. Trade Shows & Industry Events

This is a biggie. Attendance at trade shows and other industry events is probably the most immersive and beneficial learning experience in which a company engages.

Your ideal customers likely attend specific conferences, expos, and local meetups. Being present in these spaces allows for face-to-face discussions that are difficult to replicate digitally.

Focus your booth/stand, presentations, and networking around your ideal customer’s interests and challenges.

Send someone from marketing, in addition to sales. I speak from personal experience here. As a marketer, I’ve learned more from talking to prospects at trade shows than from most other interactions across the customer journey.

Your marketing expert will glean information that salespeople will not, and uncover insights to refine messaging, create marketing campaigns, and most importantly, refine your ICP.

A study by iCapture reveals that while 72% of exhibitors attend trade shows for lead generation, only 15% actually follow up with those leads post-show. Moreover, 94% of marketers believe their company fails to convert event leads into opportunities.
Joint attendance of trade shows by Marketing and Sales fosters better communication, ensures timely lead follow-up, and enhances the overall success of trade show participation.

4. Voice of the Customer (VoC) Studies

Formal feedback programs like Voice of the Customer surveys or structured interviews can help you understand how your ideal customers see your brand, product, and customer experience.

Design your studies with intent and detail. Ask the right questions, track themes, and turn qualitative feedback into strategic action.

Train the employee who is the author of your VOC study in proper research techniques and question design.

Better yet, hire a professional with years of experience in VOC studies – like us! – and see how much more insight you can gain from a well-crafted study or interview.

Pro Tip: Your learnings from VoC studies will solidify your Ideal Customer Profile, opening doors for new ways to reach prospects that will become long-term customers.

5. Partnerships and Case Studies

When a new (and ideal) customer is signed, celebrate that partnership with a press release.

When a customer finds a new use case for your product or service, create a case study.

Interview your customer’s principals and users. Learn more about the pains they faced, how they tried to solve them on their own, and the process they went through to decide upon your solution.

These interactions go deeper than a testimonial. It’s about your customer’s journey – what success looks like for them, and how your solution fits into their world.

Those stories become press releases and case studies. And they also reveal details that both crystallize your ICP and help engage future ideal customers.

Engage with Intention

Knowing where to interact is only part of the strategy. The interactions themselves are where relationships are built.

Weave your ICP throughout the entire organization:

Personalize everything.
Align across teams so the customer experience feels seamless.
Ask questions. But more importantly, listen – in every interaction.
Turn new insights into new opportunities for your business.

HG Insights found that organizations that focus their efforts on accounts matching their ICP experience a 68% higher win rate. And companies that align their marketing efforts with a well-defined ICP generate 40% more revenue from marketing campaigns compared to those that don’t.

From Clicks to Relationships

Your Ideal Customer Profile isn’t just a marketing tool – it’s a relationship map. By understanding who your best customers are, where they spend their time, and how they want to interact, you move from transactional selling to meaningful engagement.

And meaningful engagements build long-term customer relationships.

Every touchpoint becomes a chance to build loyalty, create advocates, and grow smarter.

That’s how your ICP grows your business.

About the Author

Barbara Sanner is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Complete Marketing Solutions. Specializing in business-to-business marketing for organizations around the world, Complete Marketing Solutions delivers marketing strategy and implementation, from advertising to websites.

Contact Barbara Sanner. LinkedIn