Your ICP Is Probably Too Broad (And That's Why Cold Email Isn't Working)

Let me ask you something.

Who's your ideal customer?

If your answer is "B2B SaaS companies" or "companies with 10-500 employees" or "anyone who needs our solution," you've already lost.

That's not an ICP. That's thousands of companies. Maybe tens of thousands.

And when your ICP is that broad, your outbound dies.

Here's why.

You Can't Write Good Copy For Everyone

The more general your target audience, the more generic your messaging has to be.

And generic messaging gets ignored.

Think about it. If you're writing one email that needs to work for a 20-person startup and a 400-person enterprise company, what can you actually say that's relevant to both?

Not much.

You end up with something like "We help B2B companies grow revenue" which means absolutely nothing to anyone.

But if you narrow it down? Now you can get specific.

"We help Series A SaaS companies hiring their first sales team book 10-15 qualified demos per month without hiring an SDR."

That speaks directly to one person. And that person will actually respond.

You Waste Time On Bad Fits

When your ICP is too broad, you book meetings with people who will never buy.

Sure, they fit some of your criteria. But they're missing the key things that make someone an actual good customer.

Maybe their budget is too small. Maybe they don't have the pain point you solve. Maybe their decision-making process takes 18 months.

You end up spending hours on calls that go nowhere.

Your Messaging Gets Watered Down

Here's what happens when you try to appeal to everyone:

You remove anything that might exclude someone. You make your value prop as broad as possible. You avoid being too specific about who you help.

The result? Boring, forgettable messaging that doesn't resonate with anyone.

Compare these two:

Broad: "We help B2B companies generate more leads and close more deals."

Narrow: "We book 10-15 qualified calls per month for B2B service companies selling $20k+ deals to mid-market."

Which one would you respond to if you were the right fit?

How To Actually Narrow Your ICP

Stop thinking about who could buy from you. Start thinking about who should buy from you.

Ask yourself:

Who gets the most value from what you do?

Not who can benefit. Who gets life-changing, can't-live-without-it value?

Who has the budget to pay what you're worth?

You can't build a business selling $5k solutions to companies that only have $2k budgets.

Who closes fast?

Long sales cycles kill momentum. Focus on prospects who can make decisions quickly.

Who do you actually enjoy working with?

Life's too short to work with nightmare clients. Build your ICP around people you want to talk to every day.

Once you answer those questions, you'll probably realize your real ICP is 10% of who you thought it was.

That's a good thing.

What Narrow Targeting Looks Like

Instead of "B2B SaaS companies," try:

"Series A B2B SaaS companies, 20-100 employees, selling to mid-market, with an ACV of $15k+, who just hired their first VP of Sales in the last 6 months."

That might only be 200 companies. But those 200 companies are perfect fits.

Your emails will be better. Your meetings will be more qualified. Your close rate will be higher.

The Bottom Line

Narrow is better.

You don't need to email 10,000 companies. You need to email the right 500.

Tighten your ICP. Get ruthlessly specific. Say no to prospects who aren't perfect fits.

Your outbound will start working.

Talk soon,

Lourenço