At Belkins, helping clients close 25% more deals with their dream companies starts with one thing: nailing the ideal customer profile (ICP). Why? Because ICP shapes everything, from choosing the most effective outreach channels to setting the right level of personalization, estimating cost per meeting, and projecting realistic meeting volumes.
Check the exact step-by-step approach Belkins’ account managers and research team use our clients’ ICP for lead generation, complete with real-world examples.
Asking our prospects to complete an ICP form and defining initial criteria
Since we usually don’t create an ICP from scratch, our research team and account managers begin by collecting key inputs from the prospect about their business model and target audience to define ICP criteria for further steps. This process combines manual research with data provided via our structured ICP form.
Here’s the ICP questionnaire form we share with prospects:
At the initial stage, the Belkins team focuses on the following criteria:
- Key desired industry: Understanding the specific vertical (e.g., pharmaceutical, manufacturing, distribution, IT managed services, dental, vision) ensures messaging and targeting are aligned with industry context and pain points.
- Job titles of decision-makers based on our client experience: Identifying key decision-makers, influencers, and internal champions (e.g., head of marketing, operations director) is critical to engaging the right stakeholders.
- The region our customers want to start with: We account for time zones and regional nuances that impact outreach success.
- Company size: Factors like employee count, annual revenue, number of office locations helps gauge whether the client’s internal resources, such as sales team capacity, can support the lead volume generated by the campaign.
- Company-specific lists: Including “do not contact” lists, current client rosters, or high-priority “dream” accounts helps fine-tune targeting and prevents brand missteps or duplicated outreach.
- Tech stack: Learn what the company currently uses (e.g., HubSpot, Shopify, HiBob).
- Additional client-defined factors: Identify outdated websites, lack of mobile responsiveness, or other disqualifiers based on client preferences.
This ICP form helps us gain a foundational understanding of your goals and target audience. It gathers essential criteria — such as target company size, industry, geography, and desired contact titles — to ensure we've accurately grasped your objectives from our previous conversations. The information you provide in this ICP form then serves as the critical foundation for our initial research.
Preliminary TAM analysis and sample lead list creation (before collaboration)
Following the completion of the ICP form, Belkins conducts preliminary research using the initial criteria to gain a high-level understanding of the target audience and market. This research involves manual list building from the ground up, leveraging various sources and proprietary AI. At this preliminary stage, the analysis is based solely on the criteria shared and a bit of research, representing a very basic understanding. And the complimentary lead list looks like this:
Based on these initial criteria, Belkins also predicts the size of the total addressable market (TAM). These approximate numbers, often presented conservatively, are used to assess the potential market size and determine if the potential project offers sufficient scope for effective collaboration and the ability to deliver results.
While this stage provides a preliminary view and serves as the foundation for creating sample lists, the ICP is also expanded upon and refined through subsequent steps, such as feedback provided on the sample lists derived from this initial research.
Diving deeper and expanding the ICP criteria
Once the client approves the initial list and TAM analysis and our collaboration proceeds, Belkins’ account managers enhance the ICP to precisely define the target audience. This process involves further refining targeting criteria by potentially incorporating more specific titles (including roles beyond core decision-makers, such as directors, department heads, or hands-on personnel instrumental in building “champion” circles). It also means identifying relevant subindustries, company types, sizes, and other characteristics vital to the client.
To further detail the ICP, we also develop a buying committee table for each client. This table outlines decision-maker job titles, seniority levels for each customer segment, research priorities, functional areas of significance to the ICP, and the strategic rationale for targeting specific customer segments initially.
💡 Note: Of course, all of this works only if you also have a solid grasp of the client’s offering, value proposition, market positioning, revenue goals, pipeline metrics (like close rate and deal size), and internal workflows (like CRM setup and sales cycle). Without that, refining the ICP is still guesswork, even if you know all the above criteria.
Gathering lead generation campaign data and continuously refining ICP
The Belkins team views the ICP as a “living and breathing document constantly getting updated.” Our commitment to refining clients' ICPs is ongoing throughout our collaboration. As campaigns are executed across various channels (such as email, LinkedIn, and calling), Belkins systematically gathers key data to ensure the ICP remains accurate and effective. This data includes:
- Engagement metrics (e.g., engagement rates, replies, clicks, connection requests, calls answered) across diverse channels
- Conversion rates at various stages of the funnel
- Direct feedback derived from client discussions
Concurrently, our clients provide ongoing feedback regarding campaign direction and any desired modifications. This agile, dynamic, and collaborative approach ensures that both the overall strategy and the understanding of the ICP are continuously refined to align with the client's goals and prevailing market conditions.
Here’s a general overview of an ICP submitted by a client at the beginning of our partnership: 
Following thorough customer research and the launch of test campaigns for a specific client, the Belkins team identified several areas for improvement within their existing ICP:
- Overlooking “lower-level” job titles that are often easier to engage and more responsive
- Omitting key verticals with potential for recurring and reliable service demand
- Neglecting smaller companies (under 200 employees) that could be valuable for initial experimentation before engaging larger enterprises
The refined ICP that increased booked appointments by 35% looked like this:
B2B ideal customer profile in action: Belkins’ success stories
Now let’s dig into some real-world B2B customer profile examples. These stories will not only showcase ICP effectiveness but also provide tangible insights that you can incorporate into your own strategy.
Case study: ICP realignment when entering a new market
Breaking into the U.S. market isn’t a simple task, even for an established company like YorkTest, a U.K.-based health and wellness company with a 92% customer satisfaction rate. While they had a strong presence in the U.K., they needed a strategy for U.S. growth.
Initially, we targeted HR professionals and healthcare brokers, believing they’d be highly receptive to YorkTest’s services. The strategy seemed bulletproof, but then reality hit: HR roles weren’t biting, while brokers showed much interest but were not moving toward buying. So we decided to pivot.
This is where the ICP’s adaptability came into play. We knew that HR pros were the correct targets, so we asked ourselves why we weren’t getting enough attention. Our open rates and response rates were acceptable, but most of the responses we got were negative. Thus, we decided to look at the behavioral aspect of our ICP. It boiled down to a simple question: Why should companies expand their employee benefits packages? The likely answer was a talent shortage. We all know how offering free lunches and other perks can sweeten a job offer and attract top talent. So why not do the same with healthcare testing?
With this in mind, we adjusted our focus to employee benefits and HR experts in innovative sectors, such as software development and digital marketing. This small but critical tweak began to turn the tide.
This not only increased our lead base but also enhanced its quality. And the numbers speak for themselves. Email open rates jumped to 50%, and YorkTest closed their first big deals in the U.S.
📚 Read more: Penetrating the U.S. market: How Belkins helped YorkTest scale an innovative product and close first deals
Case study: How ICP analysis brings impactful results
Here’s another case that underscores how vital an ICP is in optimizing sales processes and boosting overall campaign performance. It’s about GoHealth Urgent Care, an innovative health insurance platform.
In the complex world of health insurance, GoHealth UC had the tools to succeed but struggled with consistency in sales. Their sales team was trying to cover 9 states with only a handful of sales reps.
When we stepped in, we immediately recognized the need for a sharper focus on GoHealth UC’s ideal clients. The real breakthrough came when GoHealth UC sealed a deal with a construction firm, an avenue they hadn’t explored before. This success spurred us to expand their ICP. In addition, we activated the most effective practices of lead scoring in B2B. Together, these changes allowed us to pinpoint the most promising industries and select the best from a vast pool of over 20,700 leads.
As a result, they had an impressive 376 scheduled meetings, 10 solid appointments every week, and an 80% email open rate. Within 3 months, they closed 4 major deals, each raking in an average of $100,000.
📚 Read more: An outbound strategy that lands over 376 appointments for an on-demand consumer-centric care platform
The verdict? It’s vital for your business to analyze and validate your ICP’s effectiveness, explore new roads, and tweak your customer profile when necessary.
