Is Your ICP Too Broad or Too Narrow?
An eight-question diagnostic on ICP width. Output: a clear verdict — expand, contract, or refine — plus the specific move to make first.
Who it’s for: Founders, CMOs, and revenue leaders whose pipeline feels erratic — closing in the wrong places, too slowly, or at inconsistent price points.
How consistent is your win rate across segments?
Read it honestly, not charitably.
Three verdicts: contract, expand, refine.Refine is the most common correct answer — most ICPs are roughly right but under-specified.
If you land on contract and expand within one point of each other, read that as “restructure” — the shape is off, not the size. Usually means your ICP has a long tail in one direction and is too narrow in another.
Three moves you can make this week.
- Pull the last 20 closed-won and 10 closed-lost. Write down the three features each account shares. Compare the patterns. The gap between them is your sharpened ICP.
- Re-write the ICP as three specifics — role, trigger, disqualifier. If you cannot name the disqualifier, the ICP is too broad by definition.
- Get sales and marketing agreement in one room, one meeting. If the conversation runs over 60 minutes, the ICP is not yet specific enough to commit to. Tighten and re-convene.
Why these questions, in this order.
Eight questions because ICP fit signals show up in eight different places: win-rate variance, pipeline volume, cycle length, buyer self-recognition, churn pattern, sales clarity, marketing efficiency, and growth trajectory. One of those alone is a weak signal; agreement across five or more is the real read.
The three outcomes matter equally. Contract is the hardest call but often the highest-return. Expand is the most dangerous — most expansion decisions fail in execution, not in strategy. Refine is the most common and the most neglected — teams mistake it for doing nothing when it is actually the sharpest move.
Run the full Positioning Audit.
Eight-lens diagnostic of your site against your own strategic intent.
- Which Differentiator Fits You Best?Six questions → a recommended differentiation type, with the trade-offs.
- Should You Change Your Pricing Model?Seven criteria → a reasoned yes, no, or not yet.
- Is Your Positioning Defensible?Uniqueness, verifiability, sustainability, competitive response. A defensibility grade.