Find customers that will actually buy
Last week, we talked about why most outbound motions fail. Today, we’re fixing that by breaking down how to structure a go-to-market strategy and target the right customers.
Traditional ICPs 🤷🏼
I’ve seen teams spend weeks creating detailed buyer personas that look great in pitch decks but do nothing to help them find actual customers.
That 5-page ICP doc with demographic breakdowns, job titles, and persona names like “Enterprise Eric” or “Startup Sarah” is not helping you find or engage real prospects.
The way to create an ICP is to focus on identifying customers, not just describing them. Instead of outlining who they are in theory, define where to find them, what triggers their need, and how to engage them in a conversation.
For outbound to work we need to stop describing and start identifying and targeting clients in a structured, actionable way.
The Jobs-to-Be-Done Framework (the WHY)👷🏼
Instead of focusing on who might buy your product, think about why customers buy in the first place.
Start by understanding situations that cause customers to act.
You can use the jobs-to-be done (JTBD) framework to define why someone would buy from you👇🏼
Situation: What problem or inefficiency exists in their business today?
Motivation: What’s driving them to fix it now instead of later?
Desired Outcome: What does success look like for them after solving this?
Cost of Inaction: What happens if they do nothing? (real pain)
A quick example:
Situation: “I’m a founder spending too much time on sales…”
Motivation: “I need a predictable pipeline to scale without relying on referrals…”
Desired Outcome: “So I can focus on product and growth…”
Cost of Inaction: “If I don’t fix this, I’ll miss my revenue goals and burn out.”
A more elaborated example + solution:
Situation: A U.S. citizen who frequently travels internationally needs to renew their passport but faces a slow, complicated process.
Motivation: A trip is coming up, and they can’t afford delays. They want a faster, hassle-free renewal without dealing with government bureaucracy.
Desired Outcome: Successfully renewing their passport in a few days instead of months, without filling out confusing forms, waiting in long lines, or worrying about missed travel plans.
Cost of Inaction: An expired passport means canceled trips, lost money on flights and hotels, and the stress of dealing with last-minute processing delays.
Solution: With Gov+, users can complete the renewal process in under 10 days by answering a few questions on their phone, snapping a photo, and submitting their application. No long wait times or government red tape.
The 4 W’s of Targeting: Who, Where, Why, When
Once you understand why people buy (see the JTBD framework earlier), the next step is figuring out who those accounts and people are, where to find them, why they’d care about your message, and when to reach out.
That’s what this framework solves: a structured, no-fluff way to target the right leads before you ever write a cold message.
1. WHO – Find the Right Accounts & People
Outbound falls apart when you’re talking to the wrong people - or even worse, targeting the wrong companies altogether.
There are two layers to this:
• WHO (Target Accounts) → Are you targeting companies that actually fit your ICP based on real signals, not just firmographics?
• WHO (Buyer Personas) → Are you talking to the roles that experience the pain and influence the buying decision?
If you only reach out to end users, your deal will get stuck: they feel the pain but can’t buy.
If you only message VPs or execs, they might ignore you; because they don’t feel the day-to-day friction.
✅ Instead: map the decision-making process. Talk to end users to gather sales intel, reach out to managers who run the projects, and close the loop with execs who control the budget.
That’s how you create momentum inside accounts, especially in mid-market and enterprise.
2. WHERE – Go Where the Data and Attention Are
“Where” matters on two levels: data sourcing and outreach channels.
WHERE (Accounts) → Where can you find companies that match your ICP?
here are some examples:
• Crunchbase and TechCrunch for funding data
• Trade show sites and industry blogs for niche segments
• Job boards and company blogs for hiring trends
• Product Hunt for product launches
You can do all of this manually or plug these sources into a data tool like Clay and automate enrichment from 100+ sources.
WHERE (Buyer Personas) → Where do they spend time?
• LinkedIn, X, Slack communities?
• Are they even reachable by email?
If your prospects aren’t active on LinkedIn, don’t waste time DM’ing. If they never open emails, you better have a strong inbound game or find another angle. The right message in the wrong place still doesn’t work.
3. WHY: Making Your Outreach Relevant
We already discussed the ‘why’ behind buyers in the JBTD Framework. The number one reason why outbound outreach is ignored is when it lacks relevance for the prospect to care.
Relevance comes from:
• Unique pain points → “I see that you just hired a new sales team. Scaling sales ops must be top of mind.”
• Clear triggers → “Your competitor just raised funding. How are you planning to stay ahead?”
• Business context → “Companies in your space are struggling with [problem]. I’m seeing similar challenges with other founders.”
If your messaging doesn’t answer the question “Why you precisely?”, it’s not going to resonate and your prospect won’t engage.
4. WHEN: Reaching Them at the Right Time
Knowing who to contact, why, and where is what drives great outbound. Now, if you can time your message around change, your chances improve. Let’s focus on the when.
Public data triggers can help with that. Some signs that a company might be more open to change include:
• Hiring trends → Growing teams bring new challenges.
• Funding rounds → More budget, shifting priorities.
• Product launches → Increased pressure to stay competitive.
• Leadership changes → New decision-makers open to fresh ideas.
• Failed initiatives → They tried something that didn’t work.
These signals help you prioritize outreach, but they shouldn’t dictate when you start conversations. The goal must be to reach out anyway.
The best sellers start conversations all the time, not just when a buying signal appears. Talking to multiple people across an org helps you gather intel, build relationships, and be the obvious choice when the need becomes urgent.
However, if you build your GTM strategy around these triggers, you can systematically reach prospects when they might be actively looking for solutions.
This means that you cannot just rely on static data but you need to go look for dynamic business context. We will see next week how to do this exactly.
How to Apply This to Your Outbound Strategy
Now that you have the JTBD framework and the 4 W’s of Targeting, here’s how to apply it:
1. Analyze your last 10 customers → What made them buy? What role were they in? What triggered the purchase?
2. Map your outreach strategy → Are you targeting the right roles, in the right places, at the right time?
3. Refine your messaging → Does it align with their situation, motivation, and buying triggers?
Next Week
We’ve covered how to structure your GTM strategy and define your targeting.
Next week, we’ll break down where to find the right data and tools to build accurate prospect lists, without relying on outdated databases.
No more blasting lists that don’t convert. We’ll go deep on sourcing actionable lead data.
Today’s Key Takeaway 💡
Your ICP isn’t a persona doc but a system for identifying and engaging real buyers.
When you can build such an ICP, outbound stops being guesswork and becomes building a repeatable process for:
• Finding the right people (WHO)
• Reaching them where they engage (WHERE)
• Giving them a reason to care (WHY)
• Timing outreach when it matters most (WHEN)
If you’re still guessing your outreach targets, your pipeline will always be inconsistent.
Quick Exercise 📝
Look at the last campaign you launched. Were you targeting the right person, channel, and timing? Or were you chasing a bad prospect with great outreach?
Until next week,
P.S. Send me your JTBD framework, and I’ll tell you exactly how to make it more actionable.
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