From Moneyball to Sales & Marketing Mastery: Why ICP Discipline Is Your Secret Weapon

In baseball, good hitters don’t waste time swinging at pitches outside the strike zone.?

Instead, they focus on the ones they can hit, getting on base more and scoring more runs.?

Successful baseball teams coach this discipline, emphasizing strike zone awareness and a strong “Batting Eye”—a key metric measuring walks to strikeouts.

This principle was central to Moneyball, the story of how the 2002 Oakland A’s built a winning team with a fraction of the budget of their competitors.

The Problem with Chasing Bad Opportunities in Sales

In B2B sales, many organizations swing at pitches outside their strike zone. Sellers chase opportunities that don’t align with the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and organizations fail to instill the discipline to focus on the right targets.?

The result? Lower win rates, longer sales cycles, and fewer “runs” on the board.

The BIG MYTH: Having a documented ICP means your organization is tightly aligned to a well conceived definition of the accounts most likely to buy your solution with minimal friction and provide the most long-term value / least amount of churn.?

The Reality of ICPs

After more than seven years of advising on and assessing ICPs, as well as? running ICP workshops, one thing is clear: most organizations think they’re ICP-focused, but they’re not. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: “I’ve worked with good ICPs, I’m familiar with good ICPs, and most ICPs are not ICPs.”

Many ICPs are:

• too vague,?
• not based on data or overly based on signal data,?
• don’t meaningfully restrict the focus of high value resources
• poorly executed.?

So, how can you build or optimize your ICP to get on base more, score more runs and win more deals?

5 Steps to Align Your Organization to a Winning ICP

1- Use Data to Build Your ICP.

Combine qualitative insights with quantitative data to create a specific, actionable definition. A great ICP isn’t just theoretical; it’s rooted in measurable characteristics of your best customers or insights from buyers at companies and in markets to whom you’re planning to sell. Consider having a neutral third-party assess your ICP.

2- Assess Your Current ICP Alignment.

Gather your leadership team and ask each leader to silently write down the ICP. If you get different answers from everyone, you have a problem. One company I worked with had 10 executives give seven widely divergent definitions.

3- Segment and Align.

Segment your customers based on your ICP. Then align marketing campaigns, target account lists, and sales territories around this definition. Consistency is key to orchestration that amplifies and accelerates the force of your ICP

4- Incorporate ICP into Sales Processes

Make ICP alignment part of your sales culture. In deal reviews and account planning, ask sellers how the account fits into the ICP. This keeps the focus and reinforcement sharp.

5- Track and Adjust Tag ICP accounts in your CRM and track pipeline metrics, deal size, win rates, and sales cycle length. If you’re not seeing better outcomes with ICP accounts, revisit and refine your definition. Your ICP should deliver more consistent, predictable success.

The Discipline of Focus

This isn’t about eliminating opportunities.?

It’s about focusing your time and energy where you’re most likely to succeed.?

The discipline of aligning to a true ICP is not a one-time at bat or exercise—it’s an ongoing commitment, like perfecting your swing and batting eye in baseball.

Are you ready to stop chasing pitches outside the strike zone and start winning more deals??

The first step is refining your ICP and committing to the discipline that leads to long-term success.

Craig Rosenberg Mark Gustaferro Peter Giordano Brandon O'Sullivan Joe Goldschmidt Aashish Dhamdhere Mark Fershteyn Evan Stewart Bridget Piraino Ryan Azus Maria Pergolino Tomer Dorfan Tom Murtaugh Anjai "AJ" Gandhi Ryan Spillane Glen Essakow Neil Harrington Justin Dorfman Jorge Soto