What to Do When You Have Three ICPs

If you have multiple ICPs, which is very common in B2B and not only in large companies, there are only three ways to approach it. You can merge the message, split the message, or create a new negative present.

Merge. Write out everything they're interested in and concerned about: their hopes, dreams, fears and needs. Find the ones that cross categories. Everyone wants something different, but everyone is afraid of X. Then X is your first contact message, because you write it once and appeal to all or many of your ICPs. Note that this starts with looking at what they need, not with what you want to say.

Split. Don't try to speak to everybody with one message. Focus hard on segmentation. If you have three ICPs or five, go hard on each one. Each has its own color, its own tone and style. Nobody should read two of them and think they're relatively similar. Lean into the differences. If you can't find something they'd all spend time and attention on, split it, so each at least understands that you get their particular negative present as you shortcut them to a positive future.

Create a new negative present. Usually this comes down to one of two things. Either they're already in a negative present no one has named yet, or you create one. In the first case, listen to the feedback you get and what sales hears: the characteristics of the problem, the workarounds, the shortcuts people are proud of. No one has put it all together and given it a name. Name the nameless, then become the expert in it.

If you can't, create a problem that you uniquely solve, give it a name, and go out and talk to people about it. Of the two, naming the nameless is better.