logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2025
26m 6s

Your ICP Suck... Do This Instead! | Ronn...

Donald C. Kelly
About this episode

A big problem a lot of sellers have is they don't know who their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is. But, with the right framework, you'll be able to go after the right buyers every time. My guest, Ronnell Richards, founder of Sayless Academy, will share how to find your ICP and how to reach them the right way.

Meet Ronnell Richards

  • Ronnell Richards is a best-selling author,
  • entrepreneur, and sales consultant with over 20 years of experience. 
  • He's put his sales and marketing expertise into
  • comprehensive LinkedIn Learning courses and his book, "Shut The Hell
  • Up and Sell." 
  • On top of his professional work, he mentors
  • entrepreneurs and supports community initiatives, helping businesses
  • succeed and creating social impact.

Why You Gotta Know Your ICP

  • Ronnell says a lot of tech companies don't actually have
  • an ICP and just sell to anyone who comes along. 
  • But, in today's tough market, knowing your ICP stops
  • you from getting pulled every which way and missing out on big wins. 
  • The more specific you are with your outreach and
  • messages aimed at your ICP, the less you get lost in the crowd.

What's the Difference Between an ICP and a Strong ICP?

  • Ronnell made 37 questions for his clients to answer about their absolute best customers.
  • This helps them figure out all the things they have in
  • common with those top clients.
  • They usually find their ICP is way more complex than they thought. 
  • A strong ICP means you're targeting buyers you know you can crush it with, and avoiding those who aren't a good fit.

Seeing Your ICP as a Person

  • It's a whole different ballgame when you see your ICP
  • as a real person, not just a target. What's their day-to-day life like?
  • Are they going through a rough patch? I actually just put up a LinkedIn
  • post about this, it's titled "I'm Not Just a Sales Guy."

  • Instead of getting bent out of shape when your ICP
  • doesn't reply to your emails, Ronnell says it's way better to build
  • connections and make sure your outreach lines up with what they need.

  • The secret to building strong relationships with your
  • ICP is having shared values. This is how you get repeat business.

"Relationships are everything. The reason I can still do business with someone I worked with twenty years ago is because we clicked and built a real relationship." - Ronnell Richards.

Resources

Connect with Ronnell on LinkedIn

Find more information on his LinkedIn course here

Purchase a copy of his book, “Shut The Hell Up and Sell.” Visit Ronnell’s website to learn more about him. 

Sponsorship Offers

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

2.   This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.


3.   This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ

Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Up next
Jun 9
You’re Closing Too Late, Here’s How to Fix It! | Benjamin Dennehy - 1905
You have a discovery call with a prospect, and they seem interested in your product—until it's time to follow up. After three attempts, you finally get the message: you waited too long to close the deal.What can you do differently to prevent this from happening again? Listen to m ... Show More
37m 14s
Jun 13
How I Get Prospects to Show Up, Even When They Want to Ghost Me | Steven Schneider - 1906
I hope you enjoyed my funny intro, because it would be nice if you could call on Ghostbusters when prospects decide not to follow up with you. In the last few episodes, we've focused on strategies to ensure prospects attend scheduled meetings. I'm exploring this topic more with m ... Show More
27m 51s
Jun 6
From Cold to Connected: Why Great Sellers Build Audiences First | Benjamin Douablin - 1904
shownotes 
28m 37s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
From Problem to Product: Sujan Patel's Path to Mailshake
In 2015, Sujan Patel faced a common frustration: sales teams failing to follow up with prospects. His solution? Build a tool so effective that it turned into a successful company, Mailshake.In this episode, Alice Heiman talks with Sujan Patel, co-founder of Mailshake, about his j ... Show More
39m 19s
May 2023
Balance Your Brand Marketing and Lead Generation
With the explosion of martech that provides the opportunity to optimize campaigns with near real-time data, many companies have focused too much on what are their results this month or quarter. But optimal, long-term growth is achieved with a balance of brand and leadgen marketin ... Show More
35m 5s
Oct 2024
Jerry Acuff Shares How To Create The Relationship Edge In Sales
In this episode of The Sales Podcast, I sit down with renowned sales expert Jerry Acuff to uncover his top strategies for building stronger relationships and driving sales success. https://bonus.thesalespodcast.com/ Jerry, the CEO and founder of Delta Point and the author of seve ... Show More
41m 18s
Jun 20
Why Building Relationships in Sales Skyrockets Your Commission
You know the drill. The quota clock is ticking, the pressure is mounting, and there's that relentless urge for a quick win. Every sales professional has felt that impulse to rush the process, to push for the immediate "yes," because, well, the numbers demand it. But here's the to ... Show More
27m 50s
Nov 2023
Ep 231 | Creating a Sales Strategy for 2024 with Harry Spaight
When you think about sales how does it make you feel? For most people they feel icky and greasy. Sales doesn't have to be that way. You can implement a sales strategy into your fundraising approach so that you have a constant stream of people coming into your network for you to b ... Show More
33m 20s
Mar 2025
Kill Your Customers – The Doom Funnel That’s Hurting Your Startup (Edu)
Are you a startup founder considering a partnership with a big player in your industry? Before you sign that deal, you might want to think twice. In this eye-opening episode we dive deep into the dangers of partnering with or selling to incumbents when you're trying to disrupt an ... Show More
42m 53s
Aug 2022
Fix Your Follow Up Failure To Grow Sales, Chris Wills
Professional Sales Tips you'll learn today on The Sales Podcast... Marketing for over a decade 7-year focus on financial advisers Early in the paid marketing space like YouTube and Facebook ads An internet marketing guy he followed took his skills to old school industries that we ... Show More
42m 7s
Aug 2024
Marketing and Sales Synergy: Lead Generation & Account Based Marketing
Are you wondering how sales and marketing are aligned? How you can transform your sales strategy to achieve greater success in your marketing efforts? In this episode of the Digital Marketing Podcast, we take a deep dive into lead generation and account-based marketing, including ... Show More
18m 36s
Nov 2024
The ultimate guide to founder-led sales | Jen Abel (co-founder of JJELLYFISH)
Jen Abel is the co-founder of JJELLYFISH, where she and her team have worked with over 300 early-stage founders to learn how to sell, do early customer discovery, and set up a repeatable sales motion on the way to their first $1M ARR. In our conversation, Jen shares:• Why founder ... Show More
1h 16m
Apr 13
630: Marcus Sheridan - How To Build Trust, Drive Sales, and Earn Endless Customers
Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle ... Show More
1h 1m