icp-targeting-tiers · diff

v1.0.0 to v1.0.0

1 added, 1 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: icp-targeting-tiers

description: >-

Define ICP differences across small business, mid-market, and enterprise —

buying process, deal size, sales motion, tool stack, messaging by tier.

Use when segmenting GTM by company size, designing tier-specific plays,

or adapting messaging to buyer sophistication. Triggers on: "ICP tiers",

"small business vs enterprise", "mid-market ICP", "segment by company size",

"SMB vs enterprise sales", "how to sell to small business".

license: MIT

- compatibility: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose

+ compatibility: Claude Code, Jesse, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose

metadata:

version: "1.0.0"

author: LeadMagic

category: foundation

tags: [icp, targeting, small-business, mid-market, enterprise, segmentation]

related_skills: [icp-scoring, positioning-messaging, pricing-strategy, gtm-context, sales-team-building]

frameworks:

- "Jason Lemkin & Mark Roberge — From Survival to Thrival (enterprise upmarket)"

- "OpenView Company Size Segmentation"

- "Winning by Design GTM by ACV"

- "Jason Lemkin SaaStr ACV Thresholds"

---

# ICP Targeting by Tier

## Overview

"Small business," "mid-market," and "enterprise" are not just labels —

they're fundamentally different businesses with different buying processes,

different decision-makers, different budgets, and different expectations.

A GTM motion that works for one tier will fail at another. This skill

defines the targeting differences and builds tier-specific plays.

## When to Use

- "How do I sell to small business vs enterprise?"

- "Define ICP by company size"

- "What's different about mid-market?"

- "Segment our GTM by tier"

- "SMB sales playbook"

- "Enterprise vs SMB ICP"

## Authoritative Foundations

- **Jason Lemkin & Mark Roberge — From Survival to Thrival.** Moving upmarket

to enterprise is a Thrival-stage decision — only after Survival ($0–$2M) and

early Thrival ($2M+) motions are repeatable. Enterprise requires different ACV,

cycle length, stakeholders, and sales capacity. Load `abm-strategy` and

`multi-thread-orchestration` when targeting the enterprise tier.

- **OpenView (Bartlett, Poyar)** — Company size segmentation for PLG. SMB:

self-serve, product-led. Mid-market: product-led + sales assist. Enterprise:

sales-led with product support.

- **Winning by Design** — GTM motion determined by ACV, not company size.

$1K ACV = transactional. $10K ACV = consultative. $100K ACV = strategic.

- **Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)** — "You can't sell $10/month to SMBs and $100K/year

to enterprises with the same motion."

## Tier Definitions

### Small Business (SMB): 1-50 employees

- **Deal size:** $100-$5K ACV

- **Buyer:** Founder, owner, or solo operator. Wears all hats.

- **Buying process:** 1 decision-maker. Days, not weeks. Credit card, not PO.

- **What they care about:** Speed to value, simplicity, "does it solve my

immediate problem today?"

- **What they don't care about:** Security reviews, SOC2, enterprise SSO,

multi-year contracts, implementation services

- **How they buy:** Self-serve trial → evaluate in-product → swipe credit card.

May never talk to a salesperson.

- **Sales motion:** Product-led. Free trial or freemium. In-app conversion.

Low-touch email sequences. No SDRs.

- **Messaging:** "Get started in 5 minutes." "No setup required." Show the

outcome, not the architecture.

- **Pricing:** Transparent, self-serve. Monthly or annual. Under $500/month

for most tools.

- **Churn risk:** High. They churn when the founder leaves, the business

pivots, or cash gets tight. NRR is less relevant than logo retention.

- **Support expectation:** Self-serve knowledge base + email support. No

dedicated CSM. Response within 24 hours is acceptable.

### Mid-Market: 50-500 employees

- **Deal size:** $5K-$50K ACV

- **Buyer:** Director or VP. May have a manager doing evaluation.

- **Buying process:** 2-4 decision-makers. Weeks, not days. Needs internal

champion to sell up. May require security review.

- **What they care about:** Integration with existing stack, team adoption,

ROI within 6 months, "will my team actually use this?"

- **What they don't care about:** Custom SLAs, dedicated infrastructure,

white-glove onboarding (they want guided, not white-glove)

- **How they buy:** Trial or POC → internal evaluation → procurement.

Champion sells internally. Sales assists the champion.

- **Sales motion:** Product-led + sales assist. Self-serve trial with AE

outreach at key milestones. 1 AE can handle 20-30 active deals.

- **Messaging:** "Here's how [similar company] implemented this." Team-level

proof points. Show adoption metrics, not just individual value.

- **Pricing:** Tiered by seats or usage. Annual contract. $500-$5K/month.

Discount for annual commitment.

- **Churn risk:** Medium. They churn when the champion leaves. Multi-threading

is essential. NRR target: 100-120%.

- **Support expectation:** Email + chat support. Shared CSM (1:50 ratio).

Response within 4 hours. Quarterly business review optional.

### Enterprise: 500+ employees

- **Deal size:** $50K-$500K+ ACV

- **Buyer:** VP or C-level. Buying committee of 5-10 people.

- **Buying process:** 6-12 months. Legal, security, procurement, IT, business

stakeholder. RFP common. Multiple competitors evaluated.

- **What they care about:** Security (SOC2, ISO, pen tests), compliance

(GDPR, HIPAA, FedRAMP), scalability, SLAs, vendor stability, "will you be

here in 5 years?"

- **What they don't care about:** "Free trial." They can't use free anything

without procurement approval. Monthly pricing. Consumer-grade UX if the

backend is enterprise-grade.

- **How they buy:** Outbound or inbound → demo → security review → POC →

procurement → legal → implementation. Multiple stakeholders must align.

- **Sales motion:** Sales-led. Dedicated AE + SE + CSM per account. SDR for

pipeline. Executive sponsor required for $100K+ deals.

- **Messaging:** Industry-specific proof. Named enterprise logos. Security

and compliance documentation available before the first call. "We understand

your procurement process."

- **Pricing:** Custom. Annual or multi-year. Net 30/60 payment terms.

Procurement discounts for multi-year. Implementation fees separate.

- **Churn risk:** Low logo churn, but high ACV concentration risk. They churn

when there's a reorg, acquisition, or executive sponsor departure.

NRR target: 110-130% through expansion.

- **Support expectation:** Dedicated CSM (1:10-20 ratio). Named support

contact. SLA with 1-hour response for critical issues. Quarterly business

review mandatory. Executive sponsor check-ins.

## Step-by-Step Process

### Phase 1: Tier Assignment

Score each account on the tier definition. Use firmographic data:

- **Employee count:** Primary signal. <50 = SMB, 50-500 = MM, 500+ = ENT.

- **Revenue:** Secondary signal. <$5M = SMB, $5M-$100M = MM, $100M+ = ENT.

- **Industry:** Regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government) behave

like enterprise even at smaller sizes due to compliance requirements.

- **Tech stack:** Enterprise tools (Salesforce, Workday, SAP) signal enterprise

buying behavior even at mid-market employee counts.

### Phase 2: Motion Assignment

Based on ACV, not company size:

- **<$5K ACV:** Transactional. Self-serve or low-touch sales. Automate everything.

- **$5K-$25K ACV:** Consultative. Sales assist with product-led entry. AE

handles evaluation and close.

- **$25K-$100K ACV:** Enterprise-lite. Dedicated AE. Custom demo. Procurement

support. Security review package.

- **$100K+ ACV:** Strategic. Full enterprise motion. Executive sponsor.

Multi-threaded. Custom POC. Legal and procurement support.

### Phase 3: Messaging by Tier

|---|---|---|---|

### Phase 4: Sales Process by Tier

|---|---|---|---|

### Phase 5: When Tiers Collide

Common failure modes when mixing tiers:

1. **SMB pricing with enterprise expectations.** Enterprise buyer at SMB

price expects enterprise support. They'll churn or demand unsustainable

service levels.

2. **Enterprise motion for SMB deals.** 6-week sales cycle for a $2K deal.

You'll lose money on every sale. Automate or don't sell to them.

3. **Mid-market stuck in between.** Not big enough for enterprise motion,

not small enough for self-serve. This is the hardest tier to get right.

The answer: product-led entry + sales assist. Let the product qualify;

let the AE close.

## Output Format

Tier targeting playbook with: tier definitions, account scoring model,

motion assignment matrix, messaging by tier, sales process by tier, and

collision handling rules.

## Quality Check

Before delivering, verify:

- [ ] All required sections are complete

- [ ] Output matches the user's stated need

- [ ] Named frameworks are cited for key recommendations

- [ ] No vague claims — every recommendation has a specific action

- [ ] Deliverable is ready for operational use, not just conceptual

## Common Pitfalls

1. **Segmenting by employee count only.** A 30-person cybersecurity company

buys like an enterprise (security reviews, compliance, long cycles).

A 300-person e-commerce company buys like SMB (credit card, fast decision).

Use ACV and buying behavior, not just firmographics.

2. **One motion for all tiers.** The rep who closes $100K enterprise deals

cannot also close $1K SMB deals. The skills, patience, and process are

completely different. Segment your sales team by tier.

3. **Enterprise features for SMB customers.** "We have SSO and audit logs!"

SMB buyer: "I don't know what SSO is. Can I import a CSV?" Build for

your buyer's sophistication level, not your engineering team's pride.

## Execution Artifacts

- `references/framework-notes.md` — Named frameworks and reference tables

- `templates/output-template.md` — Deliverable shell for agent output

- `scripts/check-output.py` — Lightweight deliverable validator

## Related Skills

- icp-scoring: Define weighted scoring model for ICP qualification

- positioning-messaging: Tier-specific positioning and narrative

- pricing-strategy: Tier-specific pricing and packaging

- sales-team-building: Hire for the tier you're selling into

- gtm-context: Document your tier definitions as reusable context

- buyer-psychology: How buyers at each tier make decisions