ICP and target lists for MSPs: how we decide who to contact
Outbound only works when the list is right. We start from the clients you already have, write down who is a fit and who is not, and build lists of the same kinds of businesses in your service area. Every company is checked by hand, and the email goes to the owner or decision-maker, not to a generic inbox.
How is the ICP built in onboarding?
In onboarding, starting from your best current clients. We look at who they are: industry, headcount, number of locations, how far they are from your office, what they had before you (a part-time IT guy, break-fix, nothing), what made them switch, and who signed the contract.
From that we write the ideal client profile: the industries, the company size floor and ceiling, the region, and the decision-maker we want in the room. Then we add the disqualifiers, meaning the businesses that look right on paper but never buy. You sign off on the final document. It drives targeting, qualification and billing, so if a meeting doesn’t match it, you don’t pay for it. How the ICP is agreed and changed later is in the FAQ on defining the ICP together, and the billing side in what counts as a qualified meeting.
What does an ICP document look like?
An illustrative example, for an MSP serving professional practices:
- Industry: law firms, CPA firms, dental practices
- Company size: 20 to 200 employees
- Region: within 60 miles of the MSP’s office
- Decision-maker: owner, managing partner or practice administrator
- Disqualifiers: under 10 staff, in-house IT team, franchise locations
- Meeting held: a decision-maker joins the scheduled call
Yours will look different. The point is that every line is specific enough to check a company against, and that you have signed it before the first email goes out.
Where do the lists come from?
From local business listings of the kinds of businesses you already serve. If your best clients are law firms, accounting firms and dental clinics, we pull law firms, accounting firms and dental clinics in your service area, by category. Then we filter by location and size, and check every company by hand: is it really the size the listing says, is it still in business, does it hit a disqualifier.
We don’t buy a generic “SMB” list and blast it. A narrow, checked list is slower to build and gets far better replies, and it is the only way to keep the meetings inside the ICP you signed.
Who do you write to?
The owner or the person who decides: the managing partner, the practice owner, the office manager who runs vendors. Not info@, not a shared mailbox. For each company we find the right person and their direct address, and we write to them by name.
How big are the businesses on the list?
The size you set in the ICP. Usually that means businesses with enough seats to be worth a managed contract, often somewhere around 20 to 200 employees, but you decide the floor and the ceiling. A business below your floor isn’t billable, even if the meeting happens. More in the FAQ on client size.
Is the list exclusive to your service area?
Yes. Levante Leads takes one MSP per service area, so once you are a client no competing MSP gets a campaign aimed at the same businesses. The area is agreed in writing before launch. More in the FAQ on competing MSPs in your area.
Who keeps the lists and the ICP document?
The written terms you see before signing say who keeps the prospect lists and the signed ICP document. More in the FAQ on contract terms.