Effective demand generation isn’t always about adding more digital tools or reaching more accounts. Sometimes, it starts with getting back to basics: understanding which customers you can serve best and how to engage them.
That’s the approach of Ray Goforth, SVP of Marketing at Take Command. During a recent Winalytics peer roundtable, Ray shared how her team refined its ideal customer profile (ICP) through customer data, geographic research, and industry-specific outreach.
Her approach centers on three areas.
1️⃣ Use Customer Data to Refine Your ICP
Ray’s team analyzed customer data across renewals, churn, and retention to identify industries with the strongest long-term potential.
This led to a “Right to Win, Right to Serve” initiative, focused on markets where Take Command could deliver the most value.
Because healthcare benefits vary by state, the team narrowed its targeting to specific states, ZIP codes, and industries where it could demonstrate potential cost savings.
2️⃣ Version Outreach by Vertical
Ray recognized that different industries respond to different messages and channels.
For one industry, personalized BDR emails focused on improving employee benefits proved effective. Another industry required a different approach, with greater emphasis on direct mail, phone conversations, and CFO-level discussions about cost savings.
Rather than using the same campaign across industries, her team adapted the messaging, channels, and calls to action to match how each vertical buys.
3️⃣ Use Research to Guide Sales Follow-Up
Ray’s approach also extends beyond initial targeting.
Her team uses HubSpot dashboards to monitor performance by industry, track pipeline progression, and identify opportunities for follow-up.
They also use Claude to analyze insights and help identify next steps when deals involve multiple touchpoints or begin to slow.
That research gives sales teams more than a list of prospects. It provides a clearer understanding of why an account is a good fit and how to approach the conversation.
The team also established a process for sales to follow up on qualified leads within one business day. They reported improvements in pipeline growth, conversion, and deal progression, with the longer-term impact on retention still to be measured.
Ray Goforth’s experience demonstrates the value of combining ICP research with vertical-specific execution.
By using customer data to narrow the target market, adapting outreach to how different industries buy, and equipping sales teams with research-backed follow-up, Take Command has created a more focused approach to demand generation.
The lesson is to “cut the noise” and concentrate on the accounts where you know you can deliver value.
