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Outreach Engine

Definition

What is Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)?

The short answer

An ideal customer profile is a precise description of the companies most likely to buy and succeed with a product, defined by attributes like industry, company size, technology, growth stage and the business problems they face. It is the foundation of every outbound program because it decides who gets contacted.

Key figure

69%

69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate AI generated insights with a sales rep.
Gartner survey, presented at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference

Why it matters

A sharp ICP is the difference between outreach that books meetings and outreach that gets ignored.

Put it to work

Where ideal customer profile matters on a program.

Research

What the research says

  • 69%

    69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate AI generated insights with a sales rep.

    Gartner survey, presented at the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference, May 2026. 645 B2B buyers, surveyed August to September 2025.

  • 67%

    67% of B2B buyers say they prefer a rep free buying experience, and 45% used AI during a recent purchase.

    Gartner Sales Survey, Mar 2026. 646 B2B buyers, surveyed August to September 2025.

  • 1.7x

    Top performing sellers are 1.7x more likely to use prospecting AI agents, and 54% of sellers have already used agents.

    Salesforce, State of Sales 2026, Feb 2026. 4,050 sales professionals, surveyed August to September 2025.

See the full research library

Related terms

The full glossary

Further reading

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