How Do You Co-Create Segmentation Criteria with Sales?
The most effective segments aren’t written in a vacuum. They’re co-created by marketing, sales, and RevOps so that ideal customer profiles, fit scores, and outreach lists reflect both data and field reality—and everyone trusts the same definitions.
Short answer: You co-create segmentation criteria with sales by treating it as a joint design exercise, not a marketing side project. Start by aligning on business outcomes (pipeline, win rate, expansion), then workshop “what a good account or contact looks like” with reps and managers. Translate that field input into data-based rules (firmographic, technographic, behavioral, lifecycle) that your systems can support. Finally, you test segments in live outreach, review performance together, and refine definitions until they reliably produce better conversations and deals.
What Changes When You Co-Create Segments with Sales?
The Co-Created Segmentation Playbook
Use this sequence to design segmentation criteria that sales will actually use—and that your systems can reliably support.
Align → Discover → Translate → Prototype → Operationalize → Govern → Iterate
- Align on business outcomes. Start by clarifying why you’re revisiting segmentation: better pipeline coverage, higher win rates, cleaner territories, improved renewal/expansion. Capture these goals in a simple brief.
- Run discovery with sales. Interview AEs, SDRs, and managers: Which accounts close fastest? Which never close? What patterns do you see by industry, role, tech stack, trigger events? Use this to collect field signals that should influence criteria.
- Translate field input into data attributes. Map rep language (“complex buying committee,” “heavy compliance”) into specific data points in your CRM, MAP, CDP, and enrichment tools (e.g., headcount, region, technologies, engagement behaviors).
- Prototype and validate segments. Build draft segments (e.g., ICP Tier 1, Strategic Accounts, High-Intent Inbound) and show sales real account lists. Ask: “Does this look right?” Adjust rules until the lists match their experience.
- Operationalize in systems and plays. Implement the criteria consistently across CRM, MAP, sales engagement, and analytics. Tie each segment to specific plays: cadences, SLAs, offers, and messaging.
- Govern through a shared forum. Stand up a segmentation or revenue council with marketing, sales, and RevOps to own definitions and approve changes, so you avoid silent drift in the field or in systems.
- Iterate based on performance. Review pipeline, win rate, and velocity by segment quarterly. Retire segments that don’t add value, split segments that are too broad, and refine criteria as you enter new markets.
Segmentation Co-Creation Capability Maturity Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Co-Created & Operationalized) | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICP & Segment Definition | Marketing defines ICP; sales ignores slides. | ICP and segments co-created in workshops; criteria are documented and agreed. | Marketing & Sales Leadership | Adoption of Shared ICP/Segments |
| Data Foundations | Key attributes live in spreadsheets or rep notes only. | Core firmographic, technographic, and behavioral fields standardized in CRM/MAP/CDP. | RevOps | Completeness of Segment Fields |
| Sales Input & Feedback | Feedback is anecdotal and reactive. | Structured interviews and recurring forums capture field insights and change requests. | Sales Ops / Enablement | Participation & Action on Feedback |
| Tool Alignment | Different systems use different segment logic. | One set of segment definitions implemented consistently across CRM, MAP, CDP, and reporting. | RevOps / IT | Definition Consistency Across Systems |
| Revenue Plays | Segments exist, but plays don’t change. | Each segment maps to clear outreach, content, and offer strategies for sales and marketing. | Marketing & Sales Enablement | Pipeline & Win Rate by Segment |
| Governance & Evolution | Segments are static until a crisis. | Segmentation council reviews definitions and performance quarterly and approves updates. | Revenue Council | Time to Implement Approved Changes |
Client Snapshot: From “Bad Leads” to Shared Segments
A growth-stage software company was stuck in a familiar pattern: marketing celebrated MQL volume, while sales complained that “these leads never buy.” ICP slides existed, but no one trusted how they showed up in day-to-day work.
By co-creating segmentation with sales—starting from closed-won analysis, rep interviews, and territory reviews—they rebuilt ICP tiers and engagement segments together. RevOps translated those agreements into CRM and MAP logic, and enablement built plays for each segment. Within two quarters, the team saw higher acceptance rates, better conversion from MQL to opportunity, and fewer disputes about lead quality—because everyone was working from the same, co-created criteria.
When segmentation is co-created with sales, it shifts from a static slide to a living operating system that guides targeting, outreach, and investment across the revenue engine.
Frequently Asked Questions About Co-Creating Segmentation with Sales
Turn Co-Created Segments Into Revenue Momentum
We’ll help you bring marketing, sales, and RevOps to the same table, co-create segmentation criteria, and wire them into your systems and plays—so your teams focus on the right customers with the right message.
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