A FOUNDER ASKED:

“We want to sell our current product to a new customer segment. How can we quickly create the right messaging and materials to set up sales for success?”

NEW SEGMENTS ARE A KEY GROWTH LEVER

This is a smart and critical question for startups expanding beyond their initial wedge of product-market fit.

You’re getting ready to kick off sales conversations with a new customer segment. You need an MVP set of materials: a sales deck, email copy, and content that speaks directly to this audience.

But first come the harder questions:

• What makes our product relevant to them?
• What should we say to catch their attention?
• What needs to change from our current messaging?

It can feel like a chicken-and-egg problem.

You want to validate your message through conversations, but you don’t want to start those conversations without effective messaging.

Here’s my advice:
Before you build collateral or book sales meetings, create MVP messaging tailored to this new segment. Then build a starter kit of content to support strong initial conversations. You’ll learn faster—and your early outreach will land better—because you started with intentional messaging.

Here’s how to do it in three focused sprints.

SPRINT 1: BUILD CUSTOMER AND COMPETITOR HYPOTHESES

Start by organizing what you already know about the market and identifying what you need to learn.

First, define three layers:

• Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): What are the characteristics of your best-fit companies in this new segment?
• Buying Committee: Who at these companies participates in the buying decision?
• Primary Persona: Who’s your primary buyer and internal champion? They’ll be the focus of your new messaging.

(For a full refresher, I break down how to create effective ICPs and personas here. Go beyond firmographics and demographics—you need to understand your customers’ functional, emotional, and social pain points.)

Second, sharpen your view of the competitive landscape:

• Who are your direct competitors?
• Who are the indirect competitors (low-tech options, in-house builds, or “do nothing”)?
• How do they position themselves—and why does it resonate?
• How is your product different and better?

Identify your biggest differentiators so you can create strong contrast with leading competitors. Insights about your persona and positioning will become your core messaging themes.

Sprint 1 goals:

• Synthesize your persona and buying committee insights
• Identify competitors and positioning angles
• Highlight knowledge gaps to fill in Sprint 2

This isn’t about getting it perfect. Aim for a 70% hypothesis—just enough to move forward with confidence.

SPRINT 2: BUILD A MESSAGING MVP AND VALIDATE

Now you’ll move into messaging creation, research, and quick iteration. This sprint gets you ready to build MVP collateral in Sprint 3.

Part A: Draft Your Messaging MVP

Start with a simple but powerful product messaging framework:

• USP: “[Product] is a [category] for [customer segment] that delivers [outcome].”
• Three value proposition pillars that describe your product’s unique benefits
• Proof points that back up your claims (features, data, testimonials, press)

Get the full details in this overview on how to develop effective messaging.

Pro tip: Start value props with action verbs (save, boost, eliminate) and descriptors (fast, easy, smart). That helps your benefits stand out.

Watch out: A feature list isn’t a compelling message. Your prospect wants to know why your product is valuable. Features are proof points—they support your benefits, but they shouldn’t lead.

Part B: Run Customer Interviews

Take your draft messaging into real conversations with ideal customers to see what lands—and what doesn’t.

Use these interviews to:

• Fill gaps in your understanding of the ICP company and persona
• Spot what’s unclear or unconvincing
• Compare how your positioning stacks up against competitors

You don’t need a polished deck for these calls. A few simple slides, a draft landing page, or a set of talking points will do the job.

Ask:

• Does the USP and category resonate?
• Which value props feel most compelling? Least compelling?
• How does your product compare to others they’re considering?
• What questions or hesitations come up?
• What would make the decision to buy more urgent?

Also ask questions to refine your ICP and persona. Gather insights on this customer’s pain points, desired results, objections, and decision-making process.

Then, revise your messaging to reflect what you’ve learned. This new segment needs to see your product as appealing, effective, and differentiated.

Sprint 1 goals:

• Finalize your messaging wireframe for MVP collateral
• Refine your USP and value props based on real feedback
• Strengthen proof points to build trust

STEP 3: CREATE MVP SALES AND MARKETING ASSETS

Now shift from testing to selling. The goal is to equip your team with clear messaging and essential content to run real sales conversations.

Build a simple sales enablement kit:

• A short sales deck (USP → Value Props → Proof Points)
• A landing page with your refined messaging
• A relevant case study, if you have one that fits this segment
• A short demo video tailored to this audience
• 2–3 nurture content pieces to support the buyer journey

Make sure your content maps to the stages of the buyer journey:

• Awareness: Describe the problem your product solves—and why it matters
• Consideration: Showcase benefits and differentiation
• Decision: Offer proof—customer stories, measurable outcomes, product walkthroughs, and more detail on features

(If you’ve read my guide to scaling founder-led sales, you know great content builds trust and speeds up deals.)

Key tips:

• Use a clear flow: USP → Value → Proof
• Make sure your content answers real buyer questions

Sprint 3 goals:

• Brief your team on new customer and competitor insights
• Equip sales with messaging for early conversations
• Build MVP collateral to enable initial sales

BETTER MARKET ENTRY IN THREE SPRINTS

Startups often skip messaging validation and jump straight to selling. That leads to:

• Unclear benefits → meetings that fall flat
• Weak differentiation → lost deals
• No proof → prospects that ghost you

This approach gives you an edge by:

• Building early empathy with a new customer segment
• Clarifying your message before investing in product, sales, or marketing
• Helping your team show up with confidence and credibility

You don’t need a polished website, a fancy demo, or a perfect product. You need:

• Clear ICP and persona insights
• Sharp positioning against alternatives
• MVP content that earns attention and builds trust

That’s how you move from guessing at a new market to getting early traction.