Needs-based segmentation

Needs-based segmentation organizes prospects around the problems they are trying to solve or outcomes they want to achieve.¹ Accounts in the same firmographic segment can buy for different reasons, so needs-based or use-case segmentation explains why they buy and lets you tailor messaging and product within a vertical or tier.² Build the segment around a need that changes the questions you ask and the message you send. If you cannot name the shared problem, desired outcome, or trigger, you have a company list without a needs segment. The practical test is whether the need can be recognized in conversation and routed to a distinct motion.

Start with the shared need

Choose the boundary before you name the segment. It should tell you who belongs and give you a reason to ask a different question.

Keep the definition on the need being addressed and solved for the customer.³ A company should identify the customer segment that matches its strongest attribute, such as price sensitivity.⁴ Write the segment in one sentence: 'This segment is trying to achieve ___ because ___.' Fill the blanks from conversations and keep the wording close to what prospects say.

Map the priority and gap

Once the boundary is set, find out what the prospect cares about and how the present situation falls short. Move on when you can describe both the desired result and the problem blocking it.

The framework centers on what the prospect cares about and the gap between that priority and the current state.⁵ Start by finding what customers want to accomplish.⁶ Add the challenges they face, the success they want, and the fears standing in the way.⁷

Ask:

• What are you trying to accomplish?
• What matters most about that outcome?
• What is happening today?
• What makes the current situation difficult?

Do not rush to a product category after the first answer. The priority and its gap should guide the next stage.

Narrow the problem into buckets

A broad need is hard to route. Turn it into a small set of problem categories that a prospect can recognize quickly.

Use bucket questions to narrow and categorize the prospect's problems.⁸ Multiple-choice questions can steer prospects toward relevant problems.⁹ A product can solve one problem while its persona cares about other things, which gives you additional bucket options.¹⁰

Ask, 'Which of these problems is closest to what is happening?' Follow with, 'Is there another issue driving the search?' You can also ask whether the prospect fits a known bucket or has a more bespoke process.¹¹

Keep the categories in the prospect's language. If the answer does not fit, record the new category and test whether it changes the message. A response is specific enough when it names a problem clearly enough to choose the next question and the relevant motion.

Test the segment in conversation

Test each category in live conversations. Prospects should recognize it, and the pattern should appear across similar accounts.

Ask, 'What problems do they have in common with their peers?'.¹² Certain combinations of company and buyer personas tend to correspond to certain problems.¹³ Look for patterns in your data and group customers with similar needs, preferences, pain points, or demographics when those patterns appear.¹⁴

Listen for the prospect's response after you name the category. When they say there are no additional challenges, treat that answer differently from a response that adds more challenges.¹⁵ A category fits when the conversation supports it and the same need appears in comparable accounts.

Turn the segment into an outbound motion

Use each validated need to change execution. Translate it into a message, a relevant give, and a reason for the prospect to continue the conversation.

Messaging can be tailored to use cases, pain relief, and goal achievement.¹⁶ Understanding what the prospect cares about enables a relevant give.¹⁷ Build each motion around a specific pain point or trigger.¹⁸ Adapt the value proposition to the segment and trigger in front of you.¹⁹

Record these fields for every segment:

• the problem or outcome in the prospect's words
• the priority and the gap around it
• the bucket question that identifies the need
• the trigger that makes the need active
• the message angle connected to the use case
• the give that fits the stated priority

Merge segments that produce the same question, message, and give. Keep them separate when the need changes what you ask or send.

What not to do

Keep the failure modes close to the workflow so they are easy to catch during list building and calls.

• Do not define a segment before you know exactly which customer segment has the problem.²⁰
• Do not assume a shared category means shared treatment. People's needs differ, and satisfying them may require different approaches.²¹
• Do not mistake the solution area for the current priority when a prospect may have thirteen priorities that matter more than analytics.²²
• Do not give every persona identical outreach when personas have distinct priorities, pain points, motivations, and preferred channels.²³