Pick ICPs by success, not just deal size

Scrappy ABM brings together host Mason Cosby and Yann Sarfati, CEO and Co-founder of Userled, to talk about ABM, AI, field marketing, and events that actually bring the bank. The conversation starts with the problem statement: ABM is a strong buzzword, but finding the accounts you really want to go after is actually the hardest thing. Many teams say they have a narrow ICP and still end up with a list of 10,000 accounts.

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Yann shares how Userled spent almost six months building a list of 1,000 accounts with clear commonality, strong conviction, and ethical belief that life will be better for those accounts. Mason highlights the mental headache and wasted 10 to 20 hours per bad deal when the ICP is wrong. Together they walk through NRR in MarTech, repeatable GTM motion, small events where the persona actually shows up, personalized event invites, and doing things that do not scale to win enterprise deals and keep customers for the long term.

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👤 Guest Bio

Yann Sarfati is the CEO and Co-founder of Userled. He started from the ABM problem statement and built a product that generates content with AI for every stage of the funnel, per industry, and per account. Yann is in the trenches with a team of salespeople, cares very little about the growth element compared to NRR in MarTech, and focuses on a strong list of accounts that share similar pain. He spends time at small events where the right persona is present, rolls out the red carpet for key accounts, and does things that do not scale to break into and grow enterprise deals.

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📌 What We Cover

• Starting from the ABM problem statement and why finding the accounts you really want to go after is actually the hardest thing.
• How Userled built a list of 1,000 accounts over almost six months with clear commonality like complementary tech, existing ABM team, enterprise focus, ACV above 500K, CMO sponsorship, and sales already involved.
• Mason’s framing of ethical conviction: looking at each individual account and asking if life will be better because of the work together.
• The time tradeoff between spending 10 to 20 hours per deal in the sales cycle versus 20 minutes per account to make sure the list is right and avoid wasting time on completely irrelevant opportunities.
• The mental headache and frustration of sales when 50% of the pipeline is shit deals, how repeated rejection kills confidence, and why slipping for the right reasons feels different from losing deals you never could have won.
• Why Yann cares very little about the growth element and focuses on NRR in MarTech, renewals, upsell, and building a company that is a no-brainer for clients for the next five years.
• How Userled uses AI-generated content by industry and funnel stage plus small events where the persona from key accounts is present to get the highest conversion of pipeline.
• The event playbook: complementary tech events like Six Sense and Demandbase, max 400 attendees, 15 to 17 hyper relevant conferences, personalized event invite for every single attendee, dynamic calendars, short product tests at the booth, and a quota of at least 10 booked calls per day with ICP.
• Why they do not collect emails, do not rely on badge scans, and instead book calls on the day or lose them, then follow up with recaps and event invites that drive six out of seven attended calls.
• Using per-industry value props, education around AI in ABM, and case studies, plus tracking who reads and shares content inside target accounts.
• Looking at engagement spikes from key accounts, web visits, and contact-level interest as signals for sales outreach instead of waiting for a Cisco-style stakeholder to knock on the door and ask for a demo.
• Lessons learned from doing events like everyone else with vanity metrics, the discrepancy between event spend and pipeline, and the shift to events that help deals get over the line by meeting CMOs and stakeholders in person.
• The power of flying to a place like Naples to meet an executive stakeholder, doing things that do not scale, and why the playing field has leveled up now that everybody has the same data and intent signals.
• Final advice on building an ABM program: not just sorting previous big enterprise wins by deal value, but working with CS to understand what exactly is a perfect account, why referrals and advocates matter, and how profit and NPS change the real definition of best customer.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Userled – Product for ABM plus AI that generates content for bottom of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and end of the funnel per industry and account, and distributes it through sales and ads platforms.
• Six Sense – Complementary tech that organizes events where key ABM personas from target accounts are present.
• Demandbase – Another complementary tech with events that attract the same people again and again from the right ICP.
• Clay – Place to find emails so you do not spend 10 to 60K on an event just to collect addresses at the booth.
• ZoomInfo – Example of a platform where teams can get emails instead of relying on badge scans and generic follow-up.
• Apollo – Another way to find contacts without turning events into email collection exercises.
• HubSpot event – Example of a big conference Yann does not prioritize when he can double down on smaller, hyper relevant events.
• Dreamforce – Another large event that looks attractive on paper but does not match the focused ABM and small-event playbook described in this conversation.
• Scrappy ABM: Visit for more ABM tips and strategies.
• Connect with Mason Cosby on LinkedIn for a conversation about ABM.

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