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The two signals that actually convert B2B prospects

A potential client recently told me why they reached out after hearing me on a podcast: “You gave the feeling you did what you were talking about and could give us value. And also that you had a clear messaging for your target.”

They didn’t hire me for my frameworks or insights. They hired me because I signaled two things:

I’ve done the work, and I can solve their specific problem.

That’s what converts: specificity and relevance. These signals work because they make your prospects feel understood, not just marketed to.

You’ve mapped your ICP archetypes. You know who the check signer, manager, daily user, and influencer are. But your messaging still feels generic, and your conversions prove it.

The missing piece is showing you understand their specific reality and can solve their actual problems.

Most B2B messaging fails because it signals the opposite: fluffy theory without practice, bold claims without proof, relevance to everyone and therefore no one.

Here’s how to fix it.

Specificity proves you know their world

Specificity means concrete details that only someone who’s been in their seat would know.

Instead of saying: “Our platform helps teams collaborate more effectively.” Inject specificity with: “Your designer finished the mockup in Figma. Now you’re pasting screenshots into Slack because your dev can’t access the file, and the feedback loop drags for days.”

Or instead of: “We help agencies complete projects faster.” Try: “You promised the client two weeks. Six weeks later, you’re still debugging edge cases, the budget’s blown, and stakeholders are asking pointed questions.”

Specificity signals you’ve done the work. You’ve interviewed their daily users. You know which tools they actually use, which metrics they actually track, which moments make them want to quit.

In your messaging:

Name the exact tools your ICP uses (Spotlight, Linear, HubSpot, not “project management software”)
Describe the precise moment their problem surfaces (not “challenges with alignment”, show the meeting where misalignment costs them)
Reference the metrics they actually care about (not “improve performance”, say “cut sales cycle from 9 months to 6”)

Relevance proves you can solve their specific problem

Relevance means connecting your expertise directly to problems they actually have.

I’m nerdy about messaging systems and behavioral psychology. But on that podcast, I didn’t just philosophize, I showed how research translates to better conversion experiences for B2B SaaS teams drowning in data but having no real insight or actionable step to take.

The client who reached out had stagnant site conversions and generic messaging that sounded like everyone else. My specificity proved I understood the diagnosis. My relevance proved I could deliver the cure.

In your messaging:

Connect features to their goals explicitly (“This dashboard shows you X so you can achieve Y”)
Use their language, not yours (“get everyone on the same page” not “stakeholder alignment”)
Address different archetypes’ concerns (the check signer needs confidence in the ROI; the daily user needs to improve their workflow; the manager needs to actually understand what their reports say)

I’d also add that you need both:

Specificity without relevance means you’re solving the wrong problem in great detail.

Relevance without specificity means you sound like everyone else who says they can help.

Together, they create trust: “This person knows what they’re talking about AND can help me.”

When you write for your ICP archetypes, run this filter:

For specificity, ask:

Can I make this more concrete? (Replace abstractions with named tools, specific moments, exact metrics)
Would someone in this role recognize themselves? (Not your interpretation of their problem, their actual lived experience)

For relevance, ask:

Does this connect to their admitted goals? (Not what you think they should care about, what they actually track and get evaluated on)
Does this work for their archetype? Do they care about this?

Signal both specificity and relevance, and your messaging becomes a conversion experience that moves the whole buying network (yes including AI with AEO) toward yes.

DISCOVERY

Fix your funnel with strategic messaging

I joined What The Frac? podcast to show why SaaS copy might not convert and how to fix it. You’ll learn the four buyer roles your messaging must serve, how UX + copy align to reduce friction, practical ways to use AI/synthetic research for faster insights, and the micro‑decisions that drive demos and revenue.

A playbook for writing ICP specific landing pages

The amazing guys behind TeamGPT (soon to change name), just published my super detailed, step by step playbook on how I use their tool to prep and write high-converting landing pages. What matters is the process behind it, so don't miss it.

Seeing like a language model (and why it matters)

In this piece Dan Shipper suggests that looking at our world through the lens of how an LLM does it, filtering through its context, interlinking between different connections in a vast network of information, is a useful lens for us humans too.

It's why I think some people can be effective at using AI, and others just follow the trends. Recommended reading.