TL;DR: What You'll Learn
Why firmographics alone fail in commercial services—and what signals actually predict need
How to layer property attributes (age, size, permits) with behavioral intent to build a 3-tier ICP
A tested 5-step process to build, pilot, and refine your ICP using closed-won data
How one HVAC team jumped from 12% to 28% close rate by filtering on building age and permit gaps
Introduction
If you're like many new sales leaders, you're staring at a map of 50,000 properties in your new territory, salivating over a billion-dollar "install base," and wondering, "Where the heck do I start?"
Maybe you're the new VP of Sales at a commercial services company, bringing your sales experience from another industry. Or you're in Sales Ops building the go-to-market plan for a new region.
Either way, most teams fall into one of two traps when taking on a new market.
Trap #1: Spray and pray. Call every building on the list, hoping something lands. It's exhausting, inefficient, and your reps burn out before they find the 5% who actually need you.
Trap #2: Buy a contact list. Build a database of facilities managers, property managers, building engineers, and owners. Start dialing. The problem? Having the right person's phone number doesn't mean their building needs your services.
Both traps fail for the same reason: they ignore the most important variable in commercial services sales.
You're not just selling to people. You're selling to buildings.
In most B2B sales, find the right person at a company in your target industry with budget authority, and you've got a qualified lead. One company, one decision-maker, one opportunity.
In commercial services, you're selling to physical assets with predictable maintenance cycles. A property management company might manage 50 office buildings. But only three need new HVAC systems right now. The other 47 had systems replaced in the last five years and they have maintenance agreements to cover the rest of their life cycle.
Which three do you call?
Without knowing the building's age, equipment condition, and permit history, you're guessing. And when you guess, you waste capacity on buildings that don't need you while competitors lock up the ones that do.
Job titles are important, but it’s only when you identify which signals at the property level that pins on a map become opportunities.
Another way of looking at it is:
Decision-maker data tells you WHO to call. Property level insights tell you WHEN. And in commercial services, you need both to build a sales outreach process that generates results.
That's what this guide shows you how to build: an ideal customer profile based on property intelligence. Not just firmographics like company size and industry. Real building data—age, square footage, equipment condition, permit history—that predicts who needs your service right now.
You define the criteria. Then property intelligence platforms help you find those buildings at scale.
This guide is built for commercial HVAC, roofing, solar, and janitorial sales teams ready to stop guessing and start targeting opportunities primed to close.
What Is an Ideal Customer Profile?
Your ICP is a filter backed by closed-won data. A better way to explain it is a mirror of your best customers. A well built ICP identifies the accounts most likely to buy fast, stay long, and send referrals. Not a wish list - a targeting framework that tells your team exactly who to chase.
In commercial services, your ICP can't stop at company characteristics. It has to include the property itself.
A 75,000 square foot office building with 20-year-old HVAC is a qualified prospect. A 5,000 square foot retail space with equipment installed last year isn't - even if both companies are in the same industry with the same revenue.
The building matters more than the business card.
ICP vs Buyer Persona: Know the Difference
Unlike most B2B sales, in commercial services, your ICP answers: Which buildings should we target?
It includes details like building size (50,000+ sq ft), age (20+ years old), equipment condition (HVAC installed in 2005), ownership type (owner-occupied vs managed by property company), or tenant makeup.
Your buyer persona answers: Who makes the buying decision at those buildings?
It includes job title (Director of Facilities), pain points (aging equipment, rising energy costs), and how they prefer to be contacted (email vs phone).
Both matter. But here's what we've found works best: start with your ICP first.
Here's why that sequence makes sense. Imagine calling a facilities manager who fits your buyer persona perfectly. She's got budget authority, she's frustrated with maintenance costs, and she takes your call. Great start. Then she says, "We just replaced our HVAC system six months ago."
If you're selling commercial HVAC equipment, she probably won't be a qualified lead for another 18-19 years (unless she has an emergency).
Your ICP helps you filter out those buildings before you dial. It points you toward properties that actually need your service right now. Then your buyer persona helps you identify who to call at those properties.
Why Don't Firmographics Work for Commercial Services?
Traditional B2B sales teams build ICPs around firmographics: industry, company size, revenue, headcount. It's a solid approach if you're selling SaaS or consulting.
But commercial services are different. You're selling to buildings with physical systems that age, break, fail, and need replacement on fairly predictable cycles.
Broad targeting tends to break down quickly. Take "office buildings with 100+ employees" as a filter. That bucket could include a brand-new Class A tower with cutting-edge systems and a 40-year-old property with failing equipment. One prospect might need you right now. The other probably isn't in-market for another decade.
Firmographics alone don't surface the details that matter most in commercial services:
Is the HVAC system nearing end-of-life?
Did they just pull a permit for competitor work?
Did the property change hands last month?
New ownership often triggers capital improvement budgets. That context tends to be more predictive than employee count.
This is where property intelligence comes in. Building age, square footage, permit history, equipment specs - these data points can help you predict need in ways that traditional CRM fields might miss.
According to the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA, 2024), commercial properties undergo major system upgrades every 15-25 years depending on equipment type. But ownership transfers—which happen at 4-7% annually in major markets (CBRE, 2024)—often accelerate that timeline. A firmographic filter might miss both signals.
"An 18-year-old building with no HVAC permits in a decade is a stronger prospect than a brand-new property with cutting-edge systems. Property intelligence surfaces that distinction. Firmographics can't."
Property intelligence fills that gap. It gives you the building-level context that helps prioritize which accounts to pursue first.
How Do You Build an ICP That Drives Revenue?
Here's an approach that tends to work well: think of your ICP in three layers. Start broad, then get more specific as you go.
Layer 1: Firmographic Filters
Start with the basics - industry vertical, geography, and rough company size. This helps narrow your universe from "every building" to "buildings in markets we serve."
For example: healthcare facilities in Greater Atlanta, hospitality properties in [City], restaurants in [county], or office buildings with 50+ employees.
Layer 2: Property Attributes
This is where you can start to separate stronger opportunities from longer-term prospects:
Building age tends to matter because older properties typically need more maintenance and replacements. A 25-year-old building often makes a better near-term prospect than one built five years ago. According to ASHRAE standards, most commercial HVAC systems reach end-of-life between 15-20 years, while roofing systems last 20-25 years depending on material and climate.
Square footage helps you match the right solution to the right property. For instance, an enterprise-level HVAC proposal might not be the best fit for a 10,000 square foot building.
Building type gives you insight into who makes decisions. Owner-occupied properties often have different buying processes than multi-tenant buildings managed by property management firms.
Permit history can signal competitor activity. Recent permits might mean someone just completed the work. Buildings with no permits in 15 years could represent untapped opportunity. Most municipalities publish permit records online—you can usually find free access through city or county building department sites.
Equipment age can often be estimated using building age plus typical lifespan. If the math suggests their system might be past due, they could be worth prioritizing. The U.S. Department of Energy tracks commercial building equipment performance data across 500,000+ properties through the ENERGY STAR program—these benchmarks can help validate your assumptions.
Layer 3: Behavioral Signals
Once you've identified which properties match your criteria, you can layer in a filter for behavioral signals - intent indicators that suggest buying readiness.
These might include: search behavior around a specific topic like, “commercial roofing in [City],” or they could come in the form of a specific search, “when to replace an (system)?”
These signals can help you understand not just who to call, but when they might be most receptive.
Once you've defined which signals matter for your business, platforms like Convex Signals can track and surface these indicators at scale.
What Property Signals Predict Buying Intent?
Not all buildings showing up in your ICP filters are ready to buy. Behavioral signals separate "interested now" from "nurture for later."
There are a few key filters that we’ll focus on for this article, because they’re key to the buying behaviors of decision-makers at commercial buildings:
Ownership transfers trigger capital budgets. New owners evaluate deferred maintenance within the first 6-12 months. CBRE data (linked in the previous section) shows that 60%+ of major system upgrades happen within 18 months of property acquisition - this is a key trigger for outreach, and should be core to building your ICP.
Permit activity in adjacent buildings signals market trends. If three office buildings in the same park pulled HVAC permits in the last six months, the fourth is probably evaluating bids.
Web search behavior indicates active research. Platforms like Convex Signals track when properties search for your service category—HVAC replacement, roof repair, solar installation—so you call when they're in-market, not six months too early, or too late.
Lease expirations force decisions. Landlords upgrade systems before marketing to new tenants. Track lease terms in multi-tenant buildings to anticipate buying windows.
Code compliance deadlines create urgency. International Code Council updates trigger retrofit requirements. Fire & life safety upgrades often follow new NFPA standards. If you know the regulatory calendar in your market… you’ll easily be able to use these compliance deadlines as key factors for sales.
From Strategy to Execution: How Property Intelligence Operationalizes Your ICP
So, you've defined your property-based ICP—the building attributes, equipment age, and behavioral signals that predict need. Now you need a way to find those accounts at scale so your team can turn those opportunities into revenue.
That's where property intelligence platforms can help. Tools like Convex let you filter from almost 6 million properties in North America, down to the 2,400 that match your criteria, in your territory. Then, Signals tracks intent activity so you can see who's searching now so you can reach them when they’re most receptive to your outreach.
The platform doesn't build your ICP - you do, using the process below. The software operationalizes it, removing the manual work of hunting through public records, tracking permits across multiple county sites, and monitoring search behavior.
Think of it as the execution layer on top of your strategic framework.
Five Steps to Build Your Perfect ICP
Step 1: Look at Your Best Customers
Start by pulling your top 10-20 accounts by revenue and retention. Set aside industry categorization for a moment - what building characteristics do they actually share?
Consider questions like:
What size properties tend to perform best?
What equipment age seems to close fastest?
Do you tend to win more often with owner-occupied buildings or managed portfolios?
Export this list from your CRM. You might add columns for building age, square footage, ownership type, and last permit date. Look for patterns. If 80% of your top accounts are 40,000+ sq ft buildings that are owner-occupied and over 25 years old, that could be your ICP starting point.
Step 2: Create Tiers
Consider segmenting your market into 2-3 priority levels. Here's an example framework:
Tier 1: High Priority
Building Size: 50,000+ sq ft
Equipment Age: 15+ years
Ownership Type: Owner-occupied
Outreach Priority: High (call within 48 hours)
Typical Close Time: 45-60 days
Tier 2: Medium Priority
Building Size: 25,000-50,000 sq ft
Equipment Age: 10-15 years
Ownership Type: Managed portfolio
Outreach Priority: Medium (call within 1 week)
Typical Close Time: 60-90 days
Tier 3: Lower Priority
Building Size: Under 25,000 sq ft
Equipment Age: Less than 10 years or recent upgrades
Ownership Type: Mixed
Outreach Priority: Low (nurture sequence)
Typical Close Time: 90-180 days
The goal here isn't perfection - it's focus. Tier 1 might get immediate attention. Tier 2 could go into a weekly cadence. Tier 3 might enter an automated nurture sequence.
Step 3: Add Buying Signals
Intent data can help you reprioritize within your tiers. A Tier 2 prospect showing active search behavior might actually deserve more immediate attention than a Tier 1 account with zero engagement signals.
If you’re using Convex, this is automatically done for you, but if not, you might layer behavioral signals on top of property attributes.
For example, a 35,000 sq ft building (Tier 2) that just changed ownership could move up to Tier 1 priority. Meanwhile, a 60,000 sq ft building (Tier 1) that pulled a competitor's permit six months ago might drop to Tier 3.
Step 4: Test It
Consider running a 30-day pilot targeting just your Tier 1 segment. Track response rates, meetings booked, and deals closed. Then adjust your filters based on what actually converts - not just what you assumed would work.
If you notice buildings aged 18-22 years closing faster than those 25+ years, adjust your criteria. If managed portfolios are responding better than owner-occupied properties (counterintuitive, but possible in some markets), you could flip your tier definitions.
After working with hundreds of commercial services sales teams over the past 8 years, we’ve found that data tends to beat assumptions - every time. And that's why using this approach is so important to your sales success.
Step 5: Document Everything
Consider building a one-page ICP playbook that includes:
Targeting criteria for each tier
Disqualification rules (which properties to skip)
Messaging templates tied to property type
Then share it across sales, marketing, and ops. An ICP works best when the whole team is aligned on it.
You might create a short training video about it, pin it in your sales docs, add it to onboarding materials, and reference it in pipeline reviews. The goal is to make it part of your team's daily workflow to increase sales efficiency.
Customer Case Study: What This Looks Like in Practice
Here's a real example. Mechanical Services and Design (MSD), a facility solutions provider in Ohio, used to take a traditional approach to finding customers. Sales reps would drive around town looking for buildings that "might be a good fit" or research opportunities at the local library. It felt productive at the time. But the process wasn't efficient enough.
Before: Facing quota pressure, prospecting became a numbers game. According to VP of Business Development Nick Davis, reps would "make 100 cold calls a week." They'd get stuck at gatekeepers with only main phone numbers. The team was "losing time that we weren't going to get back."
Nick realized that throwing more calls and more people at the problem wouldn't "get the growth that we were after as an organization." They needed a smarter way to focus their efforts.
After: Things "transformed once we saw Convex," Nick says.
The team started using property intelligence to identify qualified properties based on attributes like square footage, property type, and whether the property was owner-occupied. They could zoom in on satellite imagery to see mechanical equipment around buildings. They found onsite decision-makers by job title and company—with contact information that let them reach prospects via email, mobile, and social channels.
The shift was immediate. Instead of cold calling 100 buildings hoping for a meeting, reps could build targeted campaigns of properties that matched their ideal client profile. They researched smarter, not harder.
The results: Over 18 months, Nick's team sourced over $42 million in pipeline using Convex. Reps now use the platform an average of three times per week. The tool integrates seamlessly with their CRM, so when they find the right fit, they push opportunities directly into their sales process.
"You're an incredible organization," Nick told the Convex team. "We appreciate the partnership... let's continue to exceed expectations."
MSD's story shows what's possible when you stop guessing and start using property intelligence to build your ICP. Convex customers report an average 9x ROI within 12 months by focusing sales capacity on properties that match their ICP criteria.
Property intelligence helped turn prospecting from a numbers game into a strategic advantage.
What Could Go Wrong (And How to Avoid It)
"This will shrink my pipeline."
It likely will. And that's often the point. A bloated pipeline full of unqualified leads can burn capacity and impact team morale. The goal is fewer, better accounts. A smaller pipeline with 2× the close rate often outperforms a massive list with 5% conversion.
Think of it this way: would you rather call 500 buildings and close 25, or call 100 buildings and close 25? Same revenue, but 400 fewer rejection calls.
"Our best customer doesn't fit the ICP."
Outliers happen. But if 80% of your revenue comes from a specific building profile, that's probably your ICP. Try not to let one anomaly distract from the broader pattern. You might document exceptions, but consider building your strategy around what's repeatable.
One high-value account outside your ICP doesn't necessarily invalidate the framework. It might just mean you have one relationship-driven win. That's great. Now the question becomes: how do you operationalize what's repeatable?
"My team won't follow it."
If that happens, it might be worth revisiting how the ICP was built. Consider creating it with your reps, not in isolation. Show them the data. Let them test it. If the close rate improves, they'll often follow it—because it makes their job easier.
We've found that sales reps tend to ignore top-down mandates but embrace tools that help them hit quota faster with less rejection. If you can prove the ICP works, adoption often follows.
Common ICP Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Targeting Too Broad
"All office buildings" isn't really an ICP. You might aim to get specific enough that you can describe your ideal account in two sentences.
Not ideal: "Office buildings in the Southeast." Better: "Owner-occupied office buildings 40,000+ sq ft, age 20-35 years, no major system permits in past 3 years, located in primary metro markets"
Mistake 2: Skipping Property Intelligence
Firmographics can predict potential budget capacity. Building attributes can predict near-term need. You'll likely want both.
Company size might tell you budget capacity. Building age could tell you replacement urgency. Consider layering them together.
Mistake 3: Treating Your ICP Like a Static Document
You might want to review it quarterly. As you close more deals, your understanding of what works will probably sharpen.
New markets can behave differently. Seasonal patterns might emerge. Code changes can shift priorities. Your ICP could evolve with your closed-won data—rather than staying frozen from your first draft.
Mistake 4: Building It in a Vacuum
Consider creating your ICP with your sales team, not just for them. If they don't trust the criteria, they might not follow it.
You could run workshops, show them the data, and let them challenge assumptions. Co-create the tiers together. When reps feel ownership of the process, they're often more likely to own the execution.
Conclusion: Your ICP Is How You Win
Building an ICP isn't just a planning exercise. It can become the foundation of predictable revenue.
Consider starting with your best accounts. Layer in property intelligence. Test your assumptions. Refine based on results. Document what works. Then you might find your team naturally stops chasing every lead and starts focusing on the right ones.
You probably don't need a bigger pipeline. You might just need a better one.
Ready to operationalize your property-based ICP and make it a core function for sales? Schedule a demo to see how Convex finds and prioritizes the accounts that match your criteria.
FAQs
How is an ICP different from a buyer persona? Your ICP defines the account or property you target (building specs, age, ownership). Your buyer persona defines the person at that property (facilities manager, owner, director of ops). Build your ICP first—it tells you which buildings to target. Then map personas to those accounts.
How often should I update my ICP? Review quarterly. As you close more deals, you'll spot patterns—certain building ages convert faster, specific geographies have higher win rates. Update your filters based on closed-won data, not assumptions. An ICP is a living document.
Can I use the same ICP across multiple regions? Not without adjustments. Building stock varies by market. A 30-year-old building in Phoenix has different needs than one in Chicago (climate, code requirements, equipment stress). Start with a national baseline, then customize by region based on local building age distributions and regulatory environments.
What's the #1 mistake teams make when building an ICP? Going too broad. "All office buildings over 20,000 sq ft" isn't an ICP—it's a market segment. Get specific enough that you can describe your ideal account in two sentences, including property attributes that predict need (age, equipment condition, permit history).
How do I get buy-in from my sales team? Build the ICP with them, not for them. Pull your top reps into workshops. Show them closed-won data. Let them challenge the criteria. If they don't trust the filters, they'll ignore them and revert to spray-and-pray.
Does an ICP work for inbound leads? Yes. Score inbound leads against your ICP criteria. A Tier 1 property that fills out a form gets called immediately. A Tier 3 lead goes into nurture. Use your ICP to prioritize response time and sales resources.
How granular should property attributes be? Specific enough to predict need, broad enough to generate volume. If your filters yield 10 prospects in a major metro, you're too narrow. If they yield 10,000, you're too broad. Aim for a Tier 1 list that your team can work through in 30-60 days.
What role does Convex play in ICP execution? Convex gives you the property intelligence layer (building age, permits, equipment specs, behavioral signals (Signals tracks search intent), verified contact data, and AI-powered outreach personalized to each property. You build the ICP strategy. Convex operationalizes it at scale and syncs qualified leads directly to Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive.
Can I use property intelligence for industries beyond HVAC and roofing? Yes. Any service tied to physical building systems benefits—janitorial (building size and tenant mix), landscaping (property type and grounds area), elevators (building height and age), BAS (building size and automation complexity), fire & life safety (building age and code compliance timelines). The same layering approach applies: firmographics → property attributes → behavioral signals.
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