Build a demand plan whose math you can check.
“How do we hit our pipeline number, and does the math even work?”
The ICP, offers by funnel stage, the channel mix, the content, and the pipeline math backward from target.
What this skill does
Takes a pipeline or revenue target and builds the plan to reach it: who you are trying to reach, what you offer them at each stage of the funnel, which channels carry it, what content earns the click, and the backward math that tells you whether the budget and the conversion rates can actually produce the number. It builds the plan and stress-tests the math. It does not run the campaigns for you.
Inputs
- Works today with: your pipeline or revenue target, who you sell to, your average deal size, and roughly how leads convert to deals. Paste it in.
- More powerful connected to a CRM: it reads real lead-to-opportunity and opportunity-to-won rates, so the backward math uses your history, not a guess.
- Sharper with a web-analytics tool: shows which channels and content already drive signups, so the mix leans on what works.
- Sharper with an ad platform and an email tool: ties spend and sends to sourced pipeline, so cost per opportunity is real.
How it works
- 1ICP (spend where it converts)
Name who the plan targets and, just as important, who it does not. A demand plan aimed at everyone converts like it. Define the segments by fit and intent, and concentrate budget on the ones most likely to become pipeline. Everything downstream inherits this choice.
- 2Offers by stage (match the temperature)
Each funnel stage needs an offer matched to how ready the buyer is. Top of funnel earns attention with education and proof, no ask for a meeting yet. Middle offers a reason to engage (a tool, a teardown, a comparison). Bottom makes the direct ask (demo, trial, call). One offer for the whole funnel leaks buyers at both ends.
- 3Channel mix (reach times fit)
Choose channels by where the ICP actually pays attention and what each channel is good at. Paid buys reach fast but costs per lead climb, organic compounds but is slow, email works the list you have, events and partners borrow trust. Weight the mix to the goal and the timeline, and note why each channel earns its slice.
- 4Content (the fuel)
Map content to stages and channels: what earns the top-of-funnel click, what converts the middle, what closes the bottom. Content is not a separate plan, it is the fuel the channels burn. Name the pieces and the stage each one serves so nothing gets made that no channel will use.
- 5Backward math (does it add up)
This is the honesty check. Start from the TARGET, divide by DEAL_SIZE for deals needed, then walk backward through CONV_RATES to the opportunities, leads, and visitors required. Compare that to what the channel mix and budget can realistically produce. If the math does not close, the skill says so and shows the gap, so you fix the plan before the quarter, not during it.
Output format
DEMAND-GEN PLAN · $2M sourced pipeline this quarter (illustrative)
ICP: two priority segments · Deal size: $25K · Cycle: ~60 days
Backward math:
$2M / $25K = 80 deals needed
at 25% opp-to-won = 320 opportunities
at 15% SQL-to-opp = ~2,130 SQLs
at 40% MQL-to-SQL = ~5,300 MQLs
-> the mix below must produce ~5,300 MQLs. Current run rate: ~3,900. Gap: 26%.
Channel mix (weighted to the gap):
Paid search 35% bottom-funnel intent
Paid social 20% top-funnel, teardown offer
Organic/SEO 20% compounding, mid-funnel
Email/nurture 15% works the existing list
Events 10% borrowed trust, high-fit
Offers: top = teardown guide · mid = comparison tool · bottom = live working session.
Verdict: plan is 26% short on current rates. Close it by connecting the CRM to
confirm the real rates, then either raise paid or improve mid-funnel conversion.
Next move: connect the CRM so these rates stop being assumptions.
Tips
- Every stage has an offer matched to buyer readiness. No single offer for the whole funnel.
- The backward math is shown end to end, from target to visitors, so the plan is falsifiable.
- Any conversion rate not read from your CRM is labeled an assumption.
- The plan states plainly whether the math closes on the given budget, and names the gap if it does not.
- All dollar and rate figures are labeled illustrative unless grounded in connected data.
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