Segment Sage #143: The Segment Most Teams Miss 🧭

The Segment Most Teams Miss

Growth isn’t hidden. It’s buried.

Dan Prudhomme | December 21, 2025

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Most teams think their segment lost interest. It didn’t. They clicked. They skimmed. They paused. Then nothing happened.

Not because the segment was wrong. Not because demand disappeared.

Because growth got buried between steps.

Interest doesn’t vanish. It decays, and most buyer paths quietly drain it
through unnecessary choices, delays, and handoffs.

If your segment didn’t move, you didn’t miss the market. You buried the motion.

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This Week’s: The Pause Segment

This is the segment most teams never name:

People who are interested but unsure what happens next.

Here’s how it shows up:

• Engagement without decisions
• Buyers circling, then disappearing
• More leads, same results
• “They seemed interested” becoming the explanation

Nothing is wrong with your offer. Nothing is wrong with your segment.

The breakdown lives between steps. Most teams optimize what’s visible. But growth rarely breaks where it’s loud.

It breaks where momentum gets buried. Flow isn’t persuasion.Flow is permission to continue.

When flow is clear:

• Buyers move without friction

• Confidence compounds

• Momentum carries itself

When flow breaks:

• Interest cools

• Doubt fills the gap

• Attention resets

That’s the difference between:

• Clicks vs conversions

• Interest vs movement

• Adding fuel vs fixing the engine

Growth compounds in motion. Flow decides whether motion survives.

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This Week's Micro-Syncs:

Self - When your thinking gets cluttered, growth gets buried first.
Audience - The right segment doesn’t disappear; it disengages when direction is buried.
Message - Clarity uncovers growth. Chaos buries it.
Path - Every extra step is a shovel.
Growth - Remove before you add. That’s how traction resurfaces.

Happy Holidays from Segment Sage. Wishing you a clear, calm close to the year.

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 Cheat Sheet PDFs:

• Aligning Your Message for Maximum Impact

• Timing Your Follow-Ups for Optimal Engagement

Access these and previous issues at the bottom of this email.

Stay tuned for more Segment Sage insights next week.

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Real-World Sync: The Proposal That Stalled

A consulting firm told me:

“Prospects love the call. They say yes… then go quiet.”

They assumed the segment needed more follow-up. It didn’t. Their flow looked like this:

Interest
-> Discovery call
-> “We’ll send a proposal”
-> 5–7 day gap
-> PDF with options
-> “Let us know if you have questions”

Interest stayed high.Traction didn’t.

We didn’t change:

The segment

• The offer
• The pricing
• The expertise
• We fixed the handoff.

Instead of:

“We’ll send this over.”

The call ended with:

“I’ll send this in 10 minutes. There’s one option. We’ll review it together tomorrow at 10.”

Same offer. Same buyer. Same demand. Decisions sped up. Ghosting stopped.

The segment didn’t leave. Traction resurfaced.

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SageStamped: Recap & Plan

 1 Insight:
When growth stalls, it’s rarely a demand problem. It’s a buried path problem.

 1 Action:
Use the worksheet to trace one real buyer from first signal to next step. Circle where motion slows.

 1 Resource:
Segment Alignment Worksheet: Align segment, message, and path so momentum stays visible.

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LinkedIn Sales Navigator: The Follow Signal

Sales Navigator reveals buried growth before revenue does.

Watch for this pattern:

• A lead opens your message
• Doesn’t reply
• Consumes another piece of content
• Saves your account or company
• Still takes no action

That’s not disinterest. That’s a buried next step.

The signal is saying: “I’m interested. I just don’t see the path.”

Your job isn’t more persuasion. It’s uncovering motion.

The Segment Most Teams Miss is the one waiting for direction.

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 Segment Sage Resources: 

Audience Positioning Worksheet! Download Now

Fix Your Funnel: 5-Step Guide To Converting Traffic Into Sales! Download Now

Become The Creator You'd Target Action Plan! Download Now

AI Targeting Cheat Sheet: The Best AI Tools for Smarter Segmentation!  Download Now

Smart Segmentation Matrix! Download Now

Leadership Niche Segmentation Playbook! Download Now

Ready Buyer Targeting Framework! Download Now

Segment Alignment Worksheet! Download Now

Read past issues of Segment Sage.