Choosing a B2B vertical to focus on

Most B2B business owners I talk with understand the value of choosing a vertical for their business.

Many of them don't know how to do it.

Here's what I tell them: 👉 Start with your current book of business

1. Find one, two, or three current customer verticals with great retention and generate good revenue.

2. Confirm your sales and customer success teams like working with them

3. Consider whether YOU can get excited about working with them for a long period of time. (Having a personal connection to the vertical is a bonus)

The result is a short list of high-potential verticals worth investigating further.

The next step is testing your short list for fit.

BTW, if you don't have current clients yet that meet criteria 1-3 above, it may be too early to start worrying about verticalizing your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why start with the current book of business rather than researching new verticals from scratch?

Because real, existing patterns in the business already reveal where genuine strength and fit exist, providing a much more reliable starting point than guessing at an unfamiliar market from the outside.

What's the first criterion for identifying potential verticals from an existing client base?

Finding one, two, or three current customer verticals with great retention and good revenue, real evidence of where the business is already performing well, rather than assumption about where it might perform well.

Why does it matter whether sales and customer success teams actually enjoy working with a given vertical?

Because internal enjoyment reflects real day-to-day fit. A vertical that looks good on paper but is a poor experience for the team isn't sustainable in the same way one that's both profitable and genuinely enjoyable to serve would be.

Why does personal excitement about a vertical matter as much as the data?

Because sustained specialization requires genuine long-term interest, not just short-term data. A personal connection to the vertical is described as a bonus, adding staying power beyond what the numbers alone would suggest.

What if a business doesn't yet have clients meeting these three criteria?

Then it may be too early to start worrying about verticalizing the business. This strategy depends on having some existing evidence to work from, rather than being appropriate for a business still finding its footing entirely.