How to Validate a New Vertical Before Committing Headcount to It
Moving into a new vertical or buyer segment means testing an ICP you don’t have proof for yet. memoryBlue runs that test through live outbound — real conversations, real qualification — so you learn what resonates in the new vertical before hiring a team built around an unproven segment.
$2 bn+
Pipeline created for our clients in a year
15 days
Average time to first meeting
91%
Average meeting acceptance rate
650+
SDRs in-office receiving daily coaching
The Challenge of Vertical Expansion
Companies expanding into a new vertical or account tier describe a specific kind of pressure — proving out a segment fast, often across a large, unfamiliar universe of accounts:
- “Scaling outbound coverage to penetrate a large SLED and mid-market account base. Increasing meeting volume across a footprint of approximately 70,000 accounts.”
- “Rapidly capitalize on the exploding CMMC compliance opportunity across the Defense Industrial Base… expanding the target universe from thousands to ~80,000 companies.”
This differs from international expansion in one important way: the geography usually doesn’t change — the buyer persona, qualification criteria, and messaging do. That means a new vertical push needs its own testing ground, not a repurposed international playbook.
That’s exactly where we can help
memoryBlue Partnership
Live messaging tests, not guesswork
Fast coverage of large, unfamiliar account universes
Moving from a thousand-account footprint to tens of thousands without a proportional internal hiring lift.
Vertical-specific qualification criteria
Built and refined in real time as the new segment’s buying signals become clear.
A low-risk commitment
Before committing to a dedicated internal team or product investment around it.
Industries Where We Help
Break Into New Ground
We run new-vertical outbound across nearly every industry we work in — Cybersecurity, Professional Services, Big Data, Health Tech, AI, FinTech, Gov Tech, and more. Whether you’re a cybersecurity company moving into a new compliance-driven segment or a data company testing a mid-market motion for the first time, chances are we’ve already run a comparable playbook somewhere adjacent to where you’re headed.
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FAQs
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How is entering a new vertical different from international expansion?
International expansion changes geography while often keeping the same product and buyer. New-vertical expansion usually keeps the geography the same but changes the buyer persona, qualification criteria, and messaging — which means it needs its own proof points and testing approach rather than an international playbook.
How do you validate a new vertical without committing to a full internal build?
Through live outbound testing — running real conversations against the new ICP to see what messaging lands and what qualifies as a genuine opportunity, before deciding whether the segment warrants a dedicated internal team.
Can outsourced outbound cover a very large target account universe?
Yes — companies expanding into new verticals or account tiers often need to cover tens of thousands of accounts quickly. We’ve worked with companies targeting universes as large as 70,000-80,000 accounts in a single push, which is typically faster to stand up through an outsourced motion than through proportional internal hiring.
What happens to the qualification criteria once a new vertical proves out?
The criteria developed and refined during the test phase become the starting playbook for whatever team — outsourced or internal — takes the vertical forward long-term, rather than starting from a blank page.
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