Targeting a new industry vertical — whether healthcare, legal, construction, or financial services — can be a smart move for MSPs. Specializing gives you stronger positioning, greater pricing power, and opportunities to deepen service offerings.
However, breaking into a new vertical comes with a real challenge: credibility. If you’ve never served that type of client before, how do you convince your first one to take a chance on you?
The key is learning to “talk the talk.” When you speak like an insider, ask the right questions, and show awareness of the industry’s unique pain points, prospects are far more likely to trust you even if you’re new to their world.
Here’s how to get there.
Study the Language of the Industry
Every industry has its own terms, acronyms, compliance standards, and workflows. These feel second nature to insiders but foreign to outsiders. If you can’t follow along, you’ll stick out. Worse, prospects may assume you don’t understand their business well enough to support it.
Spend time studying the vertical’s language. Look at trade publications, podcasts, LinkedIn groups, and association websites. Read the “About Us” pages of businesses in that vertical and note how they describe their work. Pay attention to the terminology they use to describe their challenges, goals, and priorities.
Your goal isn’t to fake expertise but to build familiarity. If your prospect says, “We need HIPAA-compliant data storage,” you should already know what that entails and why it matters. If you cannot fulfill the client request, partner with a local firm that can.
Learn the Top Business Pain Points
Don’t just focus on technology. Business owners want know about outcomes. To connect with a new vertical, you need to understand what stresses them out, what costs them money, and what keeps them up at night.
If you’re looking at law firms, think about billable hours, confidentiality, and uptime. For manufacturing companies, it’s likely operational efficiency, compliance, and machine uptime. For financial firms, it’s security, regulatory audits, and client data integrity.
Atul Bhagat
To make law firms the core of his MSPs strategy, Base Solutions LLC President and CEO Atul Bhagat needed to connect with legal professionals. “We had to adjust how we talked about our services,” he wrote in a recent article. “Most attorneys don’t care about technical jargon. They want to know how IT impacts their business.”
Once you know what they care about, you can map your services to those problems. That’s when your pitch shifts from, “We offer great IT support,” to, “We help law firms reduce downtime during court-critical deadlines.” That’s when you sound like a partner instead of a vendor.
Tailor Your Marketing Materials Before You Reach Out
Prior to running a campaign or reaching out to prospects, make sure your materials look like they were built for that industry vertical. This includes your website, sales presentations, proposals, and email language. A generic “We help businesses with IT” message won’t resonate.
Instead, build one-pagers or landing pages that reflect the vertical’s priorities. If available, include testimonials from similar industries, or at least showcase your understanding of the environment they operate in.
Even small adjustments can dramatically increase the likelihood of getting a first meeting. For example, use industry-specific language in your subject lines or pitch decks.
Build Credibility Through Associations
If you haven’t worked with a client in the vertical yet, borrow credibility from those who have. Join a relevant trade group or association. Attend their events and webinars. If possible, partner with a vendor or consultant who already serves that industry and can introduce you to others.
Jim Gast
“I got involved in industry organizations such as the American Bar Association (ABA), the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cincinnati Bar Association, and the Association of Legal Administrators,” said Jim Gast, president of SpliceNet Consulting, who also built a vertically oriented MSP in the legal industry. “I also talked to lawyers about their processes and practices, and asked questions like:, ‘How does a trial work?’ and, ‘What is a motion for summary judgment?'”
You can also write thought leadership content like blog posts, LinkedIn articles, or educational webinars on issues that matter to the vertical. Share insights on security, compliance, or efficiency framed in their language. This shows you are serious about learning and adds credibility, even if you’re still new to the space.
Ask Better Questions in Discovery
When you are in front of a prospect, make sure your questions reflect research. Don’t ask, “What kind of compliance issues do you face?” Instead, ask, “How are you currently handling your SOC 2 compliance reporting?” or, “Do you manage PCI in-house or with a third party?”
A few well-phrased questions that show familiarity with their world will do more to earn trust than any generic sales pitch ever could.
Be Honest but Prepared
If a prospect asks, “Have you worked with other companies in our space?” and the honest answer is no, don’t panic. Respond truthfully. Acknowledge that you’re newer to the industry vertical but immediately pivot to the work you’ve done to understand their needs and the steps you’ve taken to be ready.
Here’s an example:
“We’re newer to serving architecture firms specifically, but we’ve studied the typical IT challenges in the space, including CAD performance, remote file sharing, and version control. We’ve mapped our existing processes to meet those requirements.”
That kind of answer shows initiative, transparency, and professionalism. Plus, it often earns respect.
Final Thoughts
Breaking into a new vertical is a matter of preparation, language, and empathy. Invest the time to learn how your target clients think, what they struggle with, and how to mirror their communication style. This way, you position yourself as a specialist before you even sign your first contract.
Don’t fake expertise. Rather, show that you care enough to do the work.
Next Steps
- Want more helpful guidance on this topic? Check out our Specialization and Verticalization Answer Center
- Have a question for our experts? Send it to editors@channelpronetwork.com
ChannelPro has created this resource to help busy MSPs streamline their decision-making process. This resource offers a starting point for evaluating key business choices, saving time and providing clarity. While this resource is designed to guide you through important considerations, we encourage you to seek more references and professional advice to ensure fully informed decisions.
Featured image: iStock
