What is NAICS?
NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) is a standardized, six-digit industry coding system used by governments and businesses across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to classify commercial establishments by their primary activity. In B2B sales development, NAICS codes power precise industry targeting, cleaner databases, and more effective prospect list-building and outbound campaigns.
Understanding NAICS in B2B Sales
Introduced in 1997 to replace the outdated SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) system, NAICS was built from the ground up to reflect the modern, service‑heavy economy and to improve cross‑border comparability. The system is reviewed and updated roughly every five years, with the most recent major revision being NAICS 2022, which refined sectors such as retail trade and information to better align with digital business models.bls.gov
In B2B sales development, NAICS is a foundational firmographic signal. Sales and revenue teams use NAICS codes to define and operationalize their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) by industry, segment territories, route leads, and build tightly targeted prospect lists. With 20 sectors and over 1,000 national industries, NAICS enables teams to distinguish, for example, between software publishers, data processing services, and IT consulting firms rather than treating them as a single “tech” bucket.osha.gov
Modern data providers and enrichment platforms attach NAICS (and often multiple candidate codes) to company records, which B2B SDR and RevOps teams then use to filter accounts, design verticalized sequences, and personalize messaging by business model. Detailed firmographic targeting powered by attributes like industry classification has been shown to drive significantly better outcomes, with companies using rich firmographic data for account targeting seeing up to 73% larger deal sizes and 70% more qualified leads.landbase.com
As account-based strategies have become mainstream-around 72% of B2B companies now use some form of ABM and 61% of marketers customize content for specific industries-NAICS has evolved from a compliance statistic to a practical sales weapon.learn.g2.com When embedded correctly into CRMs, data warehouses, and sequencing tools, NAICS codes enable highly focused outbound motions, cleaner reporting by vertical, and scalable personalization that directly improves connect rates, meeting rates, and pipeline quality.
Common Challenges
Inaccurate or Missing NAICS Codes
Many CRMs contain outdated, generic, or blank NAICS values-especially for SMBs or fast-evolving digital businesses. This degrades list quality and causes SDRs to prospect into the wrong segments, hurting connect rates and wasting time.
Companies That Don't Fit Cleanly into One Code
Modern companies often operate across multiple business models (e.g., software plus services plus marketplaces), but NAICS expects a primary activity. Choosing only one code can oversimplify complex businesses, resulting in misaligned messaging or the exclusion of strong-fit targets.
Version Mismatches Across Systems
Data vendors, internal databases, and government sources may be on different NAICS versions (2017 vs. 2022), creating discrepancies that break filters and reports. Without a clear mapping strategy, RevOps teams struggle to maintain consistent industry segmentation across tools.
Over-Reliance on Exact Codes in Narrow Segments
SDR teams sometimes filter only on a single, highly specific NAICS code, unintentionally excluding near-adjacent industries that share the same buying triggers. This over-precision shrinks TAM and can materially reduce the number of high-quality prospects available for outbound.
Data Decay and Provider Discrepancies
Company activities and revenue mix change faster than many databases are updated, and different providers may assign different NAICS codes to the same company. SDRs who treat NAICS as absolute truth instead of a strong signal risk misclassifying targets and misrouting valuable accounts.
Key Statistics
Best Practices
Define Your ICP with NAICS Ranges, Not Single Codes
Group related NAICS codes into logical clusters (e.g., B2B software publishers, IT consulting, and data processing) that match your product's value proposition. This keeps targeting focused while leaving room to test adjacent industries that might respond well to your offer.
Use Multiple Data Sources and a Primary/Secondary Code Model
Combine NAICS from your primary data provider with enrichment from secondary tools and manual validation on top accounts. Store one primary NAICS code for routing and reporting, but keep secondary codes when a company spans multiple relevant activities.
Operationalize NAICS in Your CRM and Sequences
Don't stop at tagging accounts-add NAICS-based fields to views, routing rules, and sequence enrollment criteria. Create industry-specific email templates, call scripts, and cadences keyed off NAICS clusters so SDRs automatically use the right messaging for each vertical.
Regularly Audit and Refresh Industry Data
Schedule quarterly or biannual audits of NAICS fields for your top accounts and highest-value segments. Use enrichment tools and SDR research to correct misclassifications and keep your firmographic foundation aligned with how targets actually make money.
Align Sales, Marketing, and RevOps on a Shared NAICS Taxonomy
Document which NAICS codes define each strategic segment (e.g., core, experimental, excluded) and socialize this with SDRs, AEs, and marketers. A shared taxonomy avoids channel conflicts, supports cleaner ABM lists, and makes performance data by industry trustworthy.
Pair NAICS with Other Firmographics and Intent
Use NAICS in combination with company size, tech stack, and intent signals to prioritize accounts most likely to convert. This layered approach prevents over-simplifying decisions based solely on industry and drives better pipeline efficiency.
Expert Tips
Start with Closed-Won Analysis by NAICS
Export your last 12-24 months of closed-won deals and group them by NAICS to see where win rates, ACV, and sales cycles are strongest. Use these insights to refine your ICP and prioritize NAICS clusters that historically produce the best economics.
Build Vertical Playbooks per NAICS Cluster
For your top 3-5 NAICS-defined segments, create concise playbooks that include common pains, competitor landscape, case studies, and objection handling. Train SDRs to reference these playbooks on every call and in every email so your outreach feels deeply industry-aware.
Use NAICS for Smart Territory and SDR Specialization
Assign SDRs to vertical-based territories defined by NAICS groups rather than purely geographic regions. Specialization allows reps to quickly learn the language, buying committees, and triggers in their industries, which usually translates into higher conversion rates and better conversations.
Validate NAICS on High-Value Accounts Manually
For Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts, have SDRs or RevOps validate NAICS codes using the company's website, 10-Ks, or product pages. Correct any misclassifications in your CRM-this manual QA on a small subset of accounts can dramatically improve the accuracy of reporting and targeting.
Pair NAICS Filters with Intent and Tech Signals
When building outbound lists, intersect NAICS segments with buying signals like hiring spikes, new funding, or specific technologies in use. This combination ensures you're not only targeting the right industries, but also accounts with active projects and budget.
Related Tools & Resources
Salesforce
A leading CRM platform where NAICS codes can be stored at the account level, driving industry-based segmentation, routing, and reporting for SDR and AE teams.
HubSpot Sales Hub
CRM and sales engagement platform that supports custom fields for NAICS and other firmographics, enabling filtered views, workflows, and targeted sequences by industry.
ZoomInfo
B2B data platform that provides company records enriched with NAICS and related firmographic attributes, feeding accurate industry data into sales and marketing systems.
Apollo.io
Sales intelligence and engagement tool that combines contact data with firmographics like NAICS, allowing SDRs to build tightly filtered outbound lists and run multichannel sequences.
Clearbit
Data enrichment platform that appends firmographic fields, including industry categorizations, to CRM and marketing automation records for better segmentation and scoring.
Salesloft
Sales engagement platform with dialing capabilities where SDRs can build call lists filtered by NAICS-based segments and execute industry-specific cadences.
Partner with SalesHive for NAICS
Our US- and Philippines-based SDR teams use these NAICS-driven segments to run tailored campaigns, supported by AI-powered tools like eMod for industry-specific email personalization. Because SalesHive has booked 100,000+ meetings for 1,500+ clients, we’ve seen what works across dozens of sectors and can quickly identify the NAICS-defined niches where your message resonates.
Instead of asking your internal team to wrestle with inconsistent industry data, SalesHive’s SDR outsourcing and list-building services handle enrichment, QA, and ongoing maintenance of NAICS codes. That means cleaner targeting, fewer wasted dials, and more meetings with the right buyers-without long-term contracts or risky upfront commitments.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is NAICS and why does it matter for B2B sales development?
NAICS is the standardized system for classifying businesses by industry across North America using six-digit codes. For B2B sales development, it matters because it underpins accurate firmographic segmentation-helping SDRs target the right industries, personalize messaging, and report on performance by vertical instead of relying on inconsistent free-text industry fields.
How do I find the right NAICS codes for my Ideal Customer Profile?
Start by analyzing your best current customers and identifying the NAICS codes attached to them in your CRM or data provider. Then, consult the official NAICS descriptions to confirm which codes truly reflect your buyers' primary activities and group them into a small set of core and adjacent clusters that define your ICP.
Should I rely on a single NAICS code or use multiple codes per account?
For reporting and routing, it's helpful to designate one primary NAICS code. However, many modern businesses span multiple activities, so storing additional secondary codes can preserve nuance. Use the primary code for dashboards and high-level segmentation, and secondary codes for advanced targeting or ABM lists where more context improves relevance.
How often should I update NAICS codes in my CRM?
At minimum, review NAICS data for your highest-value accounts and core segments once or twice per year, and whenever you switch data providers or add new markets. Because business models evolve and data decays, a recurring audit and enrichment process keeps your industry segmentation aligned with reality and prevents inaccurate reporting.
What's the difference between NAICS and SIC for sales use cases?
SIC is an older classification system with fewer categories and a structure that doesn't fully reflect modern service and technology industries. NAICS offers more granular, updated coverage and is now the standard used by most federal agencies and data providers, so it generally provides better alignment for B2B sales targeting and analytics.
How does NAICS support account-based marketing (ABM) programs?
ABM requires precise definition of target accounts and tailored messaging by segment. NAICS codes give teams a consistent way to define those target industries, build vertical-specific content, and measure ABM performance by segment. This is why a majority of ABM marketers now personalize content for specific industries and rely heavily on accurate firmographic data.