What is SIC Code?
A Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is a four‑digit industry identifier used to categorize businesses by their primary economic activity. In B2B sales development and list building, SIC codes provide a standardized way to group target accounts by industry so you can define your ideal customer profile (ICP), segment outreach, and scale prospecting across tools, markets, and SDR teams.
Understanding SIC Code in B2B Sales
In the context of B2B sales development, SIC codes function as a core firmographic attribute. They allow revenue teams to build lists of companies that operate in similar industries-such as software publishers, precision manufacturing, or healthcare services-so SDRs can tailor messaging, offers, and call scripts to the specific problems those segments face. Firmographic segmentation, which includes industry codes like SIC/NAICS, is one of the most widely used methods for B2B market segmentation and underpins most modern ICP frameworks. en.wikipedia.org
Over time, private data vendors such as Dun & Bradstreet and NAICS/SIC list providers have extended the original four-digit SIC system into six-, seven-, or eight-digit variants. These proprietary extensions create more granular categories (e.g., differentiating SaaS vs. on-premise software or various healthcare sub-specialties), which are valuable for account-based marketing (ABM) and highly targeted outbound campaigns. Even though the government no longer updates SIC, these commercial extensions keep the system relevant for go-to-market (GTM) teams. naics.com
Modern sales organizations typically use SIC codes alongside NAICS codes, company size, geography, tech stack, and other signals. A common workflow is to define the ICP at the SIC or NAICS level, pull a universe of accounts from data platforms, then enrich and score them before handing prioritized lists to SDRs. Accurate SIC classification also improves reporting-enabling revenue leaders to see which industries generate the highest conversion rates, shortest sales cycles, and largest deal sizes.
However, SIC-based targeting is not perfect. Many companies operate across multiple industries, and some databases assign inconsistent or outdated codes. Because B2B contact data can decay by more than 20-70% annually, organizations must regularly refresh and normalize SIC information to avoid wasted dials and emails. landbase.com Despite these challenges, SIC codes remain a foundational building block for B2B list building, outbound personalization, and scalable sales development operations.
Key Statistics
Best Practices
Combine SIC With NAICS and Other Firmographics
Don't use SIC in isolation. Map SIC to NAICS and layer in company size, geography, and tech stack so your ICP isn't defined only by industry label. This blended model improves list quality and gives SDRs more context for personalization.
Standardize Industry Coding Across Systems
Choose a primary classification scheme (e.g., NAICS internally with mapped SIC codes) and enforce it across your CRM, MAP, and data vendors. Maintain a central crosswalk table so new tools and imports can be normalized automatically instead of manually recoded.
Refresh and Enrich Regularly
Schedule quarterly or biannual enrichment to update SIC/NAICS codes, especially for high-value accounts and active opportunities. Pair enrichment with validation-spot-check segments for obvious misclassifications and correct them before launching large outbound waves.
Segment at the Right Level of Granularity
Use 2- or 3-digit groupings for high-level TAM analysis and 4-digit or extended codes for day-to-day outbound campaigns. Too broad and your messaging becomes generic; too narrow and your SDRs may not have enough accounts per segment to hit volume targets.
Align SDR Playbooks to SIC Segments
Create industry-specific call guides, email templates, and case studies mapped to your top SIC clusters. When a new prospect is tagged with a given SIC, your outbound platforms should automatically route them to the appropriate sequence and SDR specialization.
Measure Performance by Code and Iterate
Instrument dashboards that show reply rates, meeting rates, and pipeline by SIC or industry cluster. Use these insights to refine your ideal customer profile, adjust quotas by territory, and sunset underperforming segments.
Expert Tips
Start With Your Best Customers' SIC Codes
Export your closed-won accounts from the CRM and analyze their SIC (and NAICS) distribution before buying or building new lists. Focus early outbound on the top 5-10 SIC clusters where you already see strong win rates and use those as your baseline ICP.
Use SIC for Routing, Not Just Targeting
Go beyond list-building and route inbound and outbound accounts to SDRs based on industry clusters. Specialized reps who live in a handful of SIC-defined verticals ramp faster and deliver higher conversion because they can speak the industry's language fluently.
Pair SIC With Technographics for High-Intent Segments
Once you've filtered by the right SIC ranges, overlay technology stack and tool usage to isolate high-intent subsegments (e.g., SaaS companies using a specific CRM or cloud provider). This dramatically improves reply rates and meeting quality compared with SIC-only targeting.
Continuously Re-Score Industries Based on Results
Build a simple scoring model that ranks SIC segments by reply rate, opportunity rate, and ACV every quarter. Promote high-performing industries into focused ABM plays and demote underperformers so your SDR capacity isn't tied up in low-yield verticals.
Document Edge Cases and Coding Rules
Create an internal guide explaining how to classify tricky or hybrid businesses and which SIC-to-NAICS mappings your team recognizes. This avoids one-off decisions in spreadsheets and keeps your industry segmentation consistent as you scale SDR headcount and tools.
Related Tools & Resources
Salesforce
A leading CRM platform that stores SIC and NAICS codes at the account level, enabling industry-based segmentation, reporting, and territory management for B2B sales teams.
HubSpot CRM
A CRM and marketing automation platform where teams can capture, import, and segment contacts by SIC or NAICS codes for targeted outbound and lifecycle campaigns.
ZoomInfo
A B2B data platform providing company and contact data enriched with SIC/NAICS, revenue, and employee counts, widely used for building industry-specific outbound lists.
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B Hoovers)
A global data provider that assigns proprietary SIC extensions and maintains detailed firmographic profiles, helping organizations build risk-aware and industry-specific target account lists.
Apollo.io
A sales intelligence and engagement platform offering a large B2B contact database with industry codes, allowing SDRs to filter accounts by SIC/NAICS and launch outbound sequences.
Clearbit
A data enrichment tool that appends firmographic data-including industry classification-to leads and accounts, improving segmentation and personalization in CRMs and email tools.
Partner with SalesHive for SIC Code
Once the right SIC clusters are identified, SalesHive’s SDR outsourcing programs pair those segments with tailored messaging, multi-touch outbound sequences, and AI-powered email personalization through tools like our eMod engine. Industry tags from SIC/NAICS are used to power subject lines, talk tracks, and social proof that speak directly to each vertical’s pain points. Because there are no annual contracts and onboarding is risk-free, companies can quickly test new SIC-based segments, scale the ones that convert, and systematically turn firmographic insights into predictable pipeline.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a SIC code in B2B sales development?
In B2B sales development, a SIC code is a four-digit identifier used to categorize a company's primary industry. SDR and marketing teams rely on SIC codes to group accounts with similar business models so they can build targeted lists, design vertical-specific messaging, and analyze performance by industry segment.
What is the difference between SIC and NAICS, and which should my team use?
SIC is an older four-digit system, while NAICS is a newer six-digit system used by U.S., Canadian, and Mexican government agencies and is generally more detailed. bls.gov Most modern data providers support both, so the best approach is to pick one as your internal standard (often NAICS) and maintain a clear mapping to SIC for tools and vendors that still rely on it.
How accurate are SIC codes for targeting my ideal customers?
SIC codes are directionally accurate but not perfect. Some companies operate in multiple industries or are assigned inconsistent codes by different data providers, and firmographic data can decay quickly as businesses evolve. Treat SIC as a strong first-pass filter, then refine lists with additional criteria like company size, tech stack, and intent data.
Can I use SIC codes for account-based marketing (ABM)?
Yes. Many ABM programs start by defining target verticals at the SIC or NAICS level, then layering in account-level signals such as revenue, growth rate, and technology usage. Using SIC for ABM ensures your one-to-few and one-to-one campaigns focus on industries where your value proposition and case studies resonate most.
How often should we refresh SIC-based prospect lists?
Because B2B data decays rapidly-studies show contact and firmographic data can deteriorate at 22.5-70.3% annually-you should plan at least quarterly refresh cycles for active target accounts and semiannual updates for your broader database. landbase.com High-value verticals or ABM tiers may warrant monthly enrichment, especially during aggressive outbound pushes.
Where can I find SIC codes for my target companies?
You can obtain SIC codes from commercial data providers such as ZoomInfo, Dun & Bradstreet, and NAICS.com's company lookup tools, or by enriching your existing CRM records through data vendors. naics.com Many B2B lead generation partners, including SalesHive, also handle SIC-based list building and enrichment as part of their outbound programs.
