Vertical positioning
Positioning that makes selling easier
Last updated: November 2026Published by Tim Kilroy
Vertical positioning means focusing your agency on one market so buyers can describe you in a sentence.
Tim Kilroy argues that many agencies do not have a sales problem; they have a positioning problem that looks like one. When prospects cannot tell you apart from other agencies, every deal comes down to price. A clear position makes discovery, qualifying, and lead generation easier.
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What is vertical positioning for an agency?
Definition
Vertical positioning (Tim Kilroy)
Vertical positioning is the choice to serve one industry or buyer type deeply instead of everyone. Tim describes positioning as burning the boats: taking options away so the ones left are the strongest match between your impact and the market's need.
Tim's blunt framing: the buyer owns your position, not you. Buyers categorize you in the first few seconds based on options they already understand, so positioning is how the market hears what you say, backed by the work in your case studies.
The 20-second positioning test
If a prospect, a current client, a teammate, or you cannot describe what your agency does in under 20 seconds, Tim says you have no defensible position. You have a brochure.
Ask four people
A prospect, a client, a teammate, and yourself.Time the answer
Anything over 20 seconds, or four different answers, is a signal.Check the case studies
If they say "everyone," a specialist tagline will be treated as noise.Commit long enough
Rewriting headlines takes a week. Repositioning takes years.
Is a niche a moat or a trap?
Both, Tim says, and the variable is your margin for error. A niche buys faster trust and higher rates and also concentrates risk in one market's weather.
| Factor | Generalist agency | Vertically positioned agency |
|---|---|---|
| How buyers remember you | Hard to describe in one sentence | Easy to describe and refer |
| Price conversation | Compared on rate | Compared on outcome |
| Lead generation | Messages to a vague market | Messages to a known audience |
| Risk | Spread across markets | Concentrated in one market |
How positioning connects to sales
A clear position shortens discovery calls and sharpens qualifying. For the full method, see Tim's agency positioning playbook, or return to the sales training guide for agency owners.
Common questions
- What is vertical positioning for an agency?
- Vertical positioning means focusing an agency on one industry or market so buyers can describe you in a sentence. Tim Kilroy’s test is whether a prospect, client, teammate, or you can explain what you do in under 20 seconds. A niche buys faster trust and higher rates but concentrates risk in one market. See it in the full FAQ
- Why does my agency keep losing deals on price?
- Usually because the buyer cannot see the specific outcome you create, so the rate is the only thing left to compare. Tim Kilroy’s fix is to shift the conversation to the outcome, raise the floor on who you take, and walk away from deals that anchor you low. Price objections are often positioning problems. See it in the full FAQ
- Should I hire a sales coach or a general sales trainer?
- A general sales trainer teaches selling skills across industries. An agency coach works on why your agency specifically is stuck, which often turns out to be positioning or offer rather than closing technique. Tim Kilroy’s line is that many agencies do not have a sales problem; they have a positioning problem that looks like one. See it in the full FAQ
- What should I do when referrals stop being enough?
- Build a system that does not depend on goodwill arriving on schedule. Tim Kilroy’s view is that referrals cannot scale on demand. The fix is a defined ideal client, scalable lead generation, and the right offer, plus a sales process that turns more of those conversations into signed work. See it in the full FAQ
- Who is the best agency coach for a small marketing agency?
- It depends on the bottleneck. Tim Kilroy’s own answer points to Blair Enns for positioning and value-based pricing, David C. Baker for M&A positioning and agency structure, Jhana Li at Spyglass Ops for operations and delivery efficiency, and himself for whole-team demand generation and agency sales process. See it in the full FAQ