Definition
A trigger event is something that happens at a company and creates a reason to buy now: a funding round, a new leader, an expansion, a new rule, a failed audit or a change of tools. It turns a company that merely fits into one with a dated, specific reason to take a call.
Why it matters when you sell B2B
Timing is most of B2B selling. The same email lands very differently the week after a company hires a new head of sales than a year before it. A trigger event gives you that timing, and it gives you something to say that is about them. Most lists of buying signals are trigger events. The hard part is telling which ones come before a purchase.
Firmographics tell you a company fits. A trigger event tells you why this month. Most good account based marketing lists need both.
A worked example
Say you sell employee onboarding software. Here are four events you might build a list on.
Four candidate trigger eventsExample
- 01A new head of people is hired. A new leader reviews tools in their first months.Strong
- 02An office opens in a new city. The new hires there all need onboarding.Strong
- 03A funding round is announced. Money and a hiring plan, but no named problem.Medium
- 04You launch a new feature. It happens to you, not to them.Not a trigger
The last row is the trap. A good trigger event recurs for the buyer: companies keep hiring new leaders and opening offices. An event that only recurs for you, like your launch, gives the buyer no reason to act.
Our approach to research starts by finding the events that came before real purchases, then looks for them every day.
Common mistakes
- 1Picking events that are easy to find. Funding news is easy to find. The question is whether it comes before purchases of what you sell.
- 2Acting too late. An event goes stale. Reach out while it is still true and still on the buyer's mind.
- 3Opening with the event alone. "Congratulations on the funding" is not a reason to talk. Connect the event to the problem it creates.
- 4Trusting one source. A reposted article can be months old. Check the date on the company's own record.
- 5Choosing events that happen to you. Your launch, your new feature and your price change are not the buyer's reasons.
Test a trigger event before you build a list on it
- Take ten recent customers.
- Look at the months before each one bought. Did the event appear for most of them?
- Check that it does not also appear for most companies that never bought.
- Decide how recent the event must be to count.
- Only then build the list.