Signal based selling, step by step

01

What signal based selling is, and what it is not

It is a way of choosing who to contact this week and what to say. It is not a data product and not a new channel. You still send emails, make calls and write on LinkedIn; the difference is that each touch has a reason the buyer can check.

Marketing teams use the same idea for ads and campaigns; that is usually called signal based marketing. If you are unsure how events and topic research differ, read intent signals vs buying signals.

02

Why it works, and when it does not

It works because a buyer who has just opened a site, hired a leader or been given a deadline has a problem this month that they did not have last month. An email that names that event is easy to answer, because it is about them.

It does not work when the signal is common to every company that fits, when it fires long after the decision was made, or when you cannot find the person the event lands on. It also fails quietly when the team treats every signal as equal and never checks which ones lead to meetings.

03

The signal based selling workflow

1. Pick three to five signals from your own wins. Look at what changed at your recent customers in the months before they bought. Before you build anything on a signal, check it is real; the steps are in how to identify buying signals.
2. Write each signal as a play. One line each for the event, who it reaches, why it matters to them, and what you offer. The template is below.
3. Set up the watch. For each signal, name the source where it first appears and how often someone checks it. A signal no one looks at is a list, not a signal.
4. Match the event to an account. Keep only companies that fit your profile. If you work from a target account list, a signal moves an account up a tier for this month.
5. Find the person the event lands on. A new warehouse lands on operations, not the chief executive. Name the people in the buying committee who feel the change first.
6. Reach out while it is fresh. Name the event in the first line, say what usually follows it, and ask one easy question.
7. Log the outcome against the signal. Every touch carries the signal it came from, so you can compare signals later.

04

The signal play template

Write one play per signal. If you cannot fill in every line, the signal is not ready to act on.

SIGNAL PLAY
Signal name:
The event, written so it can be searched and dated:
Where it first appears (the source):
Who checks it, and how often:

Who it lands on (role):
Why it matters to them this month:
What usually follows it if nothing is done:

What we offer in response:
First line of the message:
The one question we ask:

How long the signal stays fresh:
Fit filters an account must pass first:
Owner:                    Start date:

Results (update monthly)
Accounts touched:    Replies:    Meetings:    Deals:

05

Writing outreach that names the signal

The event is the opening, not the pitch. Say what you saw and where, connect it to a problem that usually follows, and ask a question that is easy to answer. Leave out anything that sounds like surveillance: you read a public post, you did not track them.

An invented example. A company sells inventory software; the signal is a distributor opening a new warehouse.

Subject: the new Leeds site

Hi Sam,

Saw on your locations page that the Leeds warehouse opened this month.

When distributors go from three sites to four, stock usually starts living
in four spreadsheets, and the first sign is a trade customer told
"we have it, just not here".

Is a single view of stock across the sites on your list this quarter,
or is it handled already?

Alex

For more messages built this way, see the cold email templates, which include one for a trigger event.

06

Timing and signal stacking

A signal has a window. Too early and the company has not felt the problem; too late and someone else has solved it. Write the window into each play from what you have seen in your own deals, then check it against results.

Signal stacking means acting on an account when more than one event points the same way. It is stronger evidence than any single event, but it is also rarer, so use it to rank accounts, not to filter out everyone else.

A single trigger event at a good account is enough to act on. Waiting for three rarely helps.

07

How to measure signal based selling

Measure by signal, not just in total. A team can be doing well overall while one signal does all the work and two others waste time.

1. Accounts touched per signal. How often the signal fires among companies that fit.
2. Reply rate and meetings per signal. Whether the event makes people answer.
3. Time from signal to first touch. If it is weeks, the watch is too slow.
4. Deals per signal, over a quarter. The only number that decides whether a signal stays.

Review the plays every month. Drop a signal that fires often but gets no meetings, and narrow one that works on some accounts but not others.

08

Common signal based selling mistakes

09

The signal based selling checklist

10

Where to go next

New to the research side? Start with what sales prospecting is.