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Contacting a prospect at the right time can increase response rates by a factor of 3 to 5. The right time is when a signal indicates that the prospect is in a phase of consideration or change. This is what’s known as a signal of intent.
What is a signal of intent?
A signal of intent is an observable event that indicates a prospect is potentially in the process of making a purchase or seeking a solution. Examples include raising funds, hiring a sales professional, publishing content about a problem you solve, visiting your website, or participating in a webinar.
Reaching out to a prospect who has just raised funds with a message about sales strategy isn't a matter of luck. It's a matter of method.
Signs to Watch for First and Foremost
Fundraising: a sign of growth, hiring, and investment in tools. Source: Crunchbase, LinkedIn, Maddyness.
Sales recruitment: An open position for an SDR, Account Executive, or Head of Sales indicates a need to structure the sales prospecting process. Source: LinkedIn Jobs, Welcome to the Jungle.
LinkedIn post addressing an issue: the prospect articulates their own need or challenge. Source: LinkedIn feed, LinkedIn alerts.
Changing jobs: A decision-maker who has just joined a new company is in the process of settling in. The first 90 days are the ideal window of opportunity. Source: LinkedIn notifications.
Website visits: A prospect who visits your pricing or services page without converting should be followed up with. Source: Clearbit Reveal, Albacross.
Workforce Growth: A company that grows from 20 to 50 employees in 6 months faces rapidly changing business needs. Source: LinkedIn, Societeinfo.
How to detect these signals automatically
Clay is the central tool for aggregating these signals. It connects to Crunchbase for funding rounds, LinkedIn for hiring and job changes, and RSS feeds for industry news.
Setting up a typical Clay alert: monitor all companies on the ICP list that have posted a job listing containing "SDR" or "sales" in the last 7 days. As soon as a company meets this criterion, Clay automatically pushes it to Lemlist and triggers the corresponding sequence.
"Automating Competitive Intelligence with AI" explains howto set up these automated monitoring feeds. And to structure the message that should accompany each alert, the prospecting email subject lines provide appropriate phrases for each type of event.
