What is a buying signal?
A buying signal is a public event that suggests a company may be ready to buy. The short answer, one worked example and what it is not.
Outrun team2 min read
A buying signal is a public event that suggests a company may be ready to buy. Funding announcements are the classic example: money has arrived, and it will be spent on something.
It is a reason to get in touch, not a promise that anyone will buy. Treat it as a good excuse to write a relevant email, and nothing grander.
A worked example
A company announces a funding round. Its website says what it does, its announcement says what the money is for, and its team page says who works there.
From that, you can write a first line:
Saw the funding announcement and the plan to grow the team. Is [thing you sell] on your list for this year?
That is a buying signal doing its job. It gave you something true to say, and a reason to say it today.
What a buying signal is not
- Not a contact list. A list tells you who exists. A signal tells you why now.
- Not a score. A number out of 100 hides the one thing worth knowing: what actually happened.
- Not a guarantee. Plenty of companies with a signal will say no. You are improving your odds of a sensible conversation, not rigging them.
- Not a secret. Signals are public. The advantage comes from reading them, which is dull, and acting on them, which is human.
Common questions
Is a buying signal the same as a trigger event? Close enough that you can use either. Buying signal is the more common phrase in sales conversations.
Do I need software to find one? No. You can read the news and company announcements yourself. It takes time, which is the reason software exists.
What do I do once I have one? Find the right person, then write two or three sentences that mention the signal and ask one question.
How Outrun uses the idea
Funding rounds are one of the signals behind the leads in the digest, and every lead links to the source it came from.
Leads come with named contacts and a work email where we can find one, plus job titles and LinkedIn profiles where we have them. They arrive in a digest every weekday at 7am.
We do the boring research. You do the human bit.
Go deeper
Read the full guide: Buying signals: what they are and how to use one.
