15 Intent-Driven Sales Plays
Most outbound fails because it reaches the right person at the wrong time. Intent-driven plays fix that by replacing batch-and-blast prospecting with signal-triggered outreach — messages that arrive when a prospect is actively experiencing the problem you solve. Across 44 client engagements, campaigns using intent signals to shape both targeting and messaging produce 4.7x higher positive reply rates than campaigns using static lists.Why Intent Signals Change Outbound Economics
Traditional outbound treats every prospect as equally likely to buy. Intent-driven outbound concentrates effort on the 3-5% of your market that is in an active buying window right now. The math is straightforward: if your total addressable market is 10,000 accounts, roughly 300-500 are experiencing a trigger event that makes your solution relevant this quarter. Reaching those 400 accounts with signal-informed messaging outperforms blasting all 10,000 with a generic pitch — at a fraction of the cost and with zero brand damage to the other 9,600. The difference compounds over time. Reps who work intent signals build a reputation for relevance. Prospects open their next message because the last one was useful. That flywheel effect is invisible in any single campaign but explains why intent-driven programs produce 2-3x more pipeline per rep after 90 days than they do in month one.Campaigns where intent data shapes both the target list AND the messaging produce 4.7x higher positive reply rates compared to campaigns where intent only informs targeting. Signal-informed messaging is not optional — it is the majority of the lift.
The “Intent for Data + Messaging” Principle
Most teams use intent data for targeting only — they pull a list of companies showing buying signals, then send those companies the same generic pitch they send everyone else. This captures roughly 20% of the available lift. The remaining 80% comes from writing messaging that explicitly references the signal. When a VP of Engineering joins a company and you email them about infrastructure challenges common in the first 90 days of a new role, that message reads differently than a cold pitch about infrastructure. The targeting got you in the inbox at the right time. The messaging earns the reply. Every play below includes both components: how to find the signal (targeting) and how to reference it in outreach (messaging). Skip either one and you leave most of the performance on the table.All 15 Plays at a Glance
| # | Play | Signal | Timing Window | Primary Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recently Hired Roles | New VP/CXO appointment | 30-60 days post-start | Sales Navigator “Changed jobs” |
| 2 | Recently Funded Startups | Series A/B/C announcement | 2-8 weeks post-close | Crunchbase, PitchBook |
| 3 | Companies Running Ads | Active paid ad spend | Ongoing (while spending) | SpyFu, SEMrush |
| 4 | Tech Stack Changes | New tool adoption or removal | 1-3 months post-change | BuiltWith, Wappalyzer |
| 5 | Hiring for Specific Roles | Job postings in your category | While listing is active | Sales Navigator “Company is hiring” |
| 6 | Competitor Customer Targeting | Using a competing product | Evergreen | G2 reviews, follower lists |
| 7 | Website Visitor Outreach | Anonymous site visit | Within hours | De-anonymization tools (RB2B, Clearbit Reveal) |
| 8 | Revenue Reactivation | Dead or stalled pipeline | Evergreen (re-trigger quarterly) | Your CRM |
| 9 | Content Engagement Targeting | LinkedIn post engagement | Within 3-7 days | Post analytics, Shield |
| 10 | Partnership Engine | Adjacent provider relationships | Evergreen | Manual research, integrations pages |
| 11 | Earnings Miss / Weak Quarter | Public revenue decline or missed targets | 7-14 days post-report | SEC filings, earnings call transcripts |
| 12 | Contract Renewal Window | Approaching vendor renewal date | 60-90 days before renewal | Industry cycles, insider knowledge |
| 13 | Expansion or Relocation | New office, market entry, geographic expansion | 30-60 days post-announcement | Google Alerts, press releases |
| 14 | Leadership Departure | Key executive exit or layoff wave | 7-21 days post-departure | LinkedIn alerts, industry news |
| 15 | Regulatory or Compliance Shift | New legislation or mandate affecting prospect’s industry | Track effective dates | Industry news, government databases |
The 15 Plays — Detailed Breakdowns
Play 1: Recently Hired Roles
Play 1: Recently Hired Roles
Signal: A new VP, Director, or C-level executive joins a company in your ICP.Why it works: New leaders have no loyalty to incumbent vendors, need quick wins to prove their value, and are actively evaluating every tool and process they inherit. The first 60 days are when they form opinions about what stays and what goes. A message that acknowledges their transition and offers relevant insight lands in an environment of active decision-making — not status quo protection.Timing window: 30-60 days after their start date. Earlier than 30 days and they are still onboarding. Later than 60 days and they have already formed their vendor shortlist.Source: LinkedIn Sales Navigator “Changed jobs” filter. Set alerts for your target titles within your ICP industries. Check weekly and batch outreach in cohorts.Targeting method: Filter Sales Navigator for title changes in the past 30-90 days within your ICP. Cross-reference with the company’s current tech stack (BuiltWith) and recent job postings to gauge which areas the new hire is likely to prioritize.Messaging angle: Reference their new role directly. Frame your outreach around what leaders in this role typically evaluate in their first 90 days. Lead with a relevant insight or case study from a similar company — not a product pitch. Example framing: “Most new [title]s at [company stage] companies find that [specific inherited problem] is consuming 20-30% of the team’s bandwidth. We helped [similar company] cut that to under 5% in 6 weeks.”Key metric: New-hire campaigns consistently produce 2.1x higher reply rates than cold campaigns to the same titles at stable companies, because the prospect is already in evaluation mode.
Play 2: Recently Funded Startups
Play 2: Recently Funded Startups
Signal: Company closes a Series A, B, or C round.Why it works: Funded companies have three simultaneous pressures: investor expectations for growth, cash that needs deploying against a plan, and a compressed timeline to hit milestones before the next raise. They are actively looking for vendors who can accelerate execution. The window is narrow because every funded company gets flooded with outreach — reaching them with a signal-specific message in the first 2-3 weeks separates you from the noise.Timing window: 2-8 weeks post-announcement. Weeks 1-2 are ideal for first touch. By week 8, they have already committed most discretionary budget.Source: Crunchbase alerts, PitchBook, TechCrunch, and LinkedIn posts from founders celebrating the raise. Set up Crunchbase Pro alerts for your ICP filters (industry, employee count, funding stage) to get notifications within 24 hours of a round closing.Targeting method: Filter for companies that match your ICP profile AND just raised at a stage where your solution becomes relevant. A Series A SaaS company has different needs than a Series C infrastructure company. Match the funding stage to the maturity of problems you solve.Messaging angle: Do not lead with “Congrats on the raise” — every vendor in their inbox is saying that. Instead, reference a specific challenge that companies at this stage face and that the funding enables them to address. Example: “Series B is usually when [ICP type] companies discover their [process you improve] breaks at 50+ reps. [Similar client] hit that wall 4 months after their B and we helped them rebuild it in 6 weeks.”Key metric: Funded-startup campaigns produce meetings at 40-60% lower cost-per-meeting than broad ICP campaigns because the signal pre-qualifies both need and budget.
Play 3: Companies Running Ads
Play 3: Companies Running Ads
Signal: Company is actively spending on paid search, paid social, or display advertising.Why it works: Active ad spend is a proxy for two things — the company has marketing budget, and they are investing in demand generation. If you sell anything adjacent to marketing, sales, or growth, this signal confirms they are in growth mode and spending money to get there. It also reveals their positioning, target keywords, and competitive landscape — all of which you can reference in outreach.Timing window: Ongoing. Unlike one-time events, ad spend is a continuous signal. Monitor monthly and refresh targeting when spend patterns change (new campaigns, new keywords, significant budget increases).Source: SpyFu (paid search intelligence), SEMrush (paid and organic competitive data), Meta Ad Library (social ad creative), and LinkedIn Ad Library. SpyFu specifically shows estimated monthly spend, keyword targets, and ad copy — all usable in outreach personalization.Targeting method: Identify companies in your ICP spending on keywords related to the problem you solve. A company bidding on “enterprise sales engagement platform” is actively evaluating that category. A company spending $15K/month on paid search for lead generation keywords has a proven marketing budget and a growth mandate.Messaging angle: Reference their ad strategy without being creepy. Example: “I noticed [Company] is investing heavily in [category] — [similar client] was doing the same thing when they realized [insight about the limitation of that approach alone]. Adding [your approach] alongside their paid program increased qualified pipeline by 38% in 90 days.” The key is positioning your solution as a complement to their existing investment, not a replacement.Key metric: Companies with active ad spend convert from cold outreach to meeting at 1.8x the rate of companies with no visible marketing spend, because the ad budget signals both intent and available resources.
Play 4: Tech Stack Changes
Play 4: Tech Stack Changes
Signal: Company adopts, removes, or switches a technology product in a category related to your solution.Why it works: Tech stack changes indicate active problem-solving. A company that just adopted HubSpot is investing in inbound marketing. A company that just dropped Outreach is evaluating new sales engagement tools. A company that added Snowflake is building a data infrastructure. Each of these changes creates adjacent needs and signals a willingness to evaluate and buy new tools. The implementation period is also when frustrations with gaps in the new tool are highest — creating an opening for complementary solutions.Timing window: 1-3 months post-change. Early enough that implementation challenges are fresh, late enough that they have identified the gaps the new tool does not fill.Source: BuiltWith and Wappalyzer for web-facing technologies. HG Insights and Slintel for broader enterprise tech stack data. LinkedIn job postings mentioning specific tools reveal internal adoption even before external detection.Targeting method: Set alerts for companies adding or removing specific technologies. Map each detectable change to the problem it creates or the need it signals. Build segmented campaigns around each technology change — “companies that recently adopted Salesforce” is a different conversation than “companies that recently dropped Salesforce.”Messaging angle: Reference the specific technology change and connect it to a challenge that change typically creates. Example: “Teams that move to [new tool] in Q1 usually discover by Q2 that [specific gap your solution fills] becomes the bottleneck. We built [solution] specifically for that transition — [similar client] cut their integration timeline from 4 months to 6 weeks.” Never position the technology change as a mistake. Frame your outreach as helping them get maximum value from their investment.Key metric: Tech-stack-change campaigns generate 2.4x more meetings per 1,000 contacts than static ICP lists because the signal pre-qualifies both need and technical environment fit.
Play 5: Hiring for Specific Roles
Play 5: Hiring for Specific Roles
Signal: Company posts job openings in a function related to your solution.Why it works: Job postings are one of the highest-fidelity intent signals available. A company hiring three SDRs needs sales infrastructure. A company hiring a Head of Data Engineering needs data tools. A company hiring a CISO has a security mandate. The job posting itself often contains details about their current stack, pain points, and priorities — because the JD has to describe the role’s challenges to attract candidates. That detail becomes your outreach personalization.Timing window: While the listing is active. The hiring need indicates an active initiative. Once the role is filled, the signal weakens (though you can pivot to the “recently hired” play above).Source: Sales Navigator “Company is hiring” filter, LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, and Greenhouse/Lever job boards. Sales Navigator lets you filter by job function and seniority within your saved ICP lists, which is the fastest path to a qualified signal list.Targeting method: Search for job postings that describe responsibilities or tools directly related to your solution. Read the actual JD — it often contains more useful intelligence than the company’s marketing site. If a JD says “manage our transition from Marketo to HubSpot,” that is a more actionable signal than “Marketing Manager opening.”Messaging angle: Do not reference the job posting directly (it can feel invasive). Instead, reference the initiative the posting implies. Example: “Companies scaling their SDR team from 5 to 15 reps usually hit a wall with [problem you solve] around month 3. We helped [similar company] avoid that by [specific approach], which kept their ramp time at 21 days even as they tripled headcount.” The JD gives you the intelligence; your message demonstrates understanding of the challenge without revealing your source.Key metric: Hiring-signal campaigns produce 35% higher meeting conversion rates than title-matched cold outreach because the signal confirms active investment in the function you serve.
Play 6: Competitor Customer Targeting
Play 6: Competitor Customer Targeting
Signal: Prospect is currently using a competing product.Why it works: Competitor customers have already bought the category. They understand the problem, have budget allocated, and have experience with the limitations of at least one solution. You are not educating them on why they need what you sell — you are explaining why your approach solves the specific frustrations they already have. This shortens sales cycles by 30-45% compared to prospects evaluating the category for the first time.Timing window: Evergreen, but peaks around contract renewal periods (often annual) and after the competitor ships a controversial update, raises prices, or experiences a public failure.Source: G2 and Capterra reviews (filter by competitor name to find reviewers and their companies). LinkedIn competitor follower lists and engagement on competitor posts. BuiltWith for web-based tools. Customer logos on competitor websites. Case studies published by competitors reveal their client roster.Targeting method: Build a list of confirmed competitor customers. Segment by company size and industry to match messaging to their likely pain points. Monitor G2 reviews for negative feedback themes — these become your outreach angles. If 40% of negative reviews mention “poor reporting,” that is your message.Messaging angle: Never trash the competitor directly. Instead, reference the specific limitation that competitor users commonly experience and position your approach as the solution to that specific gap. Example: “A lot of [competitor] users we talk to mention that [specific limitation from G2 reviews] becomes a bottleneck once they scale past [threshold]. We built [feature/approach] specifically to solve that — [similar client] switched and saw [specific result] in the first 60 days.” Respect for the competitor builds credibility. Specificity about the gap builds interest.Key metric: Competitor-displacement campaigns achieve 22% higher close rates than net-new category campaigns because the prospect already has budget, internal buy-in, and category understanding.
Play 7: Website Visitor Outreach
Play 7: Website Visitor Outreach
Signal: An anonymous visitor from a target account visits your website.Why it works: Someone at that company actively searched for or clicked through to your site. That is the highest-intent digital signal available outside of a form fill. They already know you exist and are evaluating whether to engage. Outreach that arrives within hours of the visit catches them while your solution is still on their mind — before they move down a competitor’s funnel instead.Timing window: Within hours. Website visit intent decays rapidly. A visit on Monday morning is stale by Tuesday afternoon. Batch daily and send outreach the same business day when possible. Within 2-4 hours is ideal.Source: De-anonymization tools like RB2B, Clearbit Reveal, Leadfeeder, or Dealfront. These tools match anonymous IP traffic to company names (and sometimes individual contacts). Accuracy varies — RB2B and Clearbit Reveal tend to have the highest match rates for North American traffic at 20-30% of visits identified to account level.Targeting method: Set up real-time alerts for visits from accounts matching your ICP. Filter out single-page bounces — focus on visitors who viewed 2 or more pages, spent more than 60 seconds on site, or visited high-intent pages (pricing, case studies, integration docs). Match the identified company to a specific contact using Sales Navigator.Messaging angle: Do not reference the website visit. That crosses the line from relevant to surveillance. Instead, time your outreach to coincide with the visit and lead with a relevant insight or case study. The visitor already demonstrated interest — your message just needs to give them a reason to respond. Example: “We work with a lot of [their industry] companies on [problem your site addresses] — [similar client] saw [specific result]. Worth a 15-minute conversation to see if that applies to [Company]?”Key metric: Website-visitor outreach converts to meetings at 3-5x the rate of cold outreach to the same titles and companies, because the prospect has self-selected into your funnel before you even reach out.
Play 8: Revenue Reactivation
Play 8: Revenue Reactivation
Signal: Deals that went dark, churned customers, or prospects who engaged but never closed.Why it works: These contacts already know who you are, understood your value proposition at some point, and had a reason they did not buy. Circumstances change — budgets get approved, priorities shift, the champion who left gets replaced by someone with the same problem. Reactivation campaigns cost 60-70% less per meeting than net-new outbound because the education phase is already done. The conversion rate from reactivated pipeline to closed-won is 15-20% higher than first-touch pipeline because of pre-existing familiarity.Timing window: Evergreen, but run quarterly re-engagement sweeps. Deals that went dark 90-180 days ago are the sweet spot — long enough that their situation may have changed, recent enough that they remember you.Source: Your CRM. Pull closed-lost deals, opportunities stuck in early stages for more than 90 days, and churned accounts. Segment by loss reason — “budget” reactivations need different messaging than “chose competitor” reactivations.Targeting method: Segment dead pipeline into cohorts: lost to competitor, lost to no-decision, lost to budget, churned after purchase, and engaged-but-never-converted. Write different sequences for each cohort because the objection you need to overcome is different. Cross-reference with current trigger events — a company that said “no budget” six months ago and just raised a Series B is a high-priority reactivation target.Messaging angle: Acknowledge the history without being awkward. Example for lost-to-budget: “When we last spoke, timing was the issue — totally understood. A few things have changed on our end since then: [new feature, new case study, new pricing]. If [original pain point] is still on the radar, worth a fresh 15 minutes?” Example for lost-to-competitor: “I know you went with [competitor] — curious how it is going 6 months in. We have been hearing from a few [competitor] customers about [specific limitation], and we built [new capability] specifically for that. Open to a quick comparison?”Key metric: Reactivation campaigns produce meetings at 85-120 for net-new cold outbound, making them the highest-ROI play in any outbound program.
Play 9: Content Engagement Targeting
Play 9: Content Engagement Targeting
Signal: A prospect likes, comments on, or shares a LinkedIn post relevant to your solution category.Why it works: Public engagement on category-relevant content is a voluntary interest signal. The prospect chose to associate their professional identity with that topic. It is a weaker signal than a website visit or job posting, but it provides a natural conversation opener that generic cold outreach lacks. The key is speed — engaging within 3-7 days of the interaction keeps the topic fresh.Timing window: Within 3-7 days of the engagement. Beyond 7 days, the connection between their engagement and your outreach becomes tenuous.Source: LinkedIn post analytics for your own content (track who engages with your posts). Shield App or AuthoredUp for more detailed engagement tracking. Sales Navigator for monitoring when saved leads engage with relevant content from others. Manually scan competitor posts and industry thought leader posts for your ICP titles engaging in comments.Targeting method: Track engagement on three content categories: your own posts, competitor posts, and industry thought leader posts on topics related to your solution. Prioritize commenters over likers (commenting requires more effort and signals deeper interest). Prioritize engagement on specific problem-focused posts over generic industry content.Messaging angle: Reference the content topic, not the engagement itself. Saying “I saw you liked my post” is fine for your own content, but feels like tracking for other people’s posts. Instead: “I have been writing a lot about [topic they engaged with] — particularly [specific angle]. Curious whether [question related to their company’s likely experience with this topic]?” For your own content: “Thanks for the comment on my [topic] post — you raised a great point about [their comment]. We actually ran into that exact issue with [client] and found that [insight]. Would you be open to comparing notes?”Key metric: Content-engagement outreach produces 1.6x higher connection acceptance rates on LinkedIn than cold outreach because the shared content creates a contextual bridge.
Play 10: Partnership Engine
Play 10: Partnership Engine
Signal: Companies that serve the same ICP with non-competing, adjacent solutions.Why it works: Partners are not prospects — they are force multipliers. One strong referral partner who serves 200 of your ideal accounts and trusts your work produces more qualified pipeline than 10,000 cold emails. The economics are compelling: partner-referred deals close at 2-3x the rate of cold outbound deals because the prospect enters the conversation with pre-established trust. This play builds a sustainable pipeline channel that compounds over time.Timing window: Evergreen, but initiate outreach when you identify a specific mutual fit. Seasonal peaks occur around annual planning (Q4) when partners are building their referral strategies for the next year.Source: Manual research of companies that complement your offering. Check integrations pages of tools your ICP uses. Identify agencies, consultants, and service providers who serve your ICP but do not compete with you. LinkedIn groups and industry communities where these adjacent providers participate.Targeting method: Map your ICP’s buying journey. Identify every vendor, consultant, and service provider they work with before, during, and after buying your type of solution. Those are your partner targets. Prioritize partners with the largest ICP overlap and the strongest client relationships. Start with 5-10 high-fit partners rather than 50 marginal ones.Messaging angle: Lead with value to THEIR clients, not to you. Example: “We keep running into situations where our clients at [ICP type] companies need [partner’s service] right after they implement [your solution]. I think there is a natural referral loop here — we send you the [service] work, you introduce us when clients mention [your problem space]. Worth a 20-minute call to map out how this could work?” Never lead with “I want your client list.” Lead with “here is how we can make each other’s clients more successful.”Key metric: Mature partner programs generate 15-25% of total pipeline at near-zero marginal cost. The median time from partner program launch to first partner-sourced closed deal is 90 days.
Play 11: Earnings Miss / Weak Quarter
Play 11: Earnings Miss / Weak Quarter
Signal: Public company reports revenue decline, missed guidance, or negative earnings surprise.Why it works: A weak quarter creates immediate internal pressure to reverse the trend. Executives face board scrutiny, shareholders demand a plan, and the status quo is no longer defensible. Solutions that reduce cost, accelerate revenue, or improve efficiency move from “nice to have” to “need to justify to the board.” The key is approaching with empathy and genuine strategic insight — not ambulance-chasing. Companies in this situation are evaluating every line item of spend. If you can credibly demonstrate ROI, the buying cycle compresses because the urgency is real and externally imposed.Timing window: 7-14 days post-earnings report. Fast enough to reach them while the internal post-mortem is active, but not so fast that you appear to be piling on.Source: SEC filings (10-Q and 10-K), earnings call transcripts (available on Seeking Alpha, The Motley Fool, or directly from IR pages), and financial news coverage. Set Google Alerts for “[company name] earnings miss” or “[company name] revenue decline” for your ICP accounts.Targeting method: Monitor publicly traded companies in your ICP for negative earnings surprises. Focus on companies where the miss is in an area your solution directly addresses — a company that missed revenue targets because of sales inefficiency is a better target for a sales tool than a company that missed because of supply chain issues. Read the earnings call transcript for specific language about what the company plans to change.Messaging angle: Never reference the miss directly in subject lines or opening lines — that reads as predatory. Instead, reference the strategic priority the miss created. Example: “I have been following [Company]‘s push to [priority mentioned in earnings call] — a few of our clients in [industry] faced a similar inflection point and found that [specific approach] moved the needle faster than [common alternative]. Happy to share what worked if it is useful.” Lead with insight and strategic awareness. Let them connect the dots to their earnings context.Key metric: Earnings-miss outreach to the right function converts at 2.8x the rate of baseline cold outreach, because the prospect’s organization is in active problem-solving mode with executive sponsorship for change.
Play 12: Contract Renewal Window
Play 12: Contract Renewal Window
Signal: Prospect approaching an annual renewal with a competitor or incumbent vendor.Why it works: Most enterprise contracts auto-renew 30-60 days before expiration if the customer does not actively opt out. The evaluation window is therefore 60-90 days before the renewal date — after that, inertia wins. If you reach a prospect during this window with a compelling reason to evaluate alternatives, you catch them at the one moment in their annual cycle when switching is logistically possible. Outside this window, even a superior solution cannot overcome the contractual lock-in.Timing window: 60-90 days before the likely renewal date. For most B2B SaaS, renewals are annual and cluster in Q4 (calendar year) or at the anniversary of the original purchase.Source: This is the hardest signal to source externally. Best methods: ask prospects during discovery calls when their current contract renews (and log it in your CRM). Estimate based on when the company first appeared on BuiltWith using the competitor’s technology. Track competitor pricing announcements — a price increase often triggers a wave of renewal evaluations. Industry-specific cycles (fiscal year-end procurement reviews) also help narrow the window.Targeting method: Build and maintain a “renewal calendar” in your CRM for every prospect where you know or can estimate the renewal date. Set automated alerts 90 days before each date. Combine with dissatisfaction signals (negative G2 reviews, support complaints on social media, job postings suggesting they are hiring to compensate for tool limitations).Messaging angle: Position around the evaluation itself, not the competitor. Example: “Most [ICP type] companies do an annual review of their [category] stack around this time of year. If that is on your radar, we just published a comparison framework that [number] of [industry] companies have used to benchmark their current setup against alternatives — happy to send it over.” Offer a decision-support resource (comparison guide, ROI calculator, benchmark data) rather than a direct pitch. Make it easy for them to include you in an evaluation they may already be conducting.Key metric: Renewal-window campaigns convert to evaluation conversations at 3.1x the rate of evergreen competitor-displacement outreach, because the prospect is already in a decision-making mindset with a contractual deadline.
Play 13: Expansion or Relocation
Play 13: Expansion or Relocation
Signal: Company announces a new office, enters a new market, or expands to a new geography.Why it works: Expansion signals a growth mandate with dedicated budget. New offices need infrastructure, services, and vendors. New markets require new go-to-market strategies, local partners, and operational support. The expansion announcement often precedes the actual procurement by 30-60 days, giving you a window to position before the company starts formal vendor evaluation. Expansion also creates organizational complexity that did not exist before — new compliance requirements, coordination across locations, and scaling challenges that your solution may address.Timing window: 30-60 days post-announcement. The announcement signals intent, but procurement decisions are made during the planning and implementation phases that follow.Source: Google Alerts for “[company name] expansion” or “[company name] new office.” Press releases and corporate blog posts. LinkedIn posts from executives announcing the expansion. Commercial real estate databases for office lease signings. Government filings for new business registrations in additional states or countries.Targeting method: Filter expansion announcements for companies in your ICP. Segment by expansion type — geographic expansion (new region/country), market expansion (new vertical or customer segment), and operational expansion (new office for existing team). Each type creates different needs and requires different messaging.Messaging angle: Reference the expansion and connect it to the specific scaling challenge your solution addresses. Example for geographic expansion: “Expanding into [region] usually means [specific compliance or operational challenge] — we helped [similar client] navigate that when they opened their [region] operation, cutting their setup timeline from 6 months to 8 weeks.” Example for market expansion: “Entering [new vertical] requires a different [function you support] playbook than what works in [their current vertical]. We have run [number] campaigns in [new vertical] and can share what we have seen work.”Key metric: Expansion-triggered outreach produces 1.9x higher meeting rates than standard cold outreach because the prospect has funded initiatives actively seeking vendor support.
Play 14: Leadership Departure
Play 14: Leadership Departure
Signal: Key executive or department leader leaves the company (voluntary departure, layoff, or restructuring).Why it works: Leadership departures create a cascade of effects: coverage gaps in decision-making, budget reallocation as priorities shift, vendor relationships that lose their internal champion, and incoming replacements who will reevaluate everything. If the departing leader was the champion for a competitor’s product, that product just lost its internal advocate. If the departure signals broader restructuring, budget may be freed up or redirected. The uncertainty following a departure makes organizations more receptive to new approaches because the status quo lost its defender.Timing window: 7-21 days post-departure for outreach to the interim decision-maker or their reports. 30-60 days for outreach to the replacement once hired (which transitions to Play 1: Recently Hired Roles).Source: LinkedIn alerts for role changes among saved contacts. Google Alerts for “[company name] [title] departs.” Industry news and press releases for C-suite departures. LinkedIn activity from the departing executive (announcing their move) and from their reports (congratulatory posts often confirm the departure timing).Targeting method: Monitor departures of titles that are your typical buyer or champion. When a departure is detected, identify two targets: the interim decision-maker (usually the departing person’s direct report or their manager) and, once hired, the replacement. Adjust messaging based on whether the departure was positive (promotion, new opportunity) or negative (layoff, restructuring).Messaging angle: For interim decision-makers: “With [name]‘s transition, your team is probably reassessing priorities for the quarter. A few companies in [industry] have used this kind of inflection point to [specific improvement you enable] — [client name] did it in 45 days and saw [result]. If that is on your radar, happy to share the playbook.” Never frame the departure negatively or speculatively. Treat it as a natural business transition that creates an opportunity to reevaluate and improve.Key metric: Leadership-departure outreach to interim decision-makers converts at 1.7x the rate of cold outreach to the same titles, because the organizational disruption creates a mandate for review that did not previously exist.
Play 15: Regulatory or Compliance Shift
Play 15: Regulatory or Compliance Shift
Signal: New legislation, regulation, or industry mandate affecting the prospect’s business.Why it works: Regulatory changes create non-discretionary spending. Unlike most buying decisions — which can be delayed, deprioritized, or killed by budget cuts — compliance mandates have hard deadlines and legal consequences for non-compliance. The budget exists because it has to. The timeline is compressed because the effective date is fixed. Companies affected by new regulations are actively seeking solutions, and the first vendors to reach them with credible compliance capabilities capture disproportionate market share because switching costs increase as the deadline approaches.Timing window: Start outreach when the regulation is announced or passed — even before the effective date. The planning and procurement phase happens months before compliance is required. Track effective dates and work backward: if a regulation takes effect in January, procurement decisions are being made in Q3 of the prior year.Source: Government databases (Federal Register for US regulations, EUR-Lex for EU). Industry trade associations that publish regulatory impact analyses. Legal news services. Google Alerts for regulation names and affected industries. LinkedIn thought leadership from compliance professionals discussing implementation challenges.Targeting method: Identify which of your ICP segments are affected by the regulation. Prioritize companies that are publicly behind on compliance (mentioned in industry reports or news articles) or companies in industries where the regulation creates the most operational disruption. Size matters — larger companies face more complex compliance implementations, which may favor your solution.Messaging angle: Position as a compliance enabler, not a fear-monger. Example: “With [regulation name] taking effect in [timeframe], most [industry] companies are evaluating how to [specific compliance requirement your solution addresses]. We have helped [number] companies meet [regulation] requirements ahead of deadline — [specific client] completed their implementation in [timeframe] and passed their first audit with zero findings. Happy to share their approach.” Lead with the specific compliance requirement and your track record of helping companies meet it. Urgency is built into the situation — you do not need to manufacture it.Key metric: Regulation-triggered outreach produces the shortest average sales cycle of any intent play — 40% shorter than standard cold outbound — because the buying timeline is externally imposed and non-negotiable.
Stacking Plays for Maximum Impact
Individual plays work. Stacked plays compound. When multiple signals fire on the same account simultaneously — for example, a company that just raised a Series B (Play 2), is hiring three SDRs (Play 5), AND recently adopted HubSpot (Play 4) — the conviction level justifies more aggressive outreach and higher-touch engagement.Monitor for Signal Overlap
Run your ICP list through multiple signal sources weekly. Flag any account that triggers two or more plays simultaneously. These become your Tier 1 priority accounts. In practice, 5-8% of your ICP will show multi-signal overlap in any given quarter.
Lead with the Strongest Signal
When stacking, open your outreach with the most specific, most recent signal. A funding round announced yesterday outranks a tech stack change detected last month. The most time-sensitive signal drives the opening; supporting signals add depth to follow-up messages.
Layer Signals Across Sequence Steps
Use one signal per message — never stack multiple triggers in a single email or LinkedIn message. That feels like surveillance. Instead, reference Signal A in message 1, Signal B in message 2, and so on. Each message adds a new reason to respond without overwhelming the prospect.
Escalate Multi-Signal Accounts
Accounts showing three or more simultaneous signals warrant multichannel outreach — LinkedIn plus email plus a phone attempt. The probability that a three-signal account is in an active buying window exceeds 60%, which justifies the additional effort and cost per touch.
Building Your Signal Infrastructure
Running intent plays at scale requires systems, not manual effort. Here is the minimum viable infrastructure:| Component | Tool Options | Function | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job change alerts | Sales Navigator, LinkedIn alerts | Plays 1, 5, 14 | 1-2 hours |
| Funding alerts | Crunchbase Pro, PitchBook | Play 2 | 30 minutes |
| Competitive intelligence | SpyFu, SEMrush, G2 | Plays 3, 6 | 1-2 hours |
| Technographic monitoring | BuiltWith, Wappalyzer | Play 4 | 1 hour |
| Website de-anonymization | RB2B, Clearbit Reveal, Leadfeeder | Play 7 | 2-3 hours |
| CRM pipeline reports | Salesforce, HubSpot | Play 8 | 1 hour |
| Social listening | Shield, AuthoredUp, native LinkedIn | Play 9 | 30 minutes |
| News and filing alerts | Google Alerts, SEC EDGAR | Plays 11, 13, 14, 15 | 1 hour |
How Outbound System Runs Intent Plays for Clients
We do not send clients a list and wish them luck. Our team monitors 11 of these 15 signal categories across every client engagement, routing qualified signals into live campaigns daily. The signal detection feeds directly into our cold email infrastructure and LinkedIn outbound system, where messages are written against the specific trigger — not pulled from a template library. For clients running our full multichannel program, intent signals determine which accounts enter which channel, which sequence they receive, and when escalation to phone or direct mail is warranted. The 4.7x reply rate lift is not theoretical — it is the measured difference across 44 client engagements between signal-informed campaigns and static-list campaigns running simultaneously.Cold Email Infrastructure
How we build and operate the email systems that deliver intent-triggered messages at scale — including deliverability, domain rotation, and copy frameworks.
LinkedIn Outbound Playbook
Our LinkedIn outreach system — connection strategy, messaging sequences, and how we integrate LinkedIn touches with email and phone across intent-triggered campaigns.
Multichannel Outbound System
The full orchestration layer — how intent signals route prospects into the right channel at the right time for maximum conversion.
Cold Email Benchmarks
What good looks like across reply rates, meeting rates, and cost-per-meeting — broken down by industry, company size, and campaign type.
Ready to Run Intent-Driven Outbound?
Most teams know these signals exist but lack the infrastructure to monitor them daily and the copywriting capacity to write signal-specific messaging at scale. That is exactly what we build. Book a strategy call to see which plays match your ICP and how quickly we can have signal-triggered campaigns live.How many intent signals should I monitor at once?
How many intent signals should I monitor at once?
Start with 2-3 that match your ICP’s most common buying triggers. For most B2B companies, recently hired roles (Play 1), revenue reactivation (Play 8), and competitor customer targeting (Play 6) offer the best combination of signal reliability and data availability. Add plays incrementally as your team builds the capacity to act on signals within the timing window — an unworked signal is worse than no signal, because it wastes the monitoring investment.
What is the difference between intent data and trigger events?
What is the difference between intent data and trigger events?
Intent data typically refers to aggregated behavioral signals — anonymous research activity, content consumption patterns, and topic-level interest scores from platforms like Bombora or 6sense. Trigger events are specific, observable business changes — a funding round, a new hire, a tech stack change. Both are valuable. Intent data tells you a company is researching your category. Trigger events tell you why they are researching it and when to reach out. The highest-performing outbound programs combine both: intent data for broad account prioritization, trigger events for precise timing and messaging.
How quickly do I need to act on a signal before it goes stale?
How quickly do I need to act on a signal before it goes stale?
It depends on the signal. Website visits decay within hours — act the same business day. Funding rounds and new hires have a 2-8 week window. Competitor customer status is evergreen. The timing windows listed for each play above represent the range where signal-informed outreach materially outperforms generic outreach. Outside those windows, you can still reference the event’s strategic implication (e.g., “growth-stage priorities” instead of “your recent Series B”), but the reply rate advantage diminishes by roughly 50% once the window closes.
Should I mention the trigger event directly in my outreach?
Should I mention the trigger event directly in my outreach?
For positive events — funding, awards, expansion, new hires — yes, a direct reference is natural and well-received. For negative events — earnings miss, layoffs, legal issues — never reference the event directly in subject lines or openers. Instead, reference the strategic priority the event created. Saying “congrats on the Series B” is fine. Saying “sorry about the layoffs” in a cold email is not. The rule of thumb: if you would feel comfortable saying it in person at a conference, it works in outreach. If it would make the conversation awkward, reference the implication instead.
Can I automate signal monitoring or does it require manual work?
Can I automate signal monitoring or does it require manual work?
Signal detection can be 70-80% automated using the tools listed in the infrastructure section — alerts from Sales Navigator, Crunchbase, Google Alerts, and BuiltWith run in the background and surface signals daily. The remaining 20-30% is qualification: confirming the signal is real, matching it to the right contact, and routing it to the correct play. That qualification step is where most teams underinvest, and it is where the quality of the outreach is determined. Automating detection and qualifying manually is the optimal balance for most teams under 10 reps.
What reply rate improvement should I expect from intent-driven outbound?
What reply rate improvement should I expect from intent-driven outbound?
Across 44 client engagements, campaigns using intent signals for both targeting and messaging produce 4.7x higher positive reply rates than static-list campaigns. Individual play performance varies: website visitor outreach (Play 7) produces the highest per-contact conversion but the lowest volume, while competitor customer targeting (Play 6) produces moderate conversion at high volume. Most clients see a 2-3x improvement in cost-per-meeting within the first 90 days of adding intent signals to their outbound program.
How do intent plays work with multichannel outbound?
How do intent plays work with multichannel outbound?
Intent signals determine channel routing. A website visitor who viewed your pricing page warrants an immediate phone call plus same-day email — high urgency, high intent. A company that recently adopted a complementary technology gets a LinkedIn-first approach with email follow-up — moderate urgency, discovery-focused. The signal type dictates not just the message but the channel, the sequence length, and the escalation path. Our multichannel outbound system orchestrates this routing automatically across all active plays.