Buying signals

A buying signal is something you can point to: a job post, a funding announcement, a new executive, a product launch, an expansion into a new country, a technology change. Each one suggests a new problem or a new budget. Signals matter in outbound because timing does much of the work; the same email lands differently with a team that is struggling with the problem this month than with one that solved it last year.

A signal is only useful when it is true and recent, so it should carry its source and its date. Signals are also better at choosing when and to whom to write than at filling the email: mentioning the signal is fine when it is public and relevant, but the message should still be about the reader's problem, not about the fact that you noticed them.