Signal-based selling: what it is and how to start
Signal-based selling: what it is and how to start
Your site records what each visit did: where it came from, what it looked at, whether it left its details. That's useful when you sell to thousands of people.
If you sell to a few dozen companies, that information says little. What matters doesn't happen on your site. It happens inside the company that could buy from you: it changed its finance manager, opened a warehouse, posted that it's hiring a head of logistics.
I call that a buying signal. What's known as signal-based selling is, simply, looking for customers by watching what changes in companies, instead of writing to an entire list.
This guide explains what counts as a signal, where to see the public ones in Chile and how to start this week with a spreadsheet. If you're not sure it applies to you, start with do you sell to many or to few?.
A site measures a person, a signal measures a company
The difference is what each piece of data is about:
| What your site records | A buying signal | |
|---|---|---|
| About whom | a person who visited | a named company |
| What it says | what they did on your site | what changed inside it |
| When it arrives | if the person finds you | when the change happens, whether you know the company or not |
The second is what's missing for someone who sells to few. A company may never have visited your site and be right in the month it needs what you do.
What counts as a signal
A signal is something that changed, not something the company is. "Has 200 employees" is a characteristic. "Hired its first finance manager a few weeks ago" is a signal.
To be useful it has to meet two conditions:
- It can be seen from outside. If only someone inside knows it, it's not a signal, it's inside information.
- It connects with what you sell. A funding round matters if your service helps a company that's about to grow. If not, it's noise.
The public signals most used in Chile
These are the eight I watch. The strength column is my judgment, not measured data: it says how much each tends to weigh, not how often it ends in a purchase.
| Signal | Where it shows | What it usually means | Strength (my judgment) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New CEO or finance manager | LinkedIn; material-event filings with the financial markets regulator if the company is regulated | someone new reviewing suppliers and costs | strong |
| Job postings in the area you serve | job boards, LinkedIn | there's a problem not yet solved | strong |
| Awarded public tender | Mercado Público | it won a contract and has to deliver it | strong |
| Funding round or awarded grant | business press, Corfo awards | there's new budget and pressure to grow | medium |
| New warehouse, branch or plant | building permits, press, the company's LinkedIn | operations are growing | medium |
| Large investment project | the environmental impact assessment system | planned spending ahead | medium |
| Incorporation or bylaw change | Diario Oficial | new company or restructuring | noisy |
| Postings that ask for a specific tool | job boards | a technology change is underway | noisy |
A job posting is among the most useful, and it's free. When a company posts that it's hiring a head of logistics, it's telling you what hurts.
One signal alone is noise
The most common mistake is chasing every change. If you call every company that changed managers, you're writing to an entire list again, just a shorter one.
What works is combining two. A company that changed its finance manager and is also hiring in that area is more likely to be in a moment than one that did only one of the two. I can't put a number on it: it's a judgment you refine in your own field.
The rule I use: two signals in the same company, the same month, are a moment.
How to start this week
With a spreadsheet, nothing to install.
One. Write your list of companies. If you sell to few, it fits on one sheet. If you don't have it yet, the article on many or few helps you build it.
Two. Pick three signals from the table that truly connect with what you sell. Not eight: three. Ask yourself what changes in a company right before it needs you.
Three. Once a week, check the three signals for each company on your list and note only what changed. Look at LinkedIn, a job board and the public source that fits your field.
Four. Write to the companies with a change, and say in the first line what you saw. A message that arrives the month the company changed something reads differently from one that arrives because it was your turn to call.
Doing it by hand takes time. It's the part most often neglected, because nobody asks for it. That's why it should be a process with a fixed day, not something you do when you remember.
What this is not
- It's not predicting who will buy. It's ordering whom to call first.
- It doesn't replace the conversation. The signal gives you a reason to write. The sale happens by talking.
- It's not sending more emails. It's sending fewer, to people who have a reason to read you.
- It doesn't work the same in every field. If your service doesn't connect to any change visible from outside, this way of selling helps you less.
Frequently asked questions
What is a buying signal?
Something that changed in a company that makes it more likely to buy from you now, and that you can see from outside: a manager change, a job posting, an awarded tender.
What is signal-based selling?
Looking for customers by watching what changes in companies, instead of writing to an entire list.
Do I need software for this?
Not to start. With a spreadsheet and a fixed slot each week you can check three signals for a list of 40 companies. Software helps when the list grows or when you already know which signals work for you.
How many signals should I watch?
Start with three. More signals don't give more information: they give more noise.
Does this work if I sell to thousands of customers?
Less. If you can't follow each potential customer, the average rules and you're better served by measuring your advertising.
Is it legal to use a company's public information?
The sources in this guide are public: job boards, Mercado Público, Diario Oficial, permits and the press. Before writing to a specific person, check your field's rules on commercial contact.
If you sell to few and want me to tell you which three signals I'd watch for your type of customer, see how we build a sales process around you. If you sell to many, scan your site for free and see what it measures today.