Stack buying signals

Overview

A buying signal is a recent, public event that suggests a company may be ready to buy right now, such as a fresh funding round, a hiring surge, a new executive, or a competitor's tool showing up in the tools they use. Fit tells you who could buy, but a signal tells you who has a reason to buy this quarter. Leading with signals turns a big list of companies that could buy into a short list worth reaching out to this week, so the same message lands warmer and gets more replies.

The four families of signals

Landbase tracks dozens of events that sort into four families. You do not need to memorize the names. Just describe the event in natural language and the agent matches it to the right signal.

Funding and financial

Money moving in or around a company, such as a funding round, a new lead investor, fast revenue growth, an IPO, or an acquisition. These give a company budget and a reason to spend it, and they open a short window when new vendors get heard. A funding round is best to act on in the first 30 to 90 days.

Hiring and growth

A company adding people or expanding, such as a hiring surge, steady headcount growth, or a new location. The strongest of these is hiring for the exact role you sell to, which tells you a project is already underway.

Leadership and people moves

The decision-makers themselves change. A new executive arrives with a goal to hit and roughly 90 days to show a visible difference, so they are unusually open to new tools. The warmest signal of all is someone who already knows and likes your product showing up at a new company.

Tech adoption and churn

Changes in the tools a company uses. A newly added tool marks a budget decision just made. A competitor's tool in use is a chance to replace it. And a dropped tool leaves a gap and usually an active search for something new. Churn just means customers or tools leaving.

Combining signals with your ideal customer profile

A single signal returns a broad list, and most of it will not be a fit yet. Combining signals narrows the list to the overlap that matters. Start with your ideal customer profile, which is the kind of company you sell to, as the foundation, so everything you add already fits. Then add one signal that describes the company's current state, such as funding or growth, and one that captures a recent change, such as a new executive or a new tool.

Stop at two or three signals. Adding too many can shrink a list to nothing, so watch the count as each condition is applied and feel for the point where it gets too tight. If a combined list comes back empty, remove the least important signal first or widen the time window. Two combinations worth knowing: a competitor's tool plus a new executive is a classic setup for replacing that tool, and a funding round plus hiring for your role means budget plus a confirmed project.

Keeping the list fresh

Signals reflect what is true about a company today, so a signal-based list is most valuable when it is current. Re-sort by how recent and how strong each signal is, work the freshest companies first, and hold the quieter ones for later. Save a combined list so you can reuse it and re-run it as new events happen, rather than rebuilding it each time. A funding round is best to act on in the first 30 to 90 days, and a new executive is most open in roughly their first 90 days, so freshness is part of the targeting.

Prompts to try

Describe the event in natural language. You do not need the exact signal name.

B2B software companies that raised funding in the last 90 days

Mid-market fintechs that are hiring for sales operations roles

Companies that hired a new VP of Marketing in the last quarter

Series A SaaS companies that recently raised and are hiring go-to-market roles

Companies using a competitor's email tool that also hired a new VP of Sales in the last 90 days

Try it in Landbase

1. Choose one company you would like to win and find a recent buying signal for it, such as a funding round, a notable hire, or a change in the tools it uses.
2. Build a list of similar companies that share that signal and fit the kind of company you sell to.
3. Add a second signal to tighten the list, and watch the count as you do.
4. Notice how much warmer the result feels than a list built from basic company facts alone.