Signal Detection

This drill sets up ongoing monitoring for buying signals that indicate a prospect is more likely to convert right now. Signals include job changes, funding events, hiring activity, and technology adoption.

Prerequisites

• Clay account with webhook or scheduled enrichment capability
• Target account list loaded in Clay or Attio
• Understanding of which signals matter most for your ICP

Steps

1. Define your signal categories

Map signals to your ICP. The most common high-intent signals:

• Job changes: New VP/C-level hire in your buyer persona role (decision maker just arrived, budget unlocked)
• Funding events: Series A/B/C closed in last 90 days (new money, new priorities)
• Hiring signals: Posting 3+ roles in your product's domain (building a team, need tools)
• Technology signals: Adopted a complementary or competing tool (integration opportunity or displacement play)
• Content signals: Engaged with competitors or relevant industry content

2. Set up signal feeds in Clay

Using the clay-claygent fundamental, create Clay tables with automated enrichment that refresh on a schedule. For job changes: use LinkedIn or People Data Labs. For funding: use Crunchbase or PitchBook enrichment. For hiring: use job board scrapers. Set each to run daily or weekly depending on volume.

3. Configure alert thresholds

Not every signal deserves action. Set thresholds: a single job posting is noise; five engineering hires in a month is signal. A seed round is early; a Series B is prime. Score signals by recency (last 30 days strongest) and intensity (multiple signals from one account).

4. Route signals to action

When a signal fires, route it: high-score signals go directly into your outreach queue in Attio tagged with the signal type. Medium-score signals get added to a watch list. Use the attio-lists fundamental to create dynamic lists per signal type.

5. Craft signal-specific messaging

Each signal type gets its own outreach angle. Funding: congratulate and tie your product to their new goals. Job change: welcome to the role and offer relevant help. Hiring: point out how your tool supports the team they are building. Generic outreach wastes the signal.

6. Review and tune weekly

Every week, review which signals led to meetings and which were noise. Adjust thresholds, add new signal sources, and deprecate ones that don't convert. Track signal-to-meeting rate in PostHog.