Understanding Customer Buying Signals

I'm not investing in this company. But I wish more founders cold-pitched me like this. Last Thursday, a message landed in my LinkedIn inbox from Waseeq Ali. First line: UCL alum, previously exited founder, building B2B SaaS AI workflow for UK GPs, raising an angel round, SEIS-eligible, £XXk ARR in LOIs already signed. That was it the whole thing. No preamble.   Then he did three structured follow-ups over the next few days. First: context on their moat. Second: pitch deck and data room, unprompted. Third, four days later: "just to update you that I have a committed investor." So what made this good? Social proof first: His credentials are in the opening sentence, not buried in slide four. I receive 20+ inbound LI messages a day so I have to pattern-matching quickly. Give me the signals early. Don’t make me search for them. Showed traction: LOIs with a specific number. Not wishy-washy "strong pipeline" or similar. A figure = definitive evidence of traction. Scheme confirmation upfront: SEIS in the first message. Although it should never drive an investment decision for fellow UK angels, it’s worthwhile telling them. Every follow-up had new information vs repetition: No "just checking in". He made the most of every touch point; Momentum, materials, then a commitment signal. That's a sequence vs just spam. Most cold inbound I receive either opens with flattery or buries the key info in three paragraphs of market context. This did neither. If you're a founder preparing to raise I would study this structure, as the principles apply regardless of sector: Lead with credentials. Show evidence over assertion. Follow up with momentum rather than noise. Unfortunately can't invest in Waseeq's business because of a portfolio conflict, but I received his permission to share the above. Founders who pitch this well deserve to close quickly. I hope he does!

A sales rep just told me his deal was "90% likely to close this quarter." I asked him when the customer said they'd make a decision. He said "Well, they haven't given me an exact date, but they seem really interested." That's not 90%. That's ZERO percent. Your forecast is a lie because you're forecasting based on YOUR feelings instead of THEIR timeline. When buyers are ready to purchase, they tell you EXACTLY when they're deciding. They have board meetings. Budget cycles. Implementation deadlines. Real buyers say things like… "We need to decide by March 15th because our current contract expires April 1st." "The board meets on the 20th and this is on the agenda." "Our Q2 budget gets locked next Friday so we need to move fast." Fake opportunities sound like… "We're definitely interested." "This looks really promising." "We should move forward soon." Interest is not intent. Enthusiasm is not timeline. I started tracking this with our team 6 months ago. We created two fields in our CRM "Rep forecast date" (when the rep thinks it will close) "Customer decision date" (when the customer said they'll decide) Guess which one is accurate 80% of the time? Now we only forecast deals that have documented customer decision dates with EVIDENCE. "The CFO confirmed they need to decide by June 30th because their current vendor contract expires July 1st." If there's no customer decision date with proof, the deal doesn't belong in your forecast. Your pipeline is probably 60% wishful thinking right now. Stop forecasting hope. Start forecasting facts. — ♻️ Repost this if you've been burned by false forecasts Need help implementing systems that actually track what matters? See what we're doing at Skaled Consulting to help companies get accurate forecasting without the guesswork

There were times in my career when I thought silence was a sign of a healthy customer relationship. If there were no escalations, no complaints, and no urgent issues demanding attention, I assumed things were working exactly as they should. Of course, now I see all the flaws in that thinking. Silence is comfortable. It allows us to believe everything is fine and avoid difficult conversations. But the absence of problems is not the same as the presence of trust. Some of the customers I worried about most were the ones who challenged us regularly. They asked difficult questions, pushed back on our assumptions, and told us when we missed the mark. These customers were investing energy in the relationship because they believed their feedback mattered. The customers I should have paid closer attention to were often the quiet ones. They still attended meetings, responded to emails, and fulfilled their commitments, but the questions became less frequent and the challenges disappeared. What looked like satisfaction was withdrawal. People rarely stop speaking because everything is perfect. More often, they stop speaking because they no longer believe their voice will make a difference. Which of course brings some real relationship insights: 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 A customer can attend every meeting and still be disengaged. What matters is whether they are still investing themselves in the relationship. People who care contribute more than time; they contribute energy. When those signals begin to fade, it is time for a more honest conversation. The signals can look like this: * Asking thoughtful questions * Challenging assumptions * Bringing new ideas into the conversation 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 One of the most valuable questions I have learned to ask is: ‘If you were making the renewal decision today, what would hold you back from moving forward immediately?’ The answer often tells me more about the health of the relationship than a dozen status updates ever could. I have become less concerned by difficult feedback and more concerned by the absence of it. When concerns go unspoken, it is often because someone has already decided that raising them will not change anything. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 Some customers genuinely prefer a low-touch relationship. They are self-sufficient and do not need frequent interaction. But that is usually something you learn early. It should not become an explanation you create after engagement starts fading. What I have come to appreciate is that relationships rarely end suddenly. They weaken gradually, often long before the outcome becomes visible. Most leaders worry when people complain. I have become more concerned when they stop. Complaints mean they still care. Silence often means they don't.

In the high-stakes arena of #B2BSales, particularly when engaging the C-suite and Boards, "back of napkin math" is more than just a display of acumen – it's a potent catalyst for building #trust. Imagine a conversation where a senior leader articulates a critical business challenge, perhaps around CAC payback or share of wallet. The seller who can immediately and fluently grasp the underlying financial equation and articulate the potential impact of their solution, without missing a beat, speaks a language that resonates deeply. This isn't about complex modeling done offline; it's the agility to understand core drivers of their success and perform quick, insightful calculations within the flow of the conversation. For instance, if a Chief Revenue Officer (#CRO) mentions a goal of reducing customer churn, a seller with this skill can instantly frame the value of their solution in terms of retained revenue and lifetime customer value, demonstrating a tangible understanding of the CRO's priorities. This competence signals the seller not only listened - but also deeply comprehends which levers to use to solve the client problem. Why is this so crucial for building trust? Because it showcases several key elements that senior leaders value: Deep Understanding: The ability to perform this kind of rapid analysis demonstrates you've done your homework and truly understand their business model, challenges, and objectives. It moves you beyond being a mere vendor to a knowledge partner. #CustomerUnderstanding Intellectual Horsepower: It signals a sharp mind and the capacity to think strategically about their business. This builds confidence in your ability to deliver real value. #StrategicThinking Efficiency and Respect for Time: Senior executives are time-constrained. A seller who quickly gets to the heart of the financial implications respects this constraint and demonstrates a focus on outcomes. #TimeEfficiency Transparency: By engaging in these on-the-spot calculations, you reveal your underlying assumptions and logic, fostering a more transparent discussion. #TransparentCommunication Credibility: It elevates your status from a product peddler to a trusted advisor who speaks the language of business results. #TrustedAdvisor Think about it: when a seller can seamlessly weave in relevant financial implications – the potential ROI, payback period, impact on key KPIs – it’s not just data; it demonstrates commitment to the customer's success. It shows you're thinking beyond the product/service features and instead - are focusing on their strategic outcomes. To be clear - "Back of napkin math" isn't about being precisely accurate in real-time. It's about demonstrating a strong intuitive grasp of financial levers that matter to the customer and the ability to articulate value in their terms, instantly. This fluency builds a bridge of trust, making conversations more meaningful and impactful. #Gartner

This week on The Modern Customer Podcast, Megan Burns—a Fortune 500 advisor and keynote speaker with over 20 years of experience—joins me to share how she’s helped companies like Microsoft, Dow, Workday, FedEx, Akamai, DHL, Verizon, and AT&T build customer-centric cultures and deliver exceptional experiences at scale. Megan dives into the foundational role of trust in customer experience—and why it’s essential for building lasting relationships. She explains how companies can tackle the operational challenges that come with growth and align their teams to better meet customer needs. From measuring trust through transparency and reliability to creating a culture that prioritizes connection, this conversation is packed with practical insights. 🎧 Tune in now to learn how to make trust the cornerstone of your customer experience strategy—and empower your teams to deliver it!

I used to think personalization meant swapping the first name and job title. It doesn’t. And that gap is exactly why so much outreach from technical sales teams gets ignored. Buyers can tell the difference between a message that was customized and a message that was researched. Customized sounds like: “Hi Sarah, I saw you’re the VP of Operations at XYZ Company.” Researched sounds like: Saw you're expanding production capacity. That usually puts pressure on vendor reliability and uptime before procurement even gets involved." One sounds like a template. The other sounds like you did the homework That distinction matters for CEOs because poor outreach doesn’t just create a pipeline problem. It creates a positioning problem. When your sales team reaches out with shallow messaging, your company sounds like every other vendor in the market. And in technical sales, that’s dangerous. Your buyer is evaluating risk, complexity, timing, operational impact, implementation requirements, and long-term fit. The message has to show business understanding before the seller ever asks for a meeting. The problem is that real research takes time. And for technical sellers managing territories, accounts, product knowledge, customer issues, and long sales cycles, research often becomes the bottleneck. That’s why I like what lemlist is doing with Agentic Enrichment. Their Website and LinkedIn agents pull company and contact context automatically before the message is written. So your team isn’t choosing between speed and relevance. They can start with better signals, stronger context, and a clearer reason to reach out. The seller still needs strategy. The seller still needs judgment. The seller still needs to understand the customer. But the research doesn’t have to slow down the entire outbound process. For CEOs, that’s the real opportunity. Not more activity. Better activity. What would change if your technical sales team stopped sending more outreach and started sending better researched outreach?

HCPs are often polite, busy, and tired—which is why most reps completely misread “interest.” If you’ve been in MedTech long enough, you’ve walked out of a call thinking, “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵… 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” Then nothing happens. They don't call. No case gets booked. And when you try to follow-up, it sounds like, "𝘖𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩...𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥." Before you bet this quarter's quota on a prospect's "interest," understand the reality: 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝘀 “𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁” 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘆. Here are signals reps love to hear that don’t mean anything: • “Looks interesting.” • “Send me something.” • “Yeah, we can look at it sometime.” • Nods while scrolling on their phone. What does it really mean? “𝘐’𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦—𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵.” If you're not hearing real buying signals, it means you have more work to do. Here's what the real ones look like: ➡️They ask a procedural question instead of a product question. “How would this change my workflow when I’m doing X?” This means they’re imagining themselves using it. ➡️They bring someone else into the conversation. When they pull in an MA, PA, or scrub tech, that’s not small talk—that’s internal alignment starting. ➡️They commit to a next step without you pushing. Not “Let me think about it.” But…“I have a case on Thursday—could you have it available?” ➡️They share a frustration you didn’t ask for. For example, surgeons don’t vent casually. If they open up about a workflow issue, they’re telling you exactly where your product might fit. Once you recognize these buying signals, instead of wasting time on maybes, you can focus on real opportunities that lead to sales. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲?

In my first year in China, we pitched a Chinese-European JV car brand. After our presentation, the Chinese VP proceeded to dismantle my entire argument in front of the global CMO. It was brutal. We held our own, but went home dejected. No celebratory drinks that night. We were certain it was over. We won the pitch. That's when I started learning that buying signals look completely different depending on which room you're in. In China, confrontation meant they were taking you seriously. If they'd smiled and nodded politely, we would have lost. In Thailand, nobody will tell you no. The rejection is silence — a follow-up that never comes, a meeting that keeps getting rescheduled. The buying signal is the opposite: speed. When a Thai partner moves quickly, they mean it. Singapore is three business cultures in one city. Chinese-Singaporean networks run on relationships and long dinners. Indian-Singaporean networks move fast and negotiate hard. MNC regional offices run on process and procurement. Read the wrong playbook and you'll wonder why nothing is landing. Three markets, three completely different versions of "yes." The founders who get this right all did the same thing: they stopped trying to read these rooms from a distance.

It surprises me how many e-commerce brands pretend to offer a personalized storefront, but show the same store to everyone. The attached visual that shows what a modern storefront actually looks like behind the scenes, which is a simple system that reacts in real time. Thought it would be useful to break this down into three stages with the recommended tech stack below: Stage 1: Signals (data in) You capture (live) what’s already happening the moment someone arrives. How they got there, what they’re doing, what device they’re on, and whether they’ve bought before. Typical stack: • Segment or RudderStack for event capture • Shopify events and customer data • Google Tag Manager • Meta / TikTok UTMs for paid context Focus on clean, real-time signals without overengineering identity. Stage 2: Decisions (what to show) Those signals get turned into a simple decision immediately. Which message, which products, which path makes sense for this visitor right now. If it’s not fast enough to change the first screen, it doesn’t count. Typical stack: • Dynamic Yield or Nosto • Vercel edge logic • Cloudflare Workers • Simple rules or light models, not heavy AI Remember, speed beats sophistication. Stage 3: Experience (what changes) The storefront responds on arrival. The hero, first product grid, and primary CTA change instantly so the site feels relevant from the first moment. Typical stack: • Shopify Hydrogen or native Shopify sections • Contentful or Optimizely • Server-side or edge-rendered changes, not client-side flicker Important, personalize above the fold first. A returning high-value customer sees new arrivals and a faster path to checkout. A first-time visitor from paid sees a clearer offer and fewer choices. A deal-driven shopper sees bundles and savings upfront. Everything else comes later. If you want to start without overengineering: • Pick the two audiences that matter most • Personalize only the hero and first product grid • Measure lift on conversion rate and revenue per session • Add complexity only after this works Start simple: focus on one working example that proves the storefront can adapt in real time in a way customers actually feel.

95% of outbound fails for one reason: You're contacting the RIGHT person at the WRONG time. Teams obsess over targeting, copy, and personalization. But timing decides whether any of it matters. At any moment, only a small slice of your market is actively buying. Perfect message + perfect prospect + no reason to care today = ignored. Buyers leak intent before they raise a hand: A champion changes jobs (new mandate, 90 days to prove it) An account hires for a role your product supports A prospect comments on posts about the problem you solve I've been testing Trigify.io's new Signals feature in beta. It tracks 16 buying signals: 12 at the person level, 4 at the account level. It flips the core question of outbound: Stop asking: "Who should I contact?" Start asking: "Who has a reason to care right now?" No single signal closes a deal. It gives your message context. Context beats cold. Then stack them: One signal = interesting. Three signals = a buying pattern. Job change + hiring spree + topic engagement = an account moving into market. Spot it before your competitors do. The winners won't send the most messages. They'll reach out at the RIGHT moment. What's the strongest buying signal you've noticed before closing a deal? P.S. I'll be sharing a detailed carousel on these signals soon. Meanwhile, sign up and try Signals yourself: https://lnkd.in/dXT858d3