Glossary

A business signal is a publicly visible change in a company's situation that makes a future need probable: a start, an expansion, a cycle reaching its end, a budget opening up. A name says a company exists. A signal says something just changed, and gives a sales team a reason to reach out and a moment to do it.

Buyer intent is the set of observable behaviors suggesting a company is moving toward a purchase in a given category. It is a probability, not a promise: intent points to interest forming, not a decision made. Read on its own it can mislead, so it works best combined with a concrete change in the company's situation.

Intent data is information gathered to estimate how likely a company is to buy in a category soon. It describes patterns of attention and activity rather than a stated decision. On its own it can flatter a list with noise. It becomes useful when paired with a real change in a company's situation, which anchors interest to a reason.

A trigger event is a specific, datable change that opens or shifts a company's needs: a start, an expansion, a move, a cycle reaching its end, a budget freeing up. It is the concrete form a business signal often takes. What makes it valuable is timing: it marks a moment when a conversation is more likely to land.

A buying window is the stretch of time when a company is most open to acting on a need, after a change has created it and before the decision is settled. Call too early and there is no need yet; too late and the choice is made. The value of a signal fades as its window closes.

Convergence is when several independent signals point at the same company around the same time. One change can be a coincidence. Several, lining up, describe a situation that is actually moving. Convergence is what separates a company worth calling now from a name that merely fits a profile, and it usually marks the opening of a buying window.

Cadence is the rhythm at which a stream of signals is refreshed and delivered. It matters because situations change: a company that fits today may not next month, and one that did not may just have moved. A steady cadence keeps a short list current, so a sales team works from what is true now, not last quarter.

Freshness is how recently a signal was observed, and therefore how much it can still be trusted. A change seen this week describes a company as it is now. The same change six months old may already be resolved. Freshness is what keeps a short list from filling with situations that have quietly closed.

An ideal customer profile describes the kind of company most likely to benefit from what a sales team sells: its size, shape, and situation. It sets the boundary of who is worth pursuing. On its own it produces a long list of look-alikes. Paired with a signal, it turns into a short list of companies worth calling now.

Outbound is prospecting that starts with the sales team reaching out first, rather than waiting to be contacted. Its weakness has always been relevance: reaching many companies with no reason to speak today. Signals change that. When outbound starts from a real change in a company's situation, the first call carries a reason instead of an interruption.

Inbound is the opposite of outbound: prospects come to the sales team, drawn by content, referral, or reputation. It produces warm conversations, but only as many as attention allows, and rarely the specific companies a team most wants. Signals complement it by surfacing companies that will not raise their hand yet still have a need forming.

A shortlist is a small set of companies selected because each one shows a real reason to be called now. It is the opposite of a long list sorted by size or sector. Where a long list asks a sales team to find the few that matter, a shortlist hands them over already, each with a reason attached.