Intent Signal

What is an Intent Signal?

An intent signal is a specific behavioral indicator that a prospect or account is actively researching solutions and potentially preparing to purchase. Unlike general interest, intent signals show deliberate, focused activity related to a problem your product solves.

Common Intent Signals:

• Website visits to your site or competitors
• Content downloads (whitepapers, case studies)
• Webinar registrations and attendance
• Pricing page visits
• Trial signups
• RFP/RFI submissions
• Review site activity (G2, Capterra)

Why Intent Signals Matter

Buying Cycle Visibility:
Modern buyers do 60-80% of their research before contacting vendors. Intent signals provide visibility into this "dark funnel"—revealing who's in-market before they identify themselves.

Sales Trigger Events:
Intent signals are sales triggers. They tell you when to reach out, what to talk about, and how to prioritize your prospecting efforts.

Competitive Intelligence:
Intent signals reveal when prospects are researching competitors. This intelligence allows strategic engagement with differentiation and competitive positioning.

In 2026, with outbound response rates declining, intent-based selling is the most efficient way to allocate sales capacity.

Signal Strength

Strong Signals (High Buying Intent):

• Multiple website visits in short timeframe
• Pricing page repeated visits
• Trial or demo requests
• RFP/RFI submissions
• Competitor comparison activity
• Review site deep dives

• Single content downloads
• Webinar attendance
• Product page visits
• Case study consumption
• LinkedIn engagement with relevant content

• Social media follows
• Blog post views
• General website visits
• Newsletter subscriptions
• Superficial page views

Using Intent Signals

Sales Prioritization:
Rank prospects by signal strength and recency. Focus outbound efforts on accounts showing strong, recent intent signals.

Outbound Personalization:
Reference the specific signal in outreach. "I saw you downloaded our Sales Forecasting Guide..." shows you're paying attention.

Timing Optimization:
Engage when signals are strong and recent. Intent decays quickly—signals from weeks ago may no longer indicate active interest.

Pipeline Acceleration:
For existing opportunities, new intent signals indicate increased buying urgency. Accelerate engagement when signals spike.

Best Practices

1. Track Multiple Signal Types: Don't rely on single signals. Composite scoring across signal types provides better intent assessment.

2. Prioritize Recency: Recent signals matter more. An intent signal from today is worth 10x more than one from a month ago.

3. Cluster Signals by Account: In B2B, multiple people from the same account showing intent is stronger than individual signals.

4. Combine with ICP: Intent from non-ICP accounts wastes time. Only prioritize signals from accounts that match your ideal customer profile.

5. Act, Don't Just Track: Collecting intent data without action is wasted effort. Build workflows that trigger immediate engagement when threshold signals occur.

Common Mistakes

• Treating all intent signals equally (strength varies widely)
• Ignoring signal recency (old signals are less relevant)
• Pursuing intent from accounts outside your ICP
• Collecting data without taking action
• Not distinguishing between research and evaluation stage signals

Key Takeaways

• Intent signals are specific behaviors indicating active buying research
• Signal strength varies from weak (awareness) to strong (evaluation)
• Recency matters—recent signals indicate higher buying urgency
• Combine with ICP for optimal prospect prioritization
• Build workflows to act quickly when threshold signals appear